Job just hears about how the Sabeans kills his servants and make away with his oxen and donkey (Job 1:13-15), how “the fire of God” from Heaven consumed His sheep and servants (vs. 16), how the Chaldeans came in three bands, killed his servants and make away with all his camels (vs. 17) and how his children who are celebrating in their elder brother’s house are killed by a great wind from across the desert (vs. 18).
Once Job hears this, observe his reaction.
Job 1:20-21 (NKJV)
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
It is clear from the Book of Job that God didn’t cause Job’s misfortune, the devil did (Job.1:11-12, 2:7). But Job blamed God for his problems. He didn’t know who the real culprit is. That makes us to realize that EVERYWHERE in the Old Testament where evil seemed to have been caused by God, it was really the devil masquerading. God is good and NO EVIL comes from Him (James 1:13, 17).
God didn’t “permit” the devil either to cause evil to befall Job. The Jewish Rabbinical Writings ascribe the authorship of the Book of Job to Moses, a man under the law & not born again (not having the Spirit of Christ). He definitely didn’t have the fullness of revelation (Hebrews 1:1, John 1:17-18, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Exodus 33:18-23). He lacked the SPIRITUAL intelligence to capture what really happened. He wrote based on HIS PERCEPTION of God and His things. The devil doesn’t need permission to kill, steal and destroy. A thief doesn’t need permission to steal. He just does. What the devil did, he did without the consent of God. God doesn’t do evil neither does He consent to evil.
Remember that Christ is how we should view the Bible. He is God explaining Himself to mankind.
Hebrews 1:3 (NASB)
3 And He is the RADIANCE OF HIS GLORY and THE EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS NATURE, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Christ Jesus is the EXACT representation of God’s nature. To know what God’s like, look to Jesus!
Remember how Jesus reacts when James and John ask for permission to destroy the people of Samaria.
Luke 9:54-55 (NKJV)
54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, JUST AS ELIJAH DID?”
55 But He turned and REBUKED them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
The word “rebuke” as used here is the Greek word “epitimao” which means “to chide, to rebuke.” It is the SAME Greek word used when Jesus rebuked demons. It’s a VERY strong word in the Greek. Jesus shows us what EXACTLY God’s answer to a request for permission to do evil would be! Glory! He REBUKES evil not PERMIT it!
God wasn’t the cause of Job’s misfortune neither did He permit evil to come upon him. Christ revealed this to us!
“..You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.”
See that? The Spirit of Christ is not like that of the Old Covenant. He doesn’t kill, He saves lives! The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the New Testament.
We know how God would react to a permission to do evil because we know how Jesus reacted, Jesus unveiled the true nature of God to us in this beautiful story.
The book of Job itself tells us that God had erected a protective edge around Job and his.
Job1:9-10 (NKJV)
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 HAVE YOU NOT MADE A HEDGE AROUND HIM, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
So, what happened? How was the devil able to get to him?
Well, Paul lets us know that the devil is the god of this world and not God.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NKJV)
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 WHOSE MINDS THE GOD OF THIS AGE HAS BLINDED, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Luke 4:5-7 (NKJV)
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; FOR THIS HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO ME, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
So, this shows that a LARGE majority of what happens on the Earth today is not orchestrated by God AT ALL.
1 John 5:19 (NKJV)
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
The whole world lies under the sway (authority, rule, dominion) of the wicked one. Referring to the devil.
Now, how does he exert this authority over men?
Hebrews 2:14-15 (NKJV)
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
He keeps men in bondage through fear!
Job 1:5 (NKJV)
5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
Job, although a good man, was VERY self-righteous. God NEVER requested offerings for sins. He presumed that God did.
This self-righteousness birthed fear in his heart.
Job 3:25 (NKJV)
25 For the thing I GREATLY FEARED has come upon me, and WHAT I DREADED has happened to me.
That’s how the devil got him! Through his fears!
But God restores all that was taken, in a double portion.
Job 42:12-17 (NKJV)
12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.
And that’s why James 5:11 instructs that we consider the story of Job from the end; by so doing, we would discover that the Lord is VERY compassionate and merciful! The nature of the Father is CLEARLY portrayed; He will NEVER steal from nor inflict, but He’ll restore ALL that the devil has taken away and destroyed. I trust this helped. Let me know.
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2021.
Dear Pastor Josh, God bless you for this article. I started to have a dealing about God’s Grace about 3years ago, but I couldn’t contain it because of my gathering. However, around January this year, I couldn’t resist to interpret the scripture with the spectacle of Grace. God is a good God and does no evil. I’m glad that someone like you preach the gospel of Grace so close to me. God bless you sir.
Though I’ll love to hear from you how you’ve grown a deaf hear to criticisms around you concerning the gospel of Grace. Hope to chat you up sir.
Shalom!