Page 42 - Reading Job to Know God

knows more than all of men combined. He has the knowledge of angels.
He is both a master psychologist and a religious fanatic. He knows the
Bible far better than you, and will use it against you everyday. Matthew
Chapter 4. Read all the scripture the enemy uses against the Lord Jesus.
Many times we think that it is our own corrupt nature that causes us to sin.
Let me give you four or five Bible examples. First Chronicles 21:1 says
“Satan moved David to number the people”. Second Samuel 24:1 tells
the same story, and do you know what that one says? It says “God moved
David to number the people”. It is the same incident. One time it says
Satan caused him to number the people, and another time it says God
caused him to number the people.

According to Luke 22:3, what do we learn about the nature of Judas?
Judas was a thief. He was already a thief, and then he sold his Savior for
thirty pieces of silver. Ananias and Sapphira were guilty of selfishness,
greed and desiring filthy lucre. Now, what I am pointing out is this. If the
Bible did not tell us that Satan was involved in David’s sin, if the Bible
did not tell us that Satan made Judas, Ananias and Sapphira do what they
did, we would have never guessed. We would have said “That’s just like
Judas to do that. That doesn’t surprise me”. That is exactly like Ananias to
try to hold back money. That was his nature; that was his old sin nature,
just like his wife.
We see the same principle operating in Job’s calamities. You read the first
chapter, and if you didn’t know Satan was there, you could have referred
everything that happened to the predatory nature of his Arab neighbors.
They always attacked. That was just like them to do that. Here is the
point. The Bible says Satan had a part in it, but it is so natural you would
never guess it . What does Satan do? He attacks godly people, and here is
how he does it. He watches the proclivities of our evil natures and then he
provides us with opportunities to gratify those things. So in one case, one
man is tempted to steal, and Satan puts that in front of him. Another man
is tempted not to trust the Lord, and Satan provides the opportunity for
him not to trust.
I will mention this now, but I think this will become clearer as we go
further in our study. It does not make any difference in your life, no
difference whatsoever, if you can figure out who is the cause. Is this from
circumstances? Is this from my old sin nature? Is this from Satan? Is this
from God? It makes no difference at all. Behind it all, is God. The fact is,
God is not the author of sin. But you would never be able to give thanks
in all things, if you did not believe God was behind everything. Now that
will make more sense as we go on. What does Satan do? He attacks godly
42