Our Adversary the Devil: His Might

[0:00] This morning, Job chapter 1. Job chapter 1.

[0:32] We got hot. And let's also find Job 41. We're going to get both places here to begin. And so we're going to start section number 2 on our study of our adversary, the devil.

[0:53] We spent some time on studying his making. And there was an awful lot of material there. And I just made up my mind I'm going to take my time and go through this because I figure you probably never studied this topic out in your life to this degree.

[1:13] And you probably never will again. And so while we're here, let's just take our time and let's extract everything that we can on the subject and learn as much as we can and be better informed.

[1:24] And if God revealed it to us in the Bible, then let's know what he said. And so I think we'll all do well to have the best understanding of possible. And of course, we won't understand it all.

[1:37] I definitely don't. But we're going to start section number 2 of this study. And so the first one was his making. This one is his might. And in Job chapter 1, we looked at this briefly last week.

[1:49] Verse number 12. The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in the next two words, thy power. Thy power. And so what God does is in this behind-the-scenes situation where God and Satan are having a conversation.

[2:08] And he's pointing Job out, consider my servant Job. He gives Satan permission. And he doesn't say, I'm going to give you power to do something. He says, it's all yours.

[2:20] And so what Satan then does, we're going to learn some things about his power just in this story and then in other places. He's got power. And so let's study that out if we can.

[2:30] Look at Job 41 now. And here is the chapter about Leviathan. And when we get into the next section, we'll learn some things about this.

[2:43] But for now, we'll just come to verse number 12. And notice this. It says, I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

[2:58] And we'll talk about Leviathan in a future time. But for now, we're dealing with this being, the same being, a different manifestation of him. And in verse 12, God says, I'm not going to conceal his power.

[3:11] And he didn't. He'll conceal his ability to us. He'll try to keep us ignorant of his devices. But God refuses to conceal his power.

[3:22] So I think a study on his might will examine what God has revealed and what he has refused to conceal about the ability that this created being possesses.

[3:37] And remember, we don't want to be ignorant of his devices. And so I think we'd be wise. And it would behoove us to be aware of what he's capable of. So come back to the beginning here. Well, I'll tell you what, no, we're going to peek at a few more spots here just to make a few notes here.

[3:55] Look at Zechariah. You can keep your place in Job or just plan on coming back in a few minutes. Come to Zechariah 3, toward the end of your Old Testament.

[4:08] Almost to Matthew. You'll find Zechariah 3. And what we can do here is, in understanding his might, is understand, study what he has done or what God says he will do.

[4:25] And really kind of put together some pieces here to see that this being has got some power. And he's such a being that I've said this before, he's not to be trifled with.

[4:36] He's a real enemy of ours. And he's a very powerful enemy of ours. And you don't want to tangle with him. As a matter of fact, no man, coming from Scripture now, no man has ever challenged him or attempted to stand before him.

[4:54] Only the Lord Jesus Christ resisted him in a one-on-one situation. Nobody else has stood there and said, I defy thee, devil. Or I, you know, in Jesus' name, this and that, against him one-on-one.

[5:10] You don't see that in the Bible, although you hear it on TV today with some people shooting their mouths off. But you don't see that in the Bible. Nobody rebukes him. Nobody attempts to face off with him.

[5:22] Now, let me show you some things that they do do. Look at Zechariah 3 and verses 1 and 2. It says, And he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

[5:38] And the Lord said unto Satan, notice the phrase, The Lord rebukes thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebukes thee. So God rebukes him.

[5:50] The Lord rebukes him in his own name. Just keep that thought. Now go to Jude. Look at Jude all the way back near Revelation, almost to the back.

[6:01] Jude. It's an easy one to miss. And now we're going to look at somebody that's pretty powerful.

[6:16] Michael, the archangel. Look at verses 8 and 9. Likewise, also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

[6:30] Yet, Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, quote, The Lord rebuked thee.

[6:45] So Michael, the archangel, doesn't step to him, and doesn't challenge him, and doesn't mouth off to him, but rather says the Lord calls on the power and the authority of the Lord himself, just like the Lord did in Zechariah.

[6:59] Now, nobody's challenging him like some of these morons on TV or in these big ministries that run their mouth. They don't know what they're talking about. Let me show you one more similar.

