The book of Job is a story with seven principal characters: Job himself, his three friends, Elihu, God, and Satan. Each one comes on the scene at various times to make his speeches. Job speaks nine times; Eliphaz, three times; Bildad, three times; Zophar, two times. Elihu speaks only once, but it is a very long speech. All of these characters speak very persuasively and eloquently, and every one of the speeches is significant. God speaks twice and Satan speaks twice. The average reader usually finds that whatever may be in his heart, whether it is right or wrong, is voiced in the book of Job.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were Job’s three friends who came to tell him what a wicked man he was. They explained that this was why so many calamities had befallen him. Finally Elihu, “the great exalted one,” gave his opinion. He made only one speech, but it covers six chapters (32 through 37).
Job was in the middle of God’s dealings, and he knew that. Even though Satan was being used as an instrument to come against him, Job saw beyond that; he realized that the Lord was behind it.
The book of Job revolves around a man who was both a worshiper and an intercessor. This is the first thing we learn about him (Job 1:5, 20). Then why did he experience such severe dealings? It wasn’t because he was not a perfect man, but because God wanted to double the portion of blessing that was upon him. God repeatedly called attention to the fact that Job was a man perfect in his spirit before the Lord (Job 1:8; 2:3; 42:7–8). He even reminded the devil of this (Job 2:3). In effect, God incited the devil to harass Job, so that His purposes could be accomplished. Regardless of how you view the devil in the book of Job, you should realize that he was the unwitting servant of God. Satan did exactly what God wanted him to do in order that something could be accomplished in Job so that he would receive a double portion at his latter end. This is exactly what happened.
The book of Job opens with Job worshiping the Lord and interceding for his children (Job 1:5): and at the very end of the book, after he has lost everything, he is still worshiping and interceding. He still has a deep repentance in his spirit. He is the only one able to intercede for his friends (Job 42:8–9). He has been exalted to that place, and now God instructs him to pray for them. Job begins as a worshiper and an intercessor, and after everything has been wrought in him that God wants, he comes forth not only with a double portion of material blessings, but even more triumphant in his spirit as a worshiper and an intercessor than before. This is what happens to you, too, after God works within your spirit to bring you forth into the servant of God He wants you to be.
All of Job’s friends ministered condemnation to him. They had only one thing to say: “If you were not so wicked, you would not be having all these troubles.” Zophar even went so far as to say, “If you would really get what you deserve, your situation would be still worse” (Job 11:5–6). With friends like that, Job didn’t need any enemies! Job’s friends spoke so convincingly that it sounded like the truth. But each one was actually imposing a “religious” condemnation on Job. Later we will see what God had to say to them.
After listening to Job’s three friends, Elihu made his speech. It was mostly a lot of double-talk. First he told the three friends how wrong they were. With an arrogant pride he said, “Now you all stand back and listen to me. I will teach you wisdom. I have the answer. You say that poor Job is suffering because of his sin, but you are wrong.” Then he addressed Job and told him, “The reason you had to go through all of these sufferings, Job, was to keep you from sinning.” Elihu was not right either!
When you read the speeches of Job’s three “friends,” be sure to take their accusations against Job as invalid. They were designed to produce self-condemnation. When God is dealing with a man, you can count on it that the devil will be right there with some religious people to minister selfcondemnation to him every time he can. Everything that these “comforters” told Job shows the kind of subtlety with which Satan comes to us too, to produce self-condemnation when we are under God’s dealings and are looking to find a cause for them. Our human mind screams for an answer: “I know God is dealing with me—but why? Is it because I deserve it? What is God trying to do to me? Why am I so susceptible to the oppressions of Satan? How does the devil find access to me? Before I came into this walk in the Spirit, the devil did not bother me; now he is assaulting me all day long. What has happened? Is it my fault? Or is there something wrong with this walk with God? What is it?”
We must be sure to resist that subtle reasoning Satan brings. We must realize that spirits that are being perfected often experience dealings for which there is no explainable reason known to man; and we are getting into that area. Perfected spirits, or those spirits being perfected, go through something like Job experienced.
