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| Share Agape for the week of August 4, 2003 |
| The Struggles of Warfare The book of Job. The book of Job seems to hold more fascination than perhaps any other book of the Bible. Even those who scoff at Christianity and have never read the Bible have a fair idea of who Job was and what he went through. But why was this book included in the Bible? I think there are many reasons; in this week's Bible study, as well as next week's, we'll explore a few. One thing that sticks out prominently in the book of Job is this: Satan asks God whether Job will really serve God for nothing-without getting any "prizes" in return. Will he really "walk the walk" simply on the basis of who God is, without expecting a reward or seeking (as Satan puts it) a "hedge?" (Job 1:10) That is the powerful question behind this amazing drama between God, Satan, and humans. But I don't believe this is just a question Satan asked about Job. I think he asks it about all of us, everyday. One of the blind spots in most people's minds is the fact that spiritual warfare exists. But the book of Job doesn't hesitate to expose the fact that spiritual warfare goes on "behind the scenes." It offers an unprecedented look at the inner-workings of the spiritual world: We see right away that Satan isn't (contrary to myth) as powerful as God, because he must cow-tow to the Lord. God grants Satan the right to spiritually test Job, but not kill him. Ultimately, Satan's aim is to get Job to curse God and turn his back to him. And God's aim? To prove to Satan that humans are worthy of God's attention and love. God is probably also trying to teach Job something about himself and his relationship with God. There's no doubt that God succeeds in both his aims. Of course, Job had no idea what was going on around him spiritually; today, we at least have some clue that there's warfare all around us. One part of Job that has always held fascination for me is the use of the words behemoth and leviathan. Now, I know that some folks say that the behemoth might just be an ancient name for a hippo and that leviathan is probably an old name for a crocodile. Personally, I've always felt that the leviathan and behemoth were real creatures--but perhaps creatures we don't know today. Many creation scientists now think they may have been dinosaurs, whose numbers had severely dwindled by this time. But recently, I was introduced to the idea that while this may be true, there's probably also a deeper meaning to be found. Behemoth in Hebrew is means "beasts"�not the singular, but the plural. Leviathan means "the folded one"--an apt name for this sea creature-dragon, who folds up it's long body. Now, think ahead to the book of Revelation, where a dragon is spoken of and pin-pointed as Satan, and several beasts are mentioned as being under his command (Rev. 12 & 13). Combining all the information that Revelation and other portions of the Bible have to give about these creatures, it seems that behemoth may represent Satan's power (perhaps his demons), while the leviathan represents Satan himself. Unfortunately, in Job's story, his wife plays right into the hands of Satan. She expects God to be all-knowing and wise, yet when she fails to understand him, she thinks him unfair, unjust, and cruel. She somehow suddenly thought she should be as all-knowing and wise as God. Talk about circular reasoning! And yet, many people feel that way. Yet, I have little doubt that all of us-at one time or another-have gone through a trying time and wailed I trusted God, I believed in him! But it doesn't work. It's all a sham. Look, my life is falling apart! When Job's wife tells him to "Curse God, and die" (Job 2:9), she's not only telling him to give up on God, but to end his life by suicide. In essence, she's saying, It would be better for you to be dead than to go on living and suffering like this. (Sounds a lot like the reasoning some folks use when talking about "assisted-suicide," doesn't it?) But Job, who has gone through so much already (and is now loosing the support of his spouse) says "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10) Yet his wife believed that life should be all happiness, and if it wasn't, God either didn't exist or he didn't care; rather than suffering, it's better to die and get it all over with. Many people still feel that way today. More ~~~> |
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