Learning About The Permissive Will Of God

Everything was going great for Job and his family. His children celebrated life and Papa Job prayed for them. But ominous things awaited.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 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 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 1:6-12 ESV

There are a number of difficulties with this passage from the ancient book of Job.

1. What or where is the setting for this story? 
2. Who are the "sons of God"? 
3. Since when does "Satan" get to come along to present himself before the LORD, especially since in other parts of Scripture we read that he was cast out of heaven (Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:7-9; 20:2). 

We will deal with the first two questions today and take up the second in detail in the next post. 

Who are the sons of God? 
Normally a son refers to a physically descended child:

"The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. - Gen. 5:4 ESV

However, the word can refer to both male and female children:

Job 8:4: "If your children (same Hebrew word: beni) have sinned against him. . ." - Job 8:4 ESV

Sons can also refer to members of a nation or group: "... I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword. - Zec 9:13 ESV

Jar of Quotes

Thus when the book of Job uses the phrase sons of God it refers to the group or class of mighty beings we know as the angels. Read how the LORD rebukes Job out of the whirlwind:

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? - Job 38:4-7 ESV

The sons are sons of Elohim (Hebrew) in this passage. Elohim is not always translated as God. So see Psalm 89 where sons of Elohim (Hebrew) is translated as heavenly beings or the sons of the mighty. 

• For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, -   89:6 ESV. The HCSB and NET all translate the phrase as the heavenly beings. 
• NKJV, ASV, YLT, DBY and NASB all translate the phrase as the sons of the mighty 
• In Num 25:2 elohim is translated as gods:"These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods (elohim), and the people ate and bowed down to their gods (elohim). - Num 25:2 ESV 

Translation of elohim depends upon the context. Thus the various translations quoted above suggest a class of heavenly, mighty beings, sometimes mistaken for gods. These mighty ones are also known in Hebrew as the malakim, the messengers or in Greek as the angeloi. The point is that the phrase sons of God in Job 1 likely refers to the heavenly beings, the mighty ones, the angels. It does not suggest that they are descendants of God, i.e. sons of God. To be  sure the Creator of heaven and the earth is known as ELOHIM, as we read in the first verse of Scripture:  "In the beginning, ELOHIM created the heavens and the earth," Gen. 1:1, etc. Certainly the angels did not create the universe. In the Genesis vv. the noun Elohim refers to the Almighty, the Maker of all things visible and invisible. But in other contexts the noun Elohim  refers to that class of mighty beings we know as the messengers, the malakim or more commonly by the Greek translation, the angels.

So we begin a study of the mystery known as the permissive will of God. We read in Job 1 how He gathered the mighty ones, the angelic hosts, the elohim, before Him who is THE ELOHIM and we learn how the LORD allowed even Satan, the Adversary, the leader of the rebels among the elohim, to challenge the LORD to allow him to test Job's faith.

We struggle with why the LORD allows these mighty, but evil, angels to continue their rebellion. That is a topic for the next blog. For now the most direct answer is that He allows Satan and his host to test our faith and to teach us to mature in faith. In His prayer Our LORD Jesus teaches us to pray: Deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13) And in faith we know that He will for He permits such tests for our good (Rom. 8:28).

But more about that the next time.

Why Do We Pray, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"?

Again and again we Christians pray to our Father in heaven to "lead us not into temptation." Since we know he does not tempt us to sin, why pray such a prayer at all? This is a puzzle I'd like to help us solve as we move into this Lenten season of penitence. Let's start by looking at the petition itself.

. . . And lead us not into temptation." - Luke 11:4 and Matt. 6:14 ESV

The word translated as lead is eispherō in Greek. In the N.T. we find the word in a variety of contexts. 

• some men brought in their paralyzed friend to Jesus - Luke 5:18-19
• Jesus advises his disciples not to be anxious about what to say when rulers and authorities bring you before them - Luke 12:11
• The Athenians were quite fascinated by the strange teaching Paul brought them - Acts 17:19
• Timothy is to remind his flock that "we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it - 1 Tim. 6:7
• Just as the bodies of sacrificial animals brought into the holy places by the high priest were burned outside the camp, so Jesus suffered outside the gate - Hebr. 13:11-12

It seems Jesus teaches us to petition our Father not to bring us into temptation. Is he thereby reminding us that the Father does in fact bring us to places or situations where we might be tempted to disobey or reject Him? It is interesting to note that this is precisely what the Father did with Jesus. We hear about it at the very beginning of his public ministry. Jesus must have reported it to his disciples, because it was a very solitary encounter between himself and his arch-enemy, Satan himself. The account is found in Matt. 4:1-11. Its about what he experienced after his 40-day fast. More about that in later posts. 

It appears that the devil and his minions are always roaming about like hungry lions on the prowl and we who follow Jesus are the juicy meat they desire (1 Peter 5:8). Add to that the fact that our sinful human nature loves to join the demons in giving in to the temptations and we live in a world filled with equally sinful men. Given all that, why would our Father in heaven bring us into temptation or allow us to be tempted as was His Son? What's the point?

Let's go back to the petition and read the whole sentence this time. 

. . . And lead us not into temptation, BUT deliver us from evil - Matt. 6:14

A couple things to note: 

• Luke's version of the prayer does not have "but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4)
• Matthew's version actually has τοῦ ponēros - the evil one

What Jesus teaches is that we will be tempted by the evil one, the devil or those personal demons assigned to us. This wrestling and fighting is bound to happen in this world controlled and led by the devil, the real god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). The Father does not take us out of the world, but rather permits us to be tempted in order that we may grow in faith and trust. He wants us to grow up in Christ. This is part of the discipling process, the training for life here and now AND for the life we will live in the age to come. It is proof that we are His children. Here's what we're told: 

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons? 

