Page 32 - Reading Job to Know God
P. 32

Satan is designed to turn your eyes to Christ, so we are going to look at
           Satan in a Christ-centered way.
           There  are  thirty-five  different  titles  for  Satan  in  the Bible,  and  none  of
           them are bogeyman. From the time we are nursing we are taught to think
           of Satan as some kind of hideous, disgusting creature – a contemptible
           person. Misshapen, with a half human, half animal body. Sometimes, with
           the  limbs  and  appendages of  animals.  Frightful,  with  a  grimacing  face.
           Bright red, and a pitch fork in his hand. A compound of everything that is
           ugly.  And  he  just  stands  around  stoking  the  fires  of  hell  and  stabbing
           sinners and stuff like this. That fabulous image that registers in our mind
           bears the mark of Satan’s own creation. That is what he wants us to think.
           He wants us to believe that we can outgrow him, and we throw it out as
           fantasy, and so we throw him out as fantasy.
           We are going to ask questions. Who is Satan? What does he do? Where is
           he  now?  How  can  he  do  what  he  does?  The  next  chapter  will  look
           carefully into these questions.


            Reading    JOB   to Know God





          Chapter 4         What the Bible says about Satan
           Fourteen times in Job chapters 1 and 2, his name is called Satan. Fifty-two
           times in the whole Bible he is called Satan. Sometime you will see the
           word, devil, in the Bible. As a matter of fact, thirty six times in the Bible
           he is called devil. Now, as far as the meaning of the word is concerned,
           there is no difference between Satan and devil. The fact is, devil is the
           Greek form and Satan is the Hebrew form, but it is the same word. The
           word Satan means adversary, enemy, accuser.
           The first question is: Who is Satan? Here is the answer. He is the accuser.
           He  accuses  in  two  directions.  First  of  all,  look  at  verses  9  and  10  of
           chapter  1.  Then  Satan  answered  the  LORD,  “Does  Job  fear  God  for
           nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and
           all  that  he  has,  on  every  side?  You  have  blessed  the  work  of  his
           hands,  and  his  possessions  have  increased  in  the  land.”    Satan
           accused Job of being religious because of what he got out of it. The pie in
           the sky.
           In other words, Satan is an accuser, and the first one he accuses is man.
           He accused Job. He said, Job’s idea of God is that He is a cosmic bellboy.
                                                                        32
   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37