Page 45 - Reading Job to Know God

contradiction, Job was far better AFTER Satan worked then BEFORE. I
like to put it this way and say: “God makes Satan sweat to make me a
better Christian”.

Editor’s Note: Many years ago when I came out of what
many of my friends and family called, a “Job
experience”, I asked the Lord about His boasting of Job.
Many believers have all kinds of opinions on the book of
Job but really have never taken the time to actually read
it. You will find Job to be anything but patient and
quite mad at God. I could relate very much with his
combative attitude and in some ways it helped me
accept my own bad behavior. The Lord spoke to my
spirit and simply said “When I was bragging about Job I
wasn’t talking about Job in the beginning of the book. I
was talking about Job at the end.” He showed me that
He sees the past, present and future all at once and
cannot see us without seeing our entire lives. When He
spoke to Adam and Eve He saw us and all who would
come after us. The New Testament confirms this in I
Corinthians 15:22,

“For just as all men die by virtue of their descent from
Adam, so all such as are in union with Christ will be
made to live again.” Often we and the enemy are
confused by the Lord’s view of eternity!
I think one of the neatest verses on this would be in II Corinthians 12:7-12
The “thorn in the flesh” Paul was caught up into the third heaven and
saw great revelations of God. And then he said that he received the
“thorn in the flesh”, and he called it “a messenger of Satan sent to
buffet him.” Now watch. It was a messenger of Satan, but what was the
purpose of that thorn in the flesh? To keep him humble. Humility is not
the message of Satan; that is the message of God. It was a messenger of
Satan, but it was the message of God. God makes Satan work hard in
order to make better Christians out of His own children.
So why does Satan work? To accomplish God’s purposes. God knew Job;
Satan knew Job, but you would have never known Job, and I would have
never known Job. Mankind would never have known Job, unless God
allowed this to take place. That is why we are studying Job.

We sing songs like this: “Count your many blessings; name them one by
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