[7:10] Look at 2 Peter, since we're back here. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2. This is a companion passage with what we just read in Jude. And I think we'll come back into these passages in the future when we study his ministers.

[7:27] Near the end of this study. 2 Peter chapter 2. And I'll pick it up in verse number 10. But chiefly, them that walk after the flesh and the lust of uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous are they, self-willed, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

[7:45] That's the same thing Jude said. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.

[8:03] And on and on he goes. So, come back now to Job chapter 1. I want you to realize that the Lord rebukes him in his own name and authority. Michael the archangel and even other angels refuse to accuse certain dignities.

[8:18] It's a biblical practice to refer and to defer, rather, to the power and authority of the Lord. But not to stand up in front of him. So, that's just one thing to note when it comes to his might and ability.

[8:33] Secondly, before we get into this, is I mentioned this. I don't have a perfect understanding of this. But it seems that his might is used by permission.

[8:47] As in, God created him an extremely powerful being, but has placed limitations upon what he is permitted to do or use it for.

[8:59] And when it suits the Lord, he will use Satan to work and to destroy and to defile and to do whatever is necessary.

[9:10] But it doesn't seem that he has this incredible amount of power and just can just go wreak havoc and do whatever he wants. He is called the God of this world, but that doesn't mean he's given authority to do everything any time.

[9:21] Or I think we'd be in a real mess if he could. We'll see that even today, that it seems he has limitations. But, again, I don't think his limitations, that he's limited in any ability.

[9:33] I think he's just limited in permission. And the way I understand and see him, as a spiritual being created outside of this physical realm that we're stuck with.

[9:43] You know, we are very dependent. We need air and water and food. And I don't understand that he would be such a being. I don't know that he has limitations in the physical realm like we understand that we obviously would.

[10:00] If his restrictions were lifted, we'd be in trouble. And so let's start with Job's story here. And the case in point will be made pretty clear about that very thing.

[10:10] So, in this passage, Satan presents himself with the sons of God. He presents himself before the Lord in verse 6. And the Lord said to him, all that he hath is in thy power.

[10:26] And at verse 12, at the end of the verse, it says, so Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. So, he goes to the drawing board. He goes to devise a plan that he'll put into action here in the next verse.

[10:40] And it's a plan that's, it's not just, I'm going to hurt Job. But no, I'm going to crush him. I'm going to bring him so low and to his knees in such a way that he will surely curse God to his face.

[10:55] That's the goal. That's the plan here. And so, we're going to learn something about our enemy by seeing the tactics and the ability that he has here. So, let's read the passage 13 through 19.

[11:07] And then we'll come back through and kind of dissect it and learn some things. And there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. And there came a messenger unto Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them.

[11:22] And the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, the fire of God has fallen from heaven.

[11:36] And hath burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. And I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, the Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away.

[11:49] Yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.

[12:04] And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house. And it fell upon the young men and they are dead. And I only am escaped alone to tell thee. So there's his plan.

[12:15] That's the execution of what he came up with to attack Job. So let's learn a few things about this. Number one, Satan has power over nations, over kingdoms, or to be very specific in this case, over, we call them people groups at the very least.

[12:37] These are the Sabaeans in verse 15. And he uses in verse 17 the Chaldeans. The Sabaeans in verse 15 traveled to Job's flocks.

[12:49] They fell upon them, the oxen and the asses. Look back at verse number 3 of the passage just to understand the magnitude here. Verse 3 says his substance was also 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen and 500 she-asses.

[13:08] That's not just a band of like six or seven guys showing up to steal away. They're killing with the edge of the sword.

[13:19] If you've got 500 yoke of oxen that are plowing and 500 she-asses that are put to work in the fields, you're talking about some serious land. And it's going to take some manpower to oversee that and to, you understand, some ranch hands.

[13:37] And these guys show up and they steal away and murder the servants. And where did they get the concept or the idea to do that? We know where it came from.

[13:50] Now in verse 17 there's another people group. The Chaldeans made out three bands. It's not just a couple buddies. It's not just a family. And some outlaws.

[14:03] I don't know how many this was but there's three bands of them. And they're going to steