Job

        Job was a man of remarkable character. He was a rich man, who had 500 yoke oxen, 1500 female donkeys, 7000 sheep and 3000 camels.  Nobody was like him for being .wealthy, fear of God, righteous, blameless and for loving his children and every member of the family. See Job 1:1-5.

       

        Seeing his righteous, Satan was trying to find fault in him. So, once a time, Satan came before God. At that he had access. So, when God saw him, He asked him if Job is faithful to Him. This time, he told God, saying that Job is good because you blessed him. Satan also suggested if He takes away every possession, he would curse Him.  Satan suggested this idea, so that God would test Job.  This time, God put everything Job had under Satan’s power.   Thereby; Job lost all his property. His sons and daughters were also killed by a great tornado while they were having a great party in their house. When all this happened, Job was sorry, but never charged God with wrong.  See Job 1:13-22.  Satan was not pleased in this.

        Another time, God saw Satan in Heaven, after Job lost everything. This time, He asked him, if there is something wrong with the faith of Job. When he got a chance, Satan suggested to God, if he has a hard time, he would curse Him. Then, God giving power to Satan, but warning him not take his life, He told him to go. With the given power, Satan attacked the entire body of Job with boils. See Job 2:7-8 and 30:30.

        When Job was sick, his wife told him to curse God. Job refused to make sin with his lips. His friends, Elipaz ,  Bildad and Zophar  also came to comfort him. They were sorry, when they saw the painful body of Job. See Job 2:11-13.

        Above, you have seen that Satan had an access in the Old Testament to stand as a Heavenly Council in front of God, and he had also a special authority to investigate affairs on earth. See Zachariah 3:1-2.

        Moreover; once upon a time, Joshua, the High Priest, was standing in front of the angel of the Lord. Satan, also standing at Joshua’s right hand side, was ready to accuse Joshua. When he opened his mouth, the Lord said:” Satan you are wrong. Jerusalem is my city.  This man is also mine. He was rescued like a stick from a flaming fire.

When Joshua was standing, his clothes were filthy. So, the angel told some of the people to remove Joshua’s filthy clothes.  God forgave his sin. He dressed him with priestly clothes. See Zech. 3:1-4.  Now in the New Testament, Satan is powerless.

        Satan, the accuser of brothers is over thrown from Heaven. So, in the New Testament, he has no access to accuse brothers, but still he is still deceiving brothers.

In the New Testament, Jesus died for humanity to break the power of Satan, who had the power of death. Jesus has destroyed death.  See Revelation 12:10, Hebrew 2:14 and 2nd Timothy 1:10 respectively.      

               

         There is solution when Satan attacks a believer. We learn a lot from the richest and righteous man who was called Job. Living in the Old Testament in the Near East, Job is a model example to learn patience in times of adversity.   

               According to the principle of Job, when one is attacked by Satan to control lips and refrain from speaking against God is the formula to win the war against evil spirit.  This principle still works in the New Testament. Death and life is in the tongue.  So, like that of the Old Testament, in the New Testament as well, one should not open his mouth to speak against God, when he passes from one problem to the other.  

                 Speaking against God is a deadly sin.  In times adversity, instead of speaking against God, pick up the helmet of salvation, read the word of God and pray without ceasing and with supplication. See Eph.   6:17-18.

According to the Book of Proverb 1:7, fear of God is the beginning of Knowledge. Righteousness is also the beginning of salvation. So, when one receives salvation, he must be aware to do well is right, because God has done a good thing for him.

Moreover; after salvation, a believer should never become idle. This instruction boils down to the era of  the New Testament.  In this period, unless otherwise; one testifies what the Lord has done for him and also about His goodness, he should never has been a believer in the first place. Besides that,  one should also note that, in times of adversity and persecution he must be patient focusing on the Lord, waiting for his salvation.  Thus, for the kind of remarkable believer, brothers must pray for him, encourage him, appreciate him and praise him, so that he would endure suffering and persecution for the sake of the Lord.   See James 5:10.

God that kept Heavenly mysterious secrets from the beginning revealed to Job wisdom and patience.  Due to that, he became a model example. Do you remember how patient Job was and how much the Lord helped him?  The Lord has shown His mercy, peace, grace and kindness for Job when he passes though lots of catastrophes.  Source James 5:11.  

Consequently, therefore; we learn a lot from Job, because he suffered without losing faith.  Since Job is known for his excellence of patience/ or paragon of patience,/  in the history of mankind, taking time and  waiting for the Lord  in times of adversity, becoming strong in his  faith, Job has become a model example for all times.  

Even though; Satan took away his prosperity and killed his kids, his intention was to destroy his faith.  Unlike the idea of Satan, however; all lose did not shake the faith of Job. Rather, when all things and children were taken away, he only said:”Yahweh gives. Yahweh takes away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh.” See Job 1:21.

When Job did not murmur and his intrigue failed, Satan proposed to God, to strike him with severe sores from his head to his feet. Though, God gave him the permission, to strike him with boils,  ignoring his wife’s suggestion to open his mouth and curse God,  he was sitting alone in the city.

The fact that Job spoke nothing against the Lord is a good lesson for us. Suppose now;  if  we are  attacked  by the evil, there is nothing  we  can do, except:  a) praying without ceasing, b) proclaiming  and declaring that no weapon formed against him shall prosper.” See Isaiah 54:17.

 And yet, if one is still under attack; he must still continue to   praise the Lord, serve the Lord, worship the Lord, sing for the Lord, and dance for the Lord and continue paying tithes and offerings to the House of God.

The attack of Satan never comes to an end until Jesus comes for the 2^nd time, and yet,  if he  still continues to attack you, there is no need to get to be desperate, get angry, feel worry or feel depression, because if one is depressed, he would first lose the battle and then the war of fighting. Wave comes and wave goes way, so does the attack of Satan.  It comes in and it goes away. So, in all occasions the believer has to stay firm in his faith, win the war.   What else can we say when we have nothing more to add. 

Consequently, therefore; whenever; you are under attack, rejoice in the Lord. This helps for the growth of your faith. Remember that, to be glad in the Lord is a necessary ingredient for your joyful survival.  See Phil. 4:4. When your faith in the Lord grows, you come to maturity. Therefore; in all seasons, bright days and gloomy nights, weeks and months, you should meditate the word, so that you would have a wonderful relationship with the Lord.

If you fail to make relationship with God and if you fail to meet the standards set by the Lord,   such as doing the will of God and obey the Lord, you have no shelter. Sitting at the crossroad of your life, you have no-where to go. So, come and hide in God, so that the Devil would not devour you.  

By Molla Nigatu