"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." 

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - Hbr 12:4-11 ESV

So lift up your dangling, droopy hands and brace your weakened, wobbly knees. Get back on the straight path so your lame legs won't be put out of joint, but will heal. And focus on Jesus who endured such testing, personal attacks, hostility and eventually the cross for us. And always remember that he will not allow us to be tested beyond our strength, but will with the trial also provide a way out.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. 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. - 1Cor 10:13 ESV

More about temptation in my next post. 

Sons of God In Christ Jesus

When the Jews attacked Jesus for calling himself the Son of God and thus making himself God, Jesus quoted Psalm 82, Asaph's prayer for justice in the courts and councils of the land.

Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? - Jhn 10:34 ESV 

I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you" - Psa 82:6 ESV

Psalm 82, in turn, is a reference to Exodus 22 where judges are called gods (elohiym in Hebr.).

For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, 'This is it,' the case of both parties shall come before God (elohiym) The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. - Exd 22:9 ESV

Many versions of this Exodus verse translate elohiym as "the judges" (KJV, NIV, NASB, etc.). Elohiym is a plural Hebrew word translated as God (singular) in Exodus 1:17-18, 2:23-24, 3:1, etc. So the translators are not really translating word for word. They are rather commenting. However, the ESV does translate the verse, "The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor."

The point? God operates through the judges. They have the authority and power of God, even authority to condemn to death. God has given such authority to men so that order and justice may prevail even in this sinful world. The secular legal system of government has often been called the kingdom of God's left hand (cf. Rom. 13:1-8). This is why we honor those appointed to rule over us.

However judges and princes quite often act unjustly and show partiality. Yet they won't get away with
such evil judgments. They are men and shall die and fall like any other prince. One day they will all have to give an accounting to the true Judge of all men. Already now God holds them accountable. Do your job, God demands.

God (elohiym) has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods (elohiym) he holds judgment: "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? (Selah) Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." - Psa 82:1-4 ESV

By the way, Mormons or Latter Day Saints use this Psalm to build their teaching about faithful men and their wives becoming gods who will one day rule over one or the other planets in the universe. All this is nonsense, of course. It is not what the Scripture teaches by any stretch of the imagination.

But back to Jesus and to why he quoted Psalm 82 and Exodus 22. Here's Jesus' complete defense.

"Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." - Jhn 10:34-38 ESV

The Hebrew word elohiym is indeed plural and may correctly be translated both as God and as judges. What Jesus wants them to understand, however, is that God is also plural! Hidden right out in the open is the teaching of the Trinity, the Three-in-One God. Jesus is God's Son, separated, consecrated and declared holy by his Father (Matt. 3:17, 17:5). Everything he does points to it. Look at his works and believe. "Even though you do not believe me," he says, "believe the works. The works will help you to "know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

They rejected him regardless of what he said. "Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands." John doesn't say how Jesus escaped. He only writes that Jesus went back across the Jordan where John had been baptizing at first. Many of John's followers went after Jesus.

And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." And many believed in him there. - Jhn 10:41-42 ESV

The Christmas season reminds us again of this wondrous mystery. God the Father sent His Son to be a man-child so that the judgment of eternal death might rest upon him rather than upon us. And now the whole creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal the sons of God. For in Christ Jesus all who believe are sons of God (Rom. 8:19; Gal. 3:26).

Yes, We Have A Destiny

In my previous post I raised the question of destiny, both my own and the destiny of my nation. Is there indeed a plan for each one of us, as well as a plan for our nations or groups of people? Is the hand of God at work in all of this?

To answer these questions we are asking the Holy Spirit to guide us through the following passage from Moses' farewell speech, given on the day of his death after guiding the Children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years. Read the entire context in Deut. 32:1-43.

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. - Deu 32:7-9 ESV

The chosen people of God are called the sons of God or the children of God. They all traced their lineage back to Jacob or Israel, the grandson of Abraham. Step by step over hundreds of years God made them into a people and prepared for them this land they were about to enter. The promises given to Abraham were about to be fulfilled.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites." - Gen 15:18-21 ESV. See also Gen 17:1-5. 

 This covenant is celebrated in the Psalms.

O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance." - Psa 105:6-11 ESV

 We can trace God's guiding hand back to the days of Noah and the flood. So we read, 

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth." The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. - Gen 9:12-19 ESV

Moses invites the people to review their history. Check with your fathers, he urges. They'll teach you about how the Most High God guided these events, including your bondage in Egypt and your wandering in the wilderness these past 40 years. Now you are about to enter a land designed for you, with room for all of you, a land that does not belong to the Canaanites.

The lesson for God's people in these days? God does indeed have plans for His people and each one of us as members of His people. We are called to follow Him and to serve in the place and at the time that He has designed for us. The plans of God reach back to the days of Adam and Eve. They stretch forward across the centuries to the birth, life, death and resurrection of God's Son, Jesus, the Messiah. We who have been called to faith in Christ Jesus are His chosen people, the new Israel. Paul points to this in his letters.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. - Gal 6:14-16 ESV

 And earlier in the same letter,

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 

... For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. - Gal 3:7-9, 27-29 ESV

Destiny? Promises? Guidance? Blessings? Indeed. The hand of God has been guiding all things up to this present day. And know with certainty that if you are in Christ Jesus you are an heir of all God's promises, promises that reach forward to the resurrection from the dead endless ages yet to come.

I'll have more to say about this in my next post.