M
(SORRY ABOUT THE FORMATTING. TOOK IT STRAIGHT FROM WORD)
(WOULD LOVE FEEDBACK FROM FOLKS WITH AN INTEREST IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF JOB; WHERE SATAN TALKS TO GOD, AND THE ISSUES IT RAISES - please forgive any spelling, grammatical errors)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Belief in the unseen is major dividing line of faith today, and to the degree of activity, even amongst Christians. People get out of bed,have breakfast, feed their children, pay their bills, go to work, fall asleep, all without ever thinking about the world unseen. But Job 1 gives us a sneak peak of a heavenly scenario being played out between Satan and God. One that leaves us with many more questions than answers. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]What we must understand is that this is not a once off (Zech 3:1-2; Luke 22; Rev 12:10), Satan has access to God 'day and night' to work against us. Jesus himself says that Satan is asking to harass Simon (Luke 22:31). What is important to note here is that again, like Job 1, Satan needs to ask to persecute the most righteous of God's children, and in the case of Job, God permits it! Not only does he permit it but as Atkinson rightly tells us (1991, p. 22) God sets the bounds for Job's persecution. This would appear to be an evil, but there is no dualism in God. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]P[/FONT]opular Christian thinking operates within a sort of dualism, in which the life is understood as a battle between God and Satan, the holy Spirit and the world of the demonic, as though they were equal partners in a contest. But d[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]ualism of good and evil is not taught biblically. While we must not ignore the reality of spiritual warfare, it is never a contest between equals. Lasor, Hubbard, Bush also rightly state: “The Satan has access to the presence of Yahweh, yet is governed by his sovereignty. Nothing suggests that the Satan is anything other than God's creature, the biblical doctrine of creation rules out any true form of dualism” (1982 p. 494). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] This, makes the beginning of Job even more puzzling. If there is no threat to God, why does he allow Satan to persecute Job? [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Murphy and Carm rightly state that a modern response would be “what kind of a God is that? Can there be anything more callous then this treatment of Job's family and possessions? A modern reaction might be that an omniscient and omnipotent God would not find this necessary.” (1999, p. 10). And indeed, why is this necessary, why is one man so important that: (1) Satan incites God's hand against him, and; (2) Allows the persecution in the first place? So understand we must look at ourselves in a universal light.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](Zuke, 1992, p. 146)[/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We may doubt with Elihu, whether one person can make any appreciable difference. But the Bible rustles with hints that something like The Wager is played out in other believers as well. We are God's Exhibit A, his demonstration piece to the powers in the unseen world”. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Paul likened himself to a gladiators marching into the Colosseum on display. Humans have been made the spectacle to the universe, to angels and men (1 Cor 4.9). We will judge angels! (1 Cor 6:3). It is[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In this light that the question of God's allowance of us to be tested should be seen. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] Humans are not insignificant by their actions, exactly the opposite; our earthly actions have universal ramifications. A short term mission trip sees Satan fall from the heavens (Luke 10:18); A[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] sinners repentance sets off celestial celebration (Luke 15:7); A baby's birth disturbs the entire universe (Rev 12). And even though most of this is hidden from our eyes we sometimes are still privy to tantalizing glimpses into the heavenly which make us see ourselves in a new universal light.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] Although we are clearly valued, we must remain aware that although these pictures all point to a universal spiritual truth, we know the equivalent of 3 pieces of a 5000 piece jig-saw puzzle. We can speculate further but we must understand that it is just that; speculation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](van Selms, 1984, p. 14) [/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In the notion that wisdom is the guiding principal also of God's actions, there may lurk a great danger. This is not so if one lets God's wisdom be God's; but it is dangerous if one equates it with human insight. Then the assumption is that the person can trace God's reasonings, even predicting how he will react to human deeds.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]God's wisdom is God's (Prov 8:22-31) and Perdue & Clark Gilpin, aptly state “within this complex universe God functions freely to monitor the intricacies of the system, to modulate its ebb and flow and to balance it's conflicting needs” (1992, p. 38). [/FONT]