The book of Job is alive as God reveals new truths to us from it. It tells of Job’s intercession and his worship. It also gives us an insight into the protective hedges that God places around His children and tells us why He removes those hedges. They are never removed until a man is ready to enter into a greater walk with God. God never lifts His blessing or His provision off of you unless it is to drive you into a greater blessing and a greater provision.
It is interesting to see how the story of Job unfolds and how it eventually concludes. The first chapter gives a description of Job and his possessions. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it came about, when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Job 1:1–5.
Job was a man who was perfect before the Lord. In his relationship with God, he did not overlook or neglect anything that could be held against him. He was aware of the purity of his own spirit in walking before the Lord, but he was also aware of the need of his children. With vicarious faith he interceded for his sons, saying, “Perhaps something occurred in their heart and they have sinned against the Lord. I must see that God’s blessing remains upon them.” And so he made intercession for them. Job was a real intercessor.
In verse 7 we see how Satan entered into the picture. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
God asked Satan if he had given any attention to Job lately. The next verse indicates that Satan’s immediate response was, in effect, “Why bother?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” Job 1:7–10.
If your spirit is not right with the Lord, there are many things that can reach you and drain away the blessing. But if your spirit is perfect and right before the Lord, God will put a hedge round about you, about your heart, about your household, and about everything you possess, so that you will be protected. These hedges are very necessary. In this day we are believing for the Lord to build hedges also about our Kingdom businesses and everything that involves the work of the Lord. We have the promise, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee” (Isaiah 26:3). We pray, “Lord, let that be so. Keep me in perfect peace. Build a hedge about me and about everything I have.”
In Job 1:11 we see how Satan challenged God to remove the first hedge, the one around Job’s possessions. “But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.” If a man’s spirit is not right, he will curse God when adversity comes into his life.
Nothing tests the very soul of a man as much as a change of fortune. If his heart is not perfect, a sudden change in his circumstances will reveal it. This applies to rich and poor alike. If a poor man suddenly becomes rich, or a rich man suddenly becomes poor, you will see what is in his heart. When a young person who is immature and unaccustomed to wealth suddenly receives a large inheritance, everything that is in his heart will surface. The sudden change in his circumstances will reveal what is in him. When the stock market crashed in 1929, many wealthy men saw their fortunes wiped out. One day they were rich; the next day they were paupers. Some of those who could not adjust to such a sudden change committed suicide.
In the early Thirties, during the depression days following the crash, we saw a spiritual change in this country. There were more revivals and more people seeking God then than during times of prosperity. Because they did not have much in the way of material blessings, they looked to the Lord. Then at the end of the depression, when our country became involved in World War II, the spiritual climate changed again. People were working in shipyards and other war-related projects, earning more money than they ever had before. Some who had been living in very restricted circumstances now suddenly found themselves comfortably situated. As a result, many walked away from God and became apostate. Again it was because of a sudden change. When a man’s fortune is suddenly changed, you soon find out what is in him.
God accepted Satan’s challenge and gave him permission to take away all that Job had, except his very life. Verses 13–19 of chapter 1 tell how the calamity struck and destroyed all of Job’s possessions, as well as his seven sons and three daughters. A sudden, unexpected change in a man’s life is the supreme test to show what is in his heart. This greatest test was put upon Job. In one day, everything he had was taken away: his family, his possessions, everything. All was wiped out in one day.
Verses 20–22 tell how Job reacted. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God. What a beautiful spirit Job had! In spite of all that happened to him, he did not curse God. His spirit was perfect.
Job was a worshiper. No matter what happens to a pure worshiper, he will never react any other way but to worship. When a man is wounded, see what his reaction is; see what he “bleeds.” If he bleeds bitterness, that is what was in him. If he worships, you know that worship was in his heart. He is a worshiper, looking to God, and nothing you do to him will cause him to react any other way but to worship God.
Job 2:1–10 tells what happened when the second hedge was removed. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth, and walking around on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause.” And Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face.” So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd (a piece of broken crockery) to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
We will not expound the chapters covering Job’s conversations with his three friends and with Elihu. Perhaps you would like to read that portion later (chapters 4 through 37). In chapters 38 through 41, God is speaking. He reminds Job of his ignorance of creation, of nature and its beings. Among other things, these chapters reveal divine keys and secrets in the field of astronomy and other sciences.
Job 42:1–6: Then Job answered the Lord, and said, “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask Thee. and do Thou instruct me.’ “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees Thee.” After God came and revealed Himself to Job, no doubt he felt that everything he had gone through was worth it. He had been rewarded by a revelation of God. Notice how he reacted: “Now my eye sees Thee; therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
Does it pay to go through God’s dealings? Yes it does, and especially if we are not justly suffering for our sins, and if we do not lose our faith. Job could have lost faith if he had listened to his friends and their religious explanation of why all these disasters were happening to him. They said it was because he was wicked. Job knew he was not wicked. Yet after he had a revelation of the Lord, the perfection that even God acknowledged Job had was thrown aside as he said, “I abhor myself and I repent in the ashes.” God gave him a level of revelation about himself that he had never had before.
Notice that Job did not curse God. The worst thing he did was to wish he were dead and to curse the day he had been born (Job 3:1–12). But God did not condemn him for that. Have you ever wondered why? Satan had said, “A man will do anything to save his life” (Job 2:4). God allowed Satan to attack Job on the very meaning of life and his very will to live. God allowed Satan to afflict Job until his own instincts of self-preservation and his own desire to live were completely gone. Because God allowed it, He never condemned Job for saying, “I wish I were dead.”
If you were in the place that Job was—and it was because God had removed from you the very will to live—and still you did not curse God, it would not seem to be a sin to wish you were dead. It would be an inevitable reaction. This does not mean that anyone is justified in committing suicide. But you are justified in losing the will to live if God puts you down to that place.
Have you ever been there? Have you had God deal with you so deeply that life had no meaning at all? Have you ever felt, “My life is a burden to me. I don’t know why I’m even alive. I don’t even know why I want to live anymore.” Although God will not condemn you for such thoughts, He wants you to come through those dealings with a pure spirit, saying, “Lord, I still worship You.”
After talking to Job, God rebuked his three friends. Job 42:7: And it came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.” God condemned them for not speaking right about the Lord and about His dealings. Three of them had said, “God is punishing Job because he is so wicked.” Elihu had said, “This is happening to keep him from sinning.” They all missed it completely.
How difficult it must have been for Job to have to defend himself. It is hard enough for a man to present himself to the Lord and try to go through His dealings, but it is even worse when there are “good” religious friends on the sidelines heckling him and saying, “You are getting what you deserve.”
This happened to me at the beginning of this move of God. We felt very much led by the Lord to make great sacrifices to send forth a missionary, which we did. We had been struggling to meet our expenses as we worked on the church building. When he returned and became aware of our situation, he said, “You are having all this difficulty because of the wickedness of your heart.” I thought, “O God, is that right? He seems to be prospering with our blessing and sacrifices, and here we are struggling to do Your will.” But God has blessed us exceedingly through the years. Churches and ministries have come forth by the hundreds. So we praise the Lord for it.
The Lord told Eliphaz and his two friends: “… you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” Job 42:7–8. God said, “I will deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what was true. But Job will pray for you.”
Job, the intercessor, was perfect. He was a twice-perfected worshiper and intercessor. God told his friends, “I will listen to him when he prays for you.” Isn’t it amazing how intercession seems to be at the core of a perfect man? Job was not interceding for himself at the beginning; he was interceding for his sons. Perhaps they had sinned in their heart. At the end, he was still interceding, now for his three friends.
Job 42:9–10: So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends. In this day, too, no doubt there will be a level of intercession in which we intercede for those who persecute us and come against us. When we pray for them, God will open the door to bless us, just as He restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends.
Satan had asked, “Does Job serve God for naught? He is being well rewarded for everything he does in serving God.” So God proved to him, “Job will serve Me for nothing. If I do not give him a thing, he will still serve Me.” When that had been established, then God heaped upon him a double portion.
And the Lord increased all that Job had twofold. The first chapter of Job gives the number of animals that Job had in the beginning: 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. In the last chapter, we read that he had twice as much. Verses 12–13: And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had (not 7,000 but) 14,000 sheep, and (not 3,000 but) 6,000 camels, and (not 500 but) 1,000 yoke of oxen, and (not 500 but) 1,000 female donkeys. And he had seven sons and three daughters. How strange! If the Lord rewarded him with twice as much, then should Job not have had fourteen sons and six daughters? No, because he never actually lost his children. They were not lost to him. It is true that the Lord had taken the seven sons and the three daughters, but now they were in His bosom. Job never lost them. Even though they were out of sight, they were never out of his heart. They would never be less related to him or less real to him. This is important for us to understand when we lose a loved one.
Job 42:14–17: And he named the first (daughter) Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his grandsons, four generations. (This was quite an accomplishment for an old man.) And Job died, an old man and full of days.
After Job had lived one life, God suddenly gave him a second life. Here we see an important truth. God has a way of bringing you to the end of an existence where you have almost reached the limits on that level and in those circumstances. For instance, there are people who came into this end-time move of God because there was a sudden upheaval in their life. They had been serving God the best they knew how and getting a little blessing in some traditional church. But they had matured as much as they ever would in that surrounding. So then God started disrupting everything in their life and said to the devil, “Go after them!” The devil was willing enough to oblige, and soon those people were going through all kinds of pressures. Why? God wanted to give them twice as much blessing as they had before. He wanted to bring them into a level where the limitations of their present existence would be broken.
What should you do if you are in that situation? Worship the Lord. And do not listen to the self-condemnation your “friends” try to minister to you. Instead tell them, “Forget it. I am going to serve the Lord. He is the One who will search my heart and search my spirit.”
Time and time again, when facing a difficult circumstance or wondering why there was not a greater answer to prayer, I have searched my heart to see if my spirit was wrong. I knew that I was walking as close to the Lord as I could. Then why was I being accused? As I sought the Lord, He showed me that my spirit was right before Him and that I should not feel condemned. Then I realized that I was going through something which had an ultimate purpose in the heart of God to loose me from the limitations that were upon my life at that time, and to bring to me a double portion. God wanted to give me twice as much.
Whenever God lifts the hedges of protection around you and your household and all you possess, the enemy will come rushing in. Then you cry out, “God, why did You remove my immunity?” Don’t worry—you will get your immunity back. You will get it back! If God has allowed it to be removed for a season, it is in order that He can remove the limitations which are upon you and give you a double portion.
Denominations are formed because people build walls around a doctrine, an experience, or a movement. In essence, they say, “We are trying to protect our doctrine. We are trying to protect our revelation.” However, when they do that, there is no way that they will ever advance, because the same walls which protect their revelation also protect them from any further revelation. And so they never go on to any greater glory. They never go on to any greater teaching. When God starts breaking down the walls, they cry, “You are breaking down our walls! Now we have no protection. We can’t protect our experience.” They do not realize that they can never expand and come into a greater revelation until the walls are broken down.
The hedges have to be removed from around your life in many areas so that you open your heart to God and say, “I’m going to serve You, Lord, with all my heart. I’m going to walk with integrity before You. I refuse to allow the enemy to bring self-condemnation. I will search my own heart to see if there is a wicked way in me, and then I will believe You to correct it. But I refuse to be bowed down with unbelief as a result of constantly being accused by the accuser of the brethren.” Afflicting Job with boils was not the worst thing Satan did to him; the worst thing he did was to bring the false accusations through his three friends. That was what almost defeated Job.
Whatever has befallen you has happened because you were doing the will of the Lord. Everything that has happened to you lately happened because God led you into it. You opened your heart to the will of God and followed right after Him like an unsuspecting little sheep. Nothing will happen to you unless God wills it.
What is the will of God? Is it not the mess you are in right now? What is the purpose of it? To bring you forth into something greater! Woe be unto our hearts if we dare to be presumptuous or discouraged or bitter or rebellious or withdrawing. Don’t do it! Walk before the Lord with integrity. You started to walk with Him; stay with it. What will happen? The horizons will expand. Your capacity for blessing will increase. The Kingdom will be yours. Isn’t that good enough?
There is nothing so total as the dealings of God. They are complete. They bring you into His fullness. A double portion is coming. It may look as if you are losing out in everything you are doing, but that is just for a moment. Paul reminds us, “These momentary afflictions work for us an exceeding weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17). In Romans 8, the chapter on sonship, Paul tells us, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).