The Devil Fear and Trimble

Art work form an unknown artist

We have heard and in most cases have read the story of Job, and we have concluded that Jesus humble brought the devil's attention to Job, in order for the devil to test Job’s faith. However; I have concluded that Job’s story, like so many others was much deeper than a test of Job’s faith. I will like to suggest that Jesus the righteous son of Jehovah; was using Job to remind Satan that his time will soon end; through Job, he (Jesus) was showing Satan the master deceiver and the inspirer of all that is evil that he will soon be defeated.

When Satan met Jesus in Heaven as is declared in Job 1:6 and 2:1-3, “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, “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.” We must be reminded that the nature of the meeting was not discussed and the nature and the tone of the discussion that ensued between Jesus and the Devil were not expounded upon either.

However; knowing the history between Jesus and Satan, and understanding the nature of the Devil, it is my opinion that the Devil did not go to report to Jesus, as is often suggested; for to do so would be to accept Jesus Christ lordship over him, even today the devil denies Christ’s lordship over him and the universe. We must also remember the devil is not a peaceful being; he (devil) is pure evil and he uses every opportunity to cause trouble, dissension and chaos. When Satan appeared in heaven he went there to make a statement, he wanted to show the un-fallen world that he (Satan) was still going to ascend to the throne of God as he intended to before he was evicted from heaven.

Satan did not take time off from causing chaos on the earth to submit to the authority of Jehovah and his son Jesus Christ; but Satan went there to try and stir up trouble and to once again plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the un-falling creatures but most of all; he went there to remind Jesus that he will soon be at his disposal, on his turf, playing a game that he (Satan) had mastered.

I could imagine Satan reminding Jesus in the presence of all, of his commitment to save man from their sin, redeem his fallen creation form him (Devil) and to forgive them of their sins. I could imagine the cunningness the Devil use in issuing threats to Jesus. Interestingly, the threats came in the form of a reminder of his plan of salvation. Satan knew and was not afraid to remind Jesus that In order for him to bring his plans to fruition, Jesus had to give up his powers, put off his glory, abundant his father and come on down to earth. I could also imagine the sinister laughter that rang out from the mouth of the cunning one as the voice of the sinister one echoed throughout heaven as he visualize what he was going to do to Jesus. I could imagine hearing the devil, informing Jesus in the presence of his father and all of heaven that all it would take is one selfish act, one ungodly thought, one slip of the tongue and your throne and your government will be mine forever.

We must not be deceive, it is still the devil’s desire to ascent to the throne of Jehovah, even today; he is still trying to find means of securing his gold of becoming Lord of the Universe.

Satan was confident that when Jesus put off his glory and the power that constitute his Godly authority, the Son of Jehovah would be at his (Satan’s) mercies. Satan was sure, that he will be able to take his self declared position, at the helm of heaven, dethroning the Creator, when the God send Messiah (Jesus) fail his God assign mission to redeem human kind. Satan was confident that when Jesus the Christ left the realms of Heaven, put off his power and his glory; stepped into the frail body of man with all of his desire, impulses, passions and weaknesses he was going to have the upper hand. I will have all of my powers, to use as I see fit and you will have the weakness and frailty of man.

For these reasons; ever so often, when Jesus sees the need, he takes the opportunity to put Satan in his place; by giving him a shot of reality, bringing before the devil: the inspirer of evil; evidence of his eminent doom. The question is how does Jesus accomplish this?

There are many such examples of this in the biblealthough not spelt out. Most people see Jehovah and Jesus as men who are to humble to boast. But the God whom I serve is a boaster; he boast because he has a lot to boast about. Moses told the children of Israel and later reminded them who is fighting their battle. Jehovah wanted his faithful children, who are always the physical underdogs when compared to their enemies; to live such confident lives, that they will be perceived by their enemies, who were/are often stronger, had bigger armies, had more sophisticated weapon and training to looked upon YAH’s children as arrogant. Deut. 9:1-5 Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?

All through the Bible, we can see Jehovah want his people to live victorious confident lives, nothing less will do. Also Jehovah wanted the Israelites to always remember what he had done for them. He constantly reminded his people what he had done for them; they were to keep the pass over as a perpetual reminder of his delivering, saving and awesome power. So when we worship Jehovah we ought to always acknowledge his power, his glory, his wisdom and all of his other perfect qualities. What is praise? Praise is paying tribute to Jehovah’s wonder, power, love, glory etc.

Jesus burst Satan’s bubble when he brought his attention to Job. Jesus did not humble told Satan about Job he told the Devil you are confident you can take me when I come to earth, let me show you how weak you really are, I am going to put you up against Job, you with all of your power against a man who love me with all of his heart, and I am not going to intervene. I am going to sit here and watch Job defeat you. Jehovah give the Devil unfetter access to Job, he could have done anything to Job except taking his life. Satan work with frightening urgency; his goal, was to get Job to sin, turn his back on Jehovah, which was the same as Job pledging his allegiance to him (Satan). I know you will not be able to break Job and if you cannot break a mere human, do you think you can break me the Mighty Warrior, who has defeated you over and over. I am the perfect righteous son of Jehovah? You cannot be serious Jesus said with a confident smile on his face.

Satan did all that he could to Job; he even convinced Job that his trouble and unnecessary suffering was as a result of, Jehovah not appreciating his (Job) loyalty to him (Jehovah). What was amazing was, although Job have been experiencing ongoing and tremendous suffering, his love for his creator caused him to declared; Though he slay me Yet will I serve him. Job 13:15. The devil lack of success brought an unwanted sense of reality to the mind.

When Elisha and Elijah elevated their love, commitment and loyalty to Jehovah to such a stage where they came to totally rely upon him and trust him with all their heart and soul, which made them untouchable; making the devil powerless over and against them; it was a clear message to Satan, which said, if you cannot break mere sinful human beings, who place their life in Jehovah’s hand, how can you conqueror the all powerful sinless son of Yahweh. When Enoch, elevated his game where his love for Jehovah and his trust in him cause Yah to allow Enoch to forgo death, it was confirmation to Satan that his end is at hand.

When John the Baptist and the millions of people who choose to stand up for Jehovah and to suffer death, rather than to offend their God, it was also another clear warning to the Devil that he was incapable of causing Jesus to sin. I could imagine Jesus boasting on his subjects, holding them up in front of the devil as being stronger than he (the Devil) is, Although he (the devil) has misused his God given powers against Yahweh Creatures, by employing the lowest level of deceit, trickery, lies and all form of dishonesty; he still failed.

Art work from an unknown artist

So finally when Jesus lay down his Godly qualities except his character and came to earth clothed in the body of a vulnerable, fragile, frail, sin prone human infant, It is believed that Satan the fallen Prince of the Morning did not trust the demise of Jesus Christ to any of his subjects. This was too important a mission and there were too much at stake for the Tempter too trusted this to anyone or group other than himself. This assignment was so important; that he, the ultimate evil had to do it himself. Jesus endured every thing Satan threw at him and when the time was right, Jesus gave up the Ghost; it was then he die, fulfilling his mission. Satan did not take Jesus’ life because He (Satan) does not have power over life or death; he cannot give life and he cannot take life. Satan was even unable to defeat Jesus even when he was dead. And then after three days Jesus with out help Jesus recloth himself with life, burst fort from the grave conquering death, grave and hell and securing the victory on man’s behalf.

Are Pastors and Christian Counselors Responsible for the Failure of Christian Marriages?

It is said that eighty percent of marriages fails and fifty percent of failed marriages ends in divorce. The statistics are there to show that in the last ten years, the divorced rate amongst practicing Christians has rocked out of control. A practice that was once taboo among the Christian community has now become a common and acceptable practice.

When the forgone statement is considered, it is truly unfortunate that the Christian community who believed that Jehovah: the Creator God; was the one who instituted marriage at creation Genesis 2: 20-23 so the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’ Jehovah encouraged marriage in his commandment Exodus 20:14 “You must not commit adultery” and thought Jesus Matthew 5: 27 he showed the seriousness of this sacred institution.

Today Christians are entering and leaving marriages with no regards for the seriousness of the institution and the God who instituted it.

Marriage was instituted by Jehovah for the following reasons:

• For the preservation of the human species.

• For the preservation of the human family the most essential societal unit.

