Staying Faithful Through The Battle

Job 1:8-11---And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job is the earliest of all the literature in the Bible. The sin that was most feared was cursing God, even if it was not spoken aloud. The book begins by describing Job as the greatest man of the East and tells us that he was blameless. We know that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, so we should consider this to be a statement relative to his culture. However, God commended him as one of the most righteous men upon the earth. The scene changes to the halls of heaven. Satan (which means the Accuser) had been roaming the earth. God brought up the subject of Job and his righteousness. Satan suggested that it was only because of the abundance of wealth and protection from evil that caused Job to act in a righteous manner. In other words, his heart was not righteous, he was just never tempted sufficiently. Satan suggested that if God took away Job's possessions and he would commit that unpardonable sin of cursing God, "even curse You to your face". The heavenly forces are battling over the souls of men. We can learn many things from this ancient narrative. God does put a hedge about us. Satan was complaining about that because he is the Destroyer. In the spiritual realms you can be sure your Adversary is accusing you before God. He must have permission to destroy the possessions of those under God's care. What assurance this should bring us, knowing that the only time the Adversary can get through that hedge is at God's permission. It will either turn us back to God, or it will bring us to a closer walk with Him. It will testify to the heavenly realms that the fallen angels have made the wrong choice.