Though He Slay Me I Will Hope In Him

Satan, the mighty adversary of both God and mankind is permitted to do his fiendish work. He is even allowed to confront the Almighty. Listen.

The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" 

Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 

And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him (Ps. 34:7) 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."   

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." 

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.—Job 1:7-12 ESV 

The apostle said this about Satan:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. —1Pe 5:8 ESV

Sculptured lion at Arban, ancient Babylonia

Ancient Lion. PALESTINE in ancient times contained many lions, but at present they are not found in that country, but exist in the desert on the road to Egypt. They abound on the banks of the Euphrates, between Bussorah and Bagdad, and in the marshes and jungles near the rivers of Babylonia. The lion of Israel was in all probability the Asiatic variety, described by Aristotle and Pliny as distinguished by its short, curly mane, and by being shorter and rounder in shape, like the sculptured lion found at Arban. It was less daring than the longer-maned species ; but when driven by hunger, it not only ventured to attack the flocks in the desert in the presence of the shepherd, but laid waste towns and villages, and devoured men. The engraving represents a lion slain by the shepherds in his attack upon their flocks. - Animals, Birds, Insects, And Reptiles Of The Bible

Satan is compared to this fearful animal. He and his minions roam about seeking to destroy our faith and thus to devour us. Why does God permit such things to happen?

Oswald Chambers put the wrestling before God this way:

Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

So we now follow Job as he wrestles with what the LORD permitted in his life. He wrestles with his illness, the death of his children, the loss of his wealth, his wife,  his so-called friends and ultimately with the LORD God Himself. 

We have much to learn from this great man of faith who said, 

"Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face." -Job 13:15 ESV 

Legalized Abortion and Spiritual Wrestling

In my last posting I began a brief study of the Apostle Paul's guidance on spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:10-20. I continue that study today as we look at those enemies we each face in our one on one wrestling. Paul writes that we wrestle against

"the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly place" (Eph. 6:12)

Last time I pointed out that wrestling was the most violent and no-holds-barred event of all the Greco-Roman Olympic sports, often ending in death for the loser and sometimes even for the winner. Preparation for the conflict required extreme training, physical strength and mental self-control. Learning how to wrestle was also part of the boot-camp training for Roman soldiers. They had to be carefully disciplined if they were going to win in one on one combat. The same kind of disciplined training is necessary for the believer in and follower of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).

To understand the importance of this training,  Paul provides a brief explanation of whom we are up against. He calls them authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil. What does he mean?

Start with 'authorities'. A quote from the Lord Jesus applies here:

 "And I tell you,everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.  And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:8-12).

Jesus Himself, as you know, was dragged before the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, and then before the Roman Procurator Pilate. Their lies, lust for power and political maneuvering led to His crucifixion. Believers, Jesus points out, will experience the same thing. Their open witness to their belief in Jesus and the Gospel, as well as their firm commitment to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures will be challenged by rulers and authorities. The forces behind such challenges, Paul says, are spiritual. We do not face mere men, mere "flesh and blood."

The implications for the present in the United States, for example, are multitudinous. Consider but one, the law that says it is legal for a woman to murder the unborn child in her womb, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision of January 22, 1973.

This pernicious ruling is clearly contrary to God's commandment forbidding murder and yet in the name of the so-called Constitutional right to privacy, the Bill of Rights ninth amendment, it is legal. Christians have no choice—none—but to speak out against and oppose such an immoral law. We are bound by our faith in Christ to defend human life and most particularly the helpless life in its mother's womb.

In doing so, our Lord points out that we must be prepared to be brought up before the rulers and authorities. Even if they are not elected rulers, many vigorously claim to support abortion in the name of what they call a woman's rights. If and when that happens, we also need to realize that this is part of the spiritual wrestling we must endure.

Having said that, I also am very aware of the personal wrestling a young woman faces when she is pregnant because of rape or a pregnancy outside of marriage. I know of the wrestling a young couple faces when they learn their pregnancy will most certainly lead to the birth of a physically or mentally deformed child. I know what frightening decisions must be made when the birth of the child may lead to the death of the mother. As a pastor, I've been there, assisting women and couples in their wrestling. In those moments, fellow believers must be prepared to support and strengthen those who wrestle; we must be ready to speak the words of the Holy Spirit.

This is but one example out of many that illustrates the life and death struggles believers in Christ face and why we all must submit ourselves to rigorous spiritual discipline.