I have been studying for the message that I will preach tomorrow and the title is, “The devil plays dirty!” The good news is, God has the devil on a leash! The text is John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

I will be using the story of Job’s hardship (from Job Cpts 1 & 2) as a study in what the devil is able to do (or not) to the Christian. I am convinced that he is NOT able to attack the child of God without first receiving God’s permission. With all of Satan’s dirty dealing, he still had to ASK GOD’s permission before he could afflict Job!

WHY, you ask, would God give Satan permission to attack a child of God? Well, that is content for another post. Stay tuned. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programing…

I have concluded that until a person accepts God’s plan of salvation, he or she is under the control of Satan and therefore will do whatever the devil tells him to do. Very likely, the only exception to this “rule” is when one chooses to believe & accept Christ as Savior. That explains why the Sabeans & Chaldeans were involved in bringing pain into Job’s life – they were obeying their master.

Satan designed for Job’s children to be killed as a means to entice Job to curse God and sin. At first, their death would be in conflict with the primary reasoning (above). But when we read closer, all ten children died while they were “feasting and drinking wine” (Job 1:13,18). Although I am opposed to such use of alcohol, I would NOT say that everyone who used wine (including Bible characters) were all sinners and going to hell. Still, *JOB* considered the fact that his children may have been committing sin and may have even “cursed God in their hearts” (Job 1:5). So, a case could be made that those children had determined their own eternal destiny.

However, there is another complicating factor in the story: Job’s servants were killed. Were *all* of them (with the exception of the single messenger for each occasion) sinners who deserved to die? Or, did God view them as cattle or other possessions? What are some other possible considerations? I have my ideas but I would really like to hear from you. What do YOU think?

Download the current outline here or listen to the podcast…

Ray