• To ensure man maintains his obedience, love and loyalty to Jehovah God.

• And to ensure that human come and remained close to Jehovah.

From my observation, I must conclude; there are two main reason why Christian marriages ends in divorce and these two "main" reasons, are as follows.

1. Christianity is now a social club that uses the bible ritualistically and no longer considers the actual love and obedience to God as relevant.

2. Christian couples are receiving poor pre and post marital counseling from their pastors, spiritual advisor and or spiritual mentors.

I have so concluded after hearing many Pastors speak but my conviction was sealed when I heard a PhD. Holding Pastor, who repeatedly boasted of his counseling credential, consistently declared his impatience, with couples who utilize his premarital counseling service. Like many pastor, this PhD. holding pastor; think he should be given the privilege of choosing the man for the female of the church and any man who is willing to honor Jehovah by utilizing the wisdom and intelligence Jehovah has blessed him with; to use such to think for himself, not allowing himself to me manipulated by their petty mentality. When such intelligence, strength and wisdom are displayed the male are deemed unfit and are not considered to be husband material. The women are never the one with the fault, because they are very often the agreeable ones (it seems like women in such situation are willing to agree with everyone except for her proposed husband),  the ones who pose no real threat to the Pastor's manhood, masculinity and or authority.

 

Premarital counseling is not arranged for couple seeking the pastor counselor as to whether they should get married or not, but it is a program that is design to lend an mutual prospective in helping the couple identify habits, attitudes, behaviors and or situations that could present potential challenge to the harmonious functioning of the marriage. It is therefore the counselor’s responsibility, to help the couple identify the potential obstacles as well as; to help them find and develop the tools needed to effectively deal with such potential obstacles to their happiness.

However instead of providing the couple with the tools needed to overcome such obstacles, the pastors and Christian counselors try to discourage the union of the couples who love each other and in the process they imposes their personal and petty stereotypes, biases and weaknesses into the life of those who are seeking their guidance for a potentially successful marriage. It seems like these counselors are unaware that it is when a couple have learn to successfully and positively deal with the obvious problems that may pop up in their marriage they are homing the skills, developing the knowledge and equipping themselves with the needed tool that will give the couple the confidence and the know how to deal with and resolve the unforeseen difficulties of the future.

When the pastors are not giving bad counsel and imposing their own weakness and fears upon new couples; they preach sermons in which they seek to cover up their own counseling failure, selling to the congregation a one size fit all message as they instilling in the congregation, the mentality that problems are stronger than love and if a couple dear to venture our side of that which the pastor's limited view think is normal, the marriage is doomed to fail. Yet the people who are following their counsel are ending up before the divorce court.

The behavior and remarks of the PhD. holding Pastor and other unfaithful men and women who pretends daily that they are servant of Jehovah once again reminded me that:

1. Holding a PhD does not mean you are endowed with wisdom and or commonsense.

2. Jehovah will not withhold from his faithful leaders the wisdom that is needed to lead his people aright.

3. If you are a leader of Jehovah’s people and you lack such wisdom it means you are simply not faithful to Yah.

You may ask how I can make such a bold statement, well I will tell you. Before we go any further you must know that wisdom is free but it is not cheap and it does not come without personal sacrifice to flesh. If you don’t remember anything else please remember that the price for wisdom is faithfulness to Jehovah. In the book of proverbs, it speaks of the wisdom that Jehovah gives to his faithful children freely. In Daniel 1: 8-17, we see Jehovah blessed Daniel and his three friends with wisdom because they were faithful to him.

We have also seen in Numbers 11: 17- when Moses needed help; Yah told him to appoint faithful men to assist him. When the men were appointed Jehovah did something peculiar. "Then I will come down and speak with you (Moses) there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone". Numbers. 11:17.  

This is simply, when Jehovah God assigns a man to lead his people he equip them to do so with excellence. It is no secret that Jehovah is very liberal with wisdom, especially to anyone who is faithful to him but more so to those he has appointed to lead his people aright. It is important, for Jehovah’s name must be glorified, and at time he does things just for his name’s sake. So if you are not awarded or blessed with the wisdom of Jehovah then you may not be living faithful to him and you may be functioning outside the perimeter of your calling.