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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
June, 1940
Points and Problems In the second ihapter of Job there is some very important material about tnat great evil spirit who is called Sa tan. Consider the following points: 1. Satan is revealed as a personal being. He is not merely an abstract principle of evil, of* a figure of speech, i but appears here as a person who speaks, argues, accuses, moves about, and inflicts evil upon men. If the Bi ble reveals the existence o f a personal God, it also reveals the existence of a personal devil. 2. We find that Satan has access to the presence of God. On the day that the sons of God came to present them selves before Jehovah, Satan came among them for the same purpose (2:1). The devil today does not bum in some Miltonic hell. On the contrary, he walks up and down in the earth, is called the “prince of the power of ,the air” (Eph. 2:2), and evidently has per mission to enter the heaven of God at stated times. At the beginning of the great tribulation period he will be cast down to the earth (Rev. 12:9); at the establishment of our Lord’s millennial kingdom he will be shut up in the “abyss” (Rev. 20:3, R.V.); and after the thousand years he will be cast forever into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). But he is not there today, as he would like to have us believe. 3. Satan appears as the accuser of the Lord’s people (Job 2:4, 5). His very name witnesses to this fact. He is the “ devil,” which in Greek is “ diabolus,” meaning a slanderer. What he said about Job was a slanderous lie. And he has been slandering the people of God down through the centuries. But some times, sad to say, the devil can carry on his work of accusation by telling thé truth about us. For all have sinned and are coming short of the glory of God. In this event, only the heavenly advo cacy of our Lord can keep us from de struction: “If any man sin, we have an advocate” (1 John 2:1). “They over came him by the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11). 4. We also see that Satan has great superhuman powers. In Job 1, he de stroys the wealth and children of the patriarch. In chapter 2, he smites Job with disease (v. 7). By the devil’s power the magicians of Egypt actually dupli cated the miracles of God up to a cer tain point (cf. Exodus 7 and 8). One of the popular delusions of modern times is the notion than any religion which can produce some “signs and wonders” must be of God. • - 5. But we also find here that the powers of Satan are strictly limited. He is utterly powerless except by the permission of God (Job 2:6). Job saw this clearly. When the devil destroyed his property and sons, Job said, “The Lord hath taken away” (1:21>. Some well-meaning Christians almost make'
Jttie devil into a second god. With all his great power, Satan is only a mere creature, able to do nothing except as the Lord permits. Golden Text Illustration J ob 1 :22 Because colliers live in the bowels of the earth and sometimes do not see the sun rise or set for weeks and months together, or because imprisoned men in dungeons do not witness the changes of the seasons, does it follow that there is no rising of the sun, or that there is neither spring nor summer for the hu man family? If one avoids the light of the sun, shuts himself out from it, he may miss it, but it is waiting for him;: so is God’s goodness. ■—H. W. Beecher. When Job Was in Trouble J ob 1 and 2 MEMORY VERSE: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psa. 46:1). APPROACH: Job was a great prince who lived in the Far East. He prayed always for his seven sons and his. three daughters, and he pleased God in all his ways. Satan, who is the devil, said Job was good only because God blessed him and gave him great riches. Satan said if the riches were taken away, Job would curse God to His face. LESSON STORY: At school you have tests, so you can be promoted and amount to something in life. God loved Job, so He let him learn some lessons and be promoted. Satan gave Job a harder test than any you ever had in school. But God was watching and taking care of Job, for God never lets the test be harder than we can bear. There were seven parts to Job’s test: 1. Job’s cattle were stolen and his servants killed by thieves. 2. His sheep and shepherds were killed by lightning. 3. His camels were stolen and the servants killed by thieves. 4. A cyclone killed his children. 5. Satan put painful boils all over Job’s body. 6. Job’s wife did not comfort him, she just told him to “curse God, and die” (2:9). 7. Job’s friends sat down and stared at him. For a whole week, they did not speali to him. After, that, they said mean things about him Poor Job! 5 - D i v i s i o n God knew He could trust Job, for God looks into our hearts and knows all our thoughts. So God gave Satan permis sion to give Job a test, or examina tion.
Satan expected Job to blame God for his troubles, but Job said, “The Lord gave,, and the Lor«, hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21). In the next lessons we shall learn how God promoted Job. You will be promoted out of all your troubles, too, if you do not blame God, but trust Him to help you in your tests.
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Object Lesson T ried ' and T rue
OBJECTS: Two rubber bands, a board six inches wide and eighteen inches long, two nails, and a small gilt paper crown. (Draw a circle with a four-inch diameter at each end of the board. Color one black and the other white. In the blg,ck circle write the word “ SELF,” and in the white one, “ GOD’S WILL.” Drive a nail in the cen ter of each circle. Tie a thread to. the nail in the white circle, attach the gold en crown to the other end of the thread, and conceal the crown back of the board. Kill the. elasticity in one of the rubber bands by leaving it around a lighted electric bulb or in a slow oven. If time does not permit this, use a black thread, instead ) LESSON: One of these rubber bands is much better than the other. If you cannot tell by looking, how can you tel] which is the best? “Test them by stretching.” You are right. Unless a rubber band will stretch, it is worthless. I brought a board with which we shall test these rubber bands, and see which is the bet ter. People are often tested. If they stand the test, God will use and reward them. This board, on which we will test the bands, has two circles—one black and one white. The black one is marked “ SELF,” and the other one, “GOD’S WILL.” We will hang the two rubber bands' on the nail in the center of the black circle. Some people do not get beyond themselves. Everything they do is for self. Job’s wife was this kind of person. When her husband was being tested, she advised him to curse God and die. When I try to stretch this band from “ SELF” to “GOD’S WILL” it breaks. This other band reminds me of Job. It does not break as I stretch it into the circle marked "GOD’S .WILL.” In back of this circle there is a golden crown. AV. those wha, U%.< Job, are willing to move out of “SELF” into “GOD’S WILL” will be rewarded.
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