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Blessing God to His Face Revelation 12; Job 2
E. After Christ’s triumph, Satan was thrown
from heaven and no longer brings accusation against the saints (2 Sam.24:1 with
1 Chron.21:1; Job 1:11; 2:5; Zech.3:1; Romans 8:33; cf. Rom.3:21-26). F. Satan is now trying to destroy the
church – but the gates of Hades will not prevail (v.11; Matthew 16:18). I. SATAN HAS PERSONAL REASONS FOR DENYING
GOD’S JUSTICE A. In Genesis 3, God’s judgment and curse
was pronounced upon the serpent. 1. Curse: “Cursed are you more than
all cattle, And more than every beast of the field…” (Genesis 3:14) 2. Judgment: “The seed of the woman
would crush the head of the serpent” (Gen.3:15). B. Throughout history, Satan has always
opposed God’s people. 1. Cain’s murder of Abel was Satanic (John
8:44) 2. Pharaoh’s enslaving of God’s people and
telling the Hebrew midwives to put male children to death (Exodus 1:16). 3. Satan’s inciting David to take a census
of Israel leading to the death of 70,000 men (1 Chronicles 21). Perhaps more of David’s men died in this
census than died in all the battles he fought. 4. Athaliah – daughter of Ahab and Jezebel,
almost wiped out the Davidic line (2 Kings 11:1,2,12!) 5. Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus by killing
all the male children in Bethlehem (Mt.2:8,12-16) 6. Many of the religious leaders of Jesus’
day were children of the devil (John 8:44) 7. Simon, Simon – Satan has demanded permission
to sift you as wheat (Lk.22:31) 8 Satan entered into Judas (John 13:2,27) 9. Ananias and Sapphira – lying to God the
Holy Spirit because Satan had filled their heart (Acts 5:3) 10. Even though Satan has been mortally
wounded, the warfare between Satan and the church continues to this day! a. “I will build My church and the gates of
Hades will not overpower it…Get behind Me Satan” (Matthew 16:18,23). b. “The God of
peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be
with you.” (Romans 16:20) c. Great Red Dragon (Revelation 12) d. “In 1992 the Chinese state-run press
noted that ‘the church played an important role in the change” in Eastern
Europe and warned, ‘If China does not want such a scene to be repeated in its
land, it must strangle the baby while it is still in the manger’” (quoted in
Paul Marshall, Their Blood Cries Out pp.10f.). II. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT JOB WOULD BLESS/CURSE GOD
TO HIS FACE? A. The Hebrew of Job 1:5,11; 2:5,9 literally
reads, “bless(ed) God.” (also 1 Kings 21:10,13; Psalm 10:3) B. It seems that the Hebrew scribes could
not bring themselves to write the words “curse God.” 1. Change/euphemize Scripture by changing
“curse God” to “bless God” 2. Possibly blaspheme God by writing,
“Curse God” C. “Cursing” in the Bible has a different
meaning than the way we use it today: 1. When we think of “curse” today, we tend
to use the word with the sense of “bad luck” (e.g. “Curse of the Bambino;”
Gino Castignoli). 2. Biblically, cursing pertains to
judgment. D. To curse God means that Job would not
fear God but rather turn away from Him. E. Were it not for God’s Word, it would seem
blasphemous to suggest that Jesus became a curse (Galatians 3:13 with
Deuteronomy 21:23; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). III. AN URGENT WARNING
TO UNBELIEVERS A. To be outside the church is to be in the
domain of the evil one (1 Cor.5:5; 2 Cor.4:4; Eph.2:2; 1 Tim.1:20;
1 John 4:4; Rev.11:1,2; 12:9; 13:14) B. The testimony of Jesus is that Satan is the
Father of all lies (John 8:44). C. Job’s faith and trust in God led to his
being delivered from Satan’s schemes and in the same way, the only way you
can be freed from the power of the devil, is by putting your faith and trust
in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10). IV. UNTIL YOUR DYING DAY OR UNTIL THE DAY JESUS
RETURNS, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ENGAGED IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE. A. Satan has been
defeated by Christ and his power is limited (Matt. 25:41; John 12:31; 16:11;
Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:10; cf. Job 1:12, 20–22; Job 2:6–7, 10; Zech 3:1–2) B. We are to petition our heavenly Father to “Deliver us from evil [or the evil one] (Mt.6:13). C. God has given us the ability to resist
Satan through His Spirit and the full armor of God (Eph. 4:27; Eph. 6:11-18; James
4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8–9). With all his hatred of God and spite against His people,
he cannot emancipate himself from that sovereign control, which binds him to
God's service. In all his blasphemous designs he is, in spite of himself,
doing the work of God. In his rebellious efforts to dethrone the Most High,
he is actually paying Him submissive homage. In moving heaven and earth to accomplish the perdition of
those whom Christ has ransomed, he is actually fitting them for glory. Fiend
as he is, full of bitterness and malignity, and intent on every form of
mischief, he is constrained to be that which he most abhors, and is furthest
from his intentions and desires, helpful and auxiliary to the designs of
grace. Like the sons of God who assemble in the presence of the
Infinite Majesty to receive the commissions of the King of kings, prompt to
do his bidding and to execute his will, Satan is, though most reluctantly,
and in a different sense from them, yet as really and as truly, in the case
of those who, like Job, steadfastly resist his insidious assaults, a
ministering spirit sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of
salvation (William Henry Green, The Argument of the Book of Job
Unfolded [1874, reissued 1977, James and Klock],
pp. 63f.). QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION Take what you
have learned this morning and pray that God would grant you humility to
worship and serve Him as your Creator and Redeemer. What passages
of Scripture were read this morning? What was the
title of this morning’s sermon and why? How has there
been constant enmity and warfare throughout history between the seed of the
woman and the seed of the serpent? “What does it
mean that Job would curse God to His face?”
Who is Gino
Castignoli? |