(WOULD LOVE FEEDBACK FROM FOLKS WITH AN INTEREST IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF JOB; WHERE SATAN TALKS TO GOD, AND THE ISSUES IT RAISES - please forgive any spelling, grammatical errors)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Belief in the unseen is major dividing line of faith today, and to the degree of activity, even amongst Christians. People get out of bed,have breakfast, feed their children, pay their bills, go to work, fall asleep, all without ever thinking about the world unseen. But Job 1 gives us a sneak peak of a heavenly scenario being played out between Satan and God. One that leaves us with many more questions than answers. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]What we must understand is that this is not a once off (Zech 3:1-2; Luke 22; Rev 12:10), Satan has access to God 'day and night' to work against us. Jesus himself says that Satan is asking to harass Simon (Luke 22:31). What is important to note here is that again, like Job 1, Satan needs to ask to persecute the most righteous of God's children, and in the case of Job, God permits it! Not only does he permit it but as Atkinson rightly tells us (1991, p. 22) God sets the bounds for Job's persecution. This would appear to be an evil, but there is no dualism in God. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]P[/FONT]opular Christian thinking operates within a sort of dualism, in which the life is understood as a battle between God and Satan, the holy Spirit and the world of the demonic, as though they were equal partners in a contest. But d[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]ualism of good and evil is not taught biblically. While we must not ignore the reality of spiritual warfare, it is never a contest between equals. Lasor, Hubbard, Bush also rightly state: “The Satan has access to the presence of Yahweh, yet is governed by his sovereignty. Nothing suggests that the Satan is anything other than God's creature, the biblical doctrine of creation rules out any true form of dualism” (1982 p. 494). [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] This, makes the beginning of Job even more puzzling. If there is no threat to God, why does he allow Satan to persecute Job? [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Murphy and Carm rightly state that a modern response would be “what kind of a God is that? Can there be anything more callous then this treatment of Job's family and possessions? A modern reaction might be that an omniscient and omnipotent God would not find this necessary.” (1999, p. 10). And indeed, why is this necessary, why is one man so important that: (1) Satan incites God's hand against him, and; (2) Allows the persecution in the first place? So understand we must look at ourselves in a universal light.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](Zuke, 1992, p. 146)[/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We may doubt with Elihu, whether one person can make any appreciable difference. But the Bible rustles with hints that something like The Wager is played out in other believers as well. We are God's Exhibit A, his demonstration piece to the powers in the unseen world”. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Paul likened himself to a gladiators marching into the Colosseum on display. Humans have been made the spectacle to the universe, to angels and men (1 Cor 4.9). We will judge angels! (1 Cor 6:3). It is[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In this light that the question of God's allowance of us to be tested should be seen. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] Humans are not insignificant by their actions, exactly the opposite; our earthly actions have universal ramifications. A short term mission trip sees Satan fall from the heavens (Luke 10:18); A[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] sinners repentance sets off celestial celebration (Luke 15:7); A baby's birth disturbs the entire universe (Rev 12). And even though most of this is hidden from our eyes we sometimes are still privy to tantalizing glimpses into the heavenly which make us see ourselves in a new universal light.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] Although we are clearly valued, we must remain aware that although these pictures all point to a universal spiritual truth, we know the equivalent of 3 pieces of a 5000 piece jig-saw puzzle. We can speculate further but we must understand that it is just that; speculation.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif](van Selms, 1984, p. 14) [/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In the notion that wisdom is the guiding principal also of God's actions, there may lurk a great danger. This is not so if one lets God's wisdom be God's; but it is dangerous if one equates it with human insight. Then the assumption is that the person can trace God's reasonings, even predicting how he will react to human deeds.” [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]God's wisdom is God's (Prov 8:22-31) and Perdue & Clark Gilpin, aptly state “within this complex universe God functions freely to monitor the intricacies of the system, to modulate its ebb and flow and to balance it's conflicting needs” (1992, p. 38). [/FONT]
