TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
Are You Having A Jōb Moment?
Part 2
February 10, 2019
Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
In last week’s Teen Tree, we learned that in any trial, once a witness has been entered into the trial, the other side gets to cross-examine him. At this particular trial with Job, God is the Prosecutor and Satan is the defense lawyer. A prosecutor is a person who institutes legal proceedings against someone. Prosecutors are fully entitled to bring any number of offenses against a single defendant. We know that Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is The Judge. He is qualified to be our judge because He was judged for the sins of the entire world. JOH 5:22 teaches us this: For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son…
Back to the trial! Satan argues that if God removes all of Job’s blessings that he will curse God. And like any lawyer you see on television – or even in an earthly court of law – Satan makes a motion. A motion is a request made to the Judge by the attorneys in court. Satan requests that God take everything away from Job in order to test his trust in God: Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” (JOB 1:9-11) Satan’s motion is granted in verse 12 when God says to Satan: “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”
Now, this entire scene is a mind-blower! Imagine God testing you like this. Imagine God saying to Satan – do everything you want to him but don’t lay a finger on him. Would you run for the hills?? And you have no idea how far this testing goes. So hold onto your seat!
It’s important at this point in our study to look at The Angelic Conflict which is the result of prehistoric creatures being in opposition to God. It began with the fall of Satan with all angelic creatures having to decide to be with God or with Satan. The Angelic Conflict refers to the two trials of Satan and the angels that followed him, known as the fallen angels. One trial took place in prehistoric times when Satan committed the first sin in the universe – arrogance (see Teen Trees 12/30/18 to 1/20/19). The first trail is taught in ISA 14:12-17 The Message Bible: “What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of Dawn [Satan]! Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations! You said to yourself, ‘I’ll climb to heaven. I’ll set my throne over the stars of God. I’ll run the assembly of angels that meets on sacred Mount Zaphon. I’ll climb to the top of the clouds. I’ll take over as King of the Universe!’ But you didn’t make it, did you? Instead of climbing up, you came down—Down with the underground dead, down to the abyss of the Pit. People will stare and muse: ‘Can this be the one Who terrorized earth and its kingdoms, turned earth to a moonscape, Wasted its cities, shut up his prisoners to a living death?’”
The second trial will occur during human history: “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…” (MAT 25:41) And now you know why God created hell. But what you may not know is that God in His Justice has allowed Satan to appeal and we, as Christians, are witnesses for God as the Prosecutor. But only mature believers have the capacity to be presented as witnesses. Mature believers like Job!
Being presented as witnesses for God is called Evidence Testing. In human history, our thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions are entered as evidence, exhibits, precedents, and arguments in Satan’s appeal trial. Every believer who reaches Spiritual Maturity is a witness for the Prosecution against Satan. The testing is evidence that man chooses God over Satan – no matter what.
Evidence Testing like this only comes to those believers who are at the height of Spiritual Maturity. This isn’t for sissies! Job is a great believer with the utmost faith in God. So God knows for a fact that Job will get through the testing. Evidence Testing is undeserved suffering. Job has done nothing to deserve what he was put through. When you’re tested in this way, if you beg God to take it away, then you flunk the test! Look at what the apostle Paul said about Evidence Testing: The things God showed me were so great. [Paul is referring to being shown Heaven] But to keep me from being too full of pride [arrogance]because of seeing these things, I have been given trouble in my body. It was sent from Satan to hurt me [Evidence Testing]. It keeps me from being proud. I asked the Lord three times to take it away from me. He answered me, “I am all you need. I give you My loving-favor. My power works best in weak people.” I am happy to be weak and have troubles so I can have Christ’s power in me. I receive joy when I am weak. I receive joy when people talk against me and make it hard for me and try to hurt me and make trouble for me. I receive joy when all these things come to me because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 COR 12:7-10 NLV)
The ONLY way to pass Evidence Testing is to apply the Bible doctrine that you’ve learned. Look at JOH 16:29-33: His disciples said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” When Jesus Christ says: “These things I have spoken to you” He is talking about Bible doctrine – The Word!
So Satan leaves with one important directive from God: spare Job’s life. Now, the first thing Satan does is pretty gross. He covers “Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he [Job] took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.” (JOB 2:7-8) A “potsherd” is defined as a broken piece of ceramic material. Can you picture Job with all of these painful sores covering his body, scraping them off to ease the horrible pain?
And then we get glimpse of Job’s wife. Now you’d think she’d be trying to comfort him to make him feel better with all of these painful sores all over his body. NOT! Instead we learn: His wife said, “Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!” He told her, “You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?” Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God. (JOB 2:9-10 The Message Bible) Isn’t that absolutely amazing to you?
Job endured great physical suffering. This happens a lot to all people throughout their lives. But not all illness is Evidence Testing. In Job’s case, he had no explanation as to why he was sick. But his faith in God never wavered. He knew that he had God’s Assurance that all things would work together for good. Rather than curse God and turn away, Job continued to trust Him and stay in His Plan for his life. This is the important lesson for us in the Book of Job: to trust God through every trial and continue to rebound [Problem Solving Tool #1] and study His Word. And to continue to personally love God [Problem Solving Tool #7] and be occupied with The Lord Jesus Christ [Problem Solving Tool #10] no matter how intense the suffering is.
{to be continued}