These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Last time:

Lesson #1: Suffering is inevitable, but don’t live in fear. [Realism]

Lesson #2: Delight in your earthly blessings, but don’t make them idols. [Contentment]

I. Lesson #3: Understand Satan’s Relentless Hatred, But Also God’s Protection [Security]

The opening two chapters of the Book of Job pulls back a veil on the invisible role of Satan in orchestrating much of the suffering experienced on earth today. The more aware of this we are, the better we will suffer for the glory of God.

1. The Heavenly Realms

Mark 1:10  As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

A barrier between us and the heavenly realms that surround us constantly.

By faith alone we can perceive Satan’s activity in our lives

Paul says of Satan,

“we are not ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Unfortunately most Christians seem to live in constant ignorance of the activity of Satan and demons in their lives

The New Testament takes the people of God through a quantum leap in education about the devil’s dark kingdom. The word “Satan” (as the invisible spiritual enemy of God) appears in only fourteen verses in the Old Testament, and ten of them are in Job 1-2.

By contrast, Satan is mentioned 37 times, and demons 71 times in the New Testament. Of those references to Satan and demons, 76 of them appear in the Gospels connected with Jesus’ ministry. Time and time again, Jesus exposed the hidden realm of Satan and demons by his astonishing and effortless power in exorcism.

Satan and demons are every bit as active now as they were in Jesus’ day! We need to understand Satan’s role in affecting human suffering.

1. Satan Accuses
   1. The “sons of God” (angels) appear before God
   2. God asks Satan where he has come from; Satan says he’s been roaming to and fro over the surface of the earth
   3. God boasts about Job, saying he is unlike any other man on earth
   4. Satan accuses Job

Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face (Job 1:10-11)

1. Satan Destroys
   1. God gives limited permission to Satan to attack Job’s life
   2. As a result, Job loses every earthly blessing—possessions, and all ten children
   3. Though the Chaldeans and Sabeans and some natural disasters do the actual work, the text implies Satan is behind it all
   4. In the second chapter, Satan redoubles his accusation and God allows Satan to attack Job’s body, but not to kill him
   5. Job’s painful sores from the sole of his feet to the top of his head are directly ascribed to Satan’s activity
   6. Note: the New Testament corroborates Satan’s ability to bring disease and disability… beyond demon-possession

Luke 13:11  a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

Luke 13:16 “… should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

7. Strangely, Satan is not mentioned again in the Book of Job… at least not directly

1. Behemoth and Leviathan
   1. At the end of the book, however, God shows up in a hurricane to rebuke Job and remind him of God’s greatness
   2. He uses his power as displayed in creation… inanimate first, then ten animals
   3. After that, Job repents of his sin

“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5)

4. But God isn’t done yet… he brings up two more animals—Behemoth and Leviathan
5. Behemoth (Job 40:15-24)

The word “behemoth” is the plural of the word for “beast,” and it’s generally associated with cattle, but sometimes can just refer to any large land animal. It is strange for the plural word “behemoth” to be treated as a single animal. Identification of this animal varies among interpreters, but the most common is either the elephant or the hippopotamus. God celebrates this animal’s massive strength in its loins and belly, with bones as strong as bronze and iron. He feeds as he pleases and lays low, hidden in the river; nothing makes him afraid. God asserts that no man may capture him or pierce his nose to control him. Yet God can approach him with his sword to kill him any time he chooses.

6. Leviathan (Job 41:1-34)

This animal receives by far the most detailed and longest description by God. It is also the most mysterious. God begins by establishing that neither Job nor any man alive can capture or control Leviathan. He cannot be drawn out by the nose (that is, controlled by bit or bridle). He cannot be made to plead in terror for his life or enslaved. He cannot be controlled by a leash or turned into a pet for children to play with. He cannot be bought or sold at a market. No weapon made by man can threaten him, since his hide is impenetrable. If any man should touch him, he would instantly and perpetually regret it. He is so fierce that the full sight of him would make even the bravest warrior run in terror. But though no man can capture, control, or kill Leviathan, God can do it effortlessly, since everything in the universe is totally under his power.

God then describes Leviathan’s physical attributes: skin impenetrable like armor, strength unable to be bridled, jaws unable to be opened, scales again impenetrable since they are so close together air cannot permeate them. Most mysterious of all is his ability to breathe fire from his mouth and smoke from his nostrils. God discusses this power at length and in detail:

His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth (Job 41:18-21).

It’s hard after reading these words not to think of a fire-breathing dragon. But God’s main point is clear: the human race is powerless against Leviathan. God continues by describing Leviathan’s awesome power in the muscles of his neck and his ability to make people leap with terror before him. His heart is as hard as a millstone… meaning probably both that he cannot be killed by a lance to the heart, nor does he ever show pity in the least for his victims. When Leviathan moves out to conquer, any warriors that meet him will be instantly vanquished: their swords, spears, arrows, and lances are all powerless to stop him. No implement made of the hardest metal, whether iron or bronze, will be strong enough to pierce him; they all become like rotten wood compared to his defenses. Amazingly, he dwells in the sea and makes it boil with his heat and  power, yet he rules over the earth as well. He is utterly devoid of fear and is king over all humanity in their pride.

1. Leviathan the Ancient Enemy of God

Isaiah 27:1  In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.

I believe that these two beasts represent demons (hence the plural, “Behemoth”) and their mighty king, Satan himself, and the destruction they bring on the human race.

1. Satan Hides Behind Disguises
   1. In the Garden of Eden, Satan hid behind a physical serpent
   2. In Daniel 7, Satan rules over four deadly beasts representing four world-ravaging human empires.
   3. In Revelation 12, Satan is depicted as a dragon, and in Revelation 13 he summons the final Beast from the Sea, the Antichrist who will rule the world
   4. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, we’re told Satan masquerades as an “angel of light”
2. How Could Behemoth and Leviathan Be Animals, Yet More Powerful than Humans?

Psalm 8:6-8  You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:  ⁷ all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,  ⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

James 3:8 Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind.

Can’t be sure!

Ultimately, I cannot assert beyond a shadow of a doubt that Leviathan represents Satan, still less that Behemoth represent demons.

KEY QUESTION: Why would a thirty-four verse description of the terrors of Leviathan be the fitting conclusion to God’s speech to Job in his suffering?

But based on the clear teaching of Job 1-2 and on the further teaching of many passages in the New Testament, I have no doubt whatsoever that Satan is directly involved every day in human suffering, and that God wants us to know that fact

1. Why God wants us to know Satan’s activity in human suffering

1) It is the truth: Satan is prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour. He truly is behind much human suffering. Any materialist interpretation of suffering is a lie. Only by awareness of the devil and his demons can we accurately diagnose our true condition.

2). For God’s glory: It is for the glory of God that we realize the greatness of Satan’s power so that we can properly appraise the awesome dimensions of God’s final victory when Satan and his dark kingdom of death are swallowed up in Christ’s victory. God approaches Behemoth and Leviathan with his fierce great and powerful sword, and they are in terror of him!

3). For Christ’s glory in destroying Satan’s kingdom: Christ effortlessly drove out demons with a word. The “Legion” of demons in the man of the Gadarenes utterly trembled before Jesus, clearly in terror of him (Mark 5:1-13). Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). He was the warrior who defeated the strong man by stripping him of the armor in which he trusted and plundering his house (Luke 11:22). I find this especially inspiring, because Leviathan’s armor was declared impenetrable by any human weapons and impossible to be stripped off by any human warrior (Job 41:13, 15). But Jesus did it by his awesome power. By his death on the cross, Christ destroyed Satan, who held the power of death, and set us captives free (Hebrews 2:14-15). Jesus rejoiced that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18), and he will rejoice even more when he casts Satan into the Lake of Fire.

4). To sever our allegiance to Satan: Adam led the human race into rebellion, from fealty to God to submission to Satan. Immediately, God put enmity between the serpent and the woman and between her seed (Christ) and his (Genesis 3:15). And in our salvation, we are learning to know and hate the usurper king and his dark kingdom.

5). To enable us to know our weakness: Satan is a foe immeasurably stronger than we are. The more we know our weakness and turn to Christ for his assistance, the stronger we will be. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

6). To show us the nature of Satan’s true attacks: Satan’s purpose in the loss of wealth, loved ones, and health is to estrange us from God. The real battle is in the hearts and minds of the people of God.

7). To convince us to put on our spiritual armor and fight our true foe: God has entrusted to us a measure of responsibility in spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:10-13).

1. Understanding God’s Hedge and God’s Leash

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side?” (Job 1:10)

This hedge was obviously extremely effective when it came to protecting Job’s prosperity and family from earthly harm. Satan cannot get through it, and therefore complains about it.

We must also speak of God’s leash on Satan’s activity. Despite God permitting an opening through the hedge, Satan is still twice restricted by the sovereign power of God in the scope of the damage he can inflict. The first time, he tells Satan that all that Job has (possessions and family) are in Satan’s hands, but he must not touch the man himself. The second time, he tells Satan he may now touch Job’s body, but he may not take his life. When God was describing Leviathan, he said that Job could not “bind” Leviathan, restraining his activity (Job 41:9). Though no man can restrain Satan, God does it constantly.

1 Corinthians 10:13: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

The words “he will not let you” is Satan’s leash.

By a vast complex of hedges and leashes, God controls all the activity of Satan and demons and maintains absolute sovereignty on earth even in this present evil age. I visualize the devil and the demons roaming through the earth in seeming freedom, but their pathways are constrained for them by the King of the Universe. It’s as though they are running through the hallways of a vast maze, a complex like the Pentagon in Washington. They don’t have clearance for many of the closed doors, so they go where they are permitted. Then suddenly a doorway opens and some of them rush in to do specific forms of damage. But around their necks is a tight leash limiting what they can do when they rush in. Then, just as suddenly as that doorway opened, it closes again, and the devil and demons have to search for another pathway. So it will be until their brief time on earth is ended by the Second Coming of Christ.

1. Christ the Dragonslayer

In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea (Isaiah 27:1)

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  (Revelation 19:11-15)

Revelation 20:10  And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

II. Lesson #4: When Suffering Comes, Respond Like Job Did (Initially) [Perseverance]

1. James’s Commendation

“You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11)

1. God’s Plan for His Glory… and Ours

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom he predestined, these he also called; and whom he called, these he also justified; and whom he justified, these he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30)

Romans 8:18  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

God’s incredible plan described in these and many other verses in the Bible is the most glorious thing God has ever done. At the end of the Book of Job, God boasts in his physical creation, both inanimate and animate (ten animals). And they are glorious. But nothing brings God as much glory as the salvation of human beings from everything sin has done to their bodies and souls. Heaven will be radiant with the glory of God, and the greatest glory will come from the redeemed.

1. Why Perseverance is Needed

God has willed a long, slow, unfolding time frame for this work of salvation. Both the conversion of individual elect people all over the world by faith in Christ and their gradual process of sanctification by increasing obedience to God’s Word, is a time-consuming process.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  (James 1:2-4)

Romans 5:3-4  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

1. Trials Are Preparing Us for Eternity

2 Corinthians 4:17  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

1. Understanding the Patience of Job… and of God

The Patience of Job:

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:20-22)

This is Job at his absolute best. I believe this is exactly the exemplary patience of Job that James celebrated as a role model for all time. This is Job living out the words, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). The second reaction was similar:

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 would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips (Job 2:9-10)

The Patience of God: By grace and his own patience, God overlooked the many wrong things Job said about him in his agony and focused on what he said that was right. So it is now with us in our trials: God is very patient with us when we sometimes in weakness thrash around and say things we should never say. Such is the astounding nature of the patience of God.

Elements of Job’s Suffering:

Job grieved: He tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground. He dealt with reality and felt deeply the loss. He was not an emotionless robot, or a Stoic who sought to have no feelings, or a Buddhist seeking “detachment” as though his possessions and his children meant nothing to him. Grief was appropriate, and he deeply grieved.

Job worshiped God: Despite these incredible losses, he worshiped God. He drew near to God and praised him. He said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Fundamental to this kind of worship in the midst of terrible trials is the knowledge that God never changes. If God was worthy of worship yesterday, he is every bit as worthy of worship today. God is as good in giving good gifts as he is in taking them away.

Job ascribed all his blessings to God: “The Lord gave.” Job saw that every good and perfect gift came originally from God (James 1:17). That included all his wealth and all ten of his children.

Job ascribed all his trials to God as well: “The Lord has taken away.” “Shall we receive good from God, and not evil?” Job saw God’s sovereignty in the losses. Though the Book of Job unveils Satan’s activity in Job’s losses and his disease, yet ultimately it was God’s doing. Human agents (the Sabeans and the Chaldeans) and impersonal disasters (the mighty wind that leveled the house and killed his ten children) are all ultimately under God’s sovereign control.

Job did not charge God with wrong: At this early stage, he didn’t. Later he did. But this is essential to suffering well: not accusing God or denying him his attributes love, goodness, justice, wisdom.

He resisted temptation from his wife: Job stood fast when directly enticed to curse God.

Job “received” from God whatever God chose to give him: “Shall we receive good from God, and not evil?” This is the demeanor of God’s servant, which is what God calls him twice to Satan and four times to Eliphaz: “my servant, Job.” A servant humbly stands under the master and receives whatever the master chooses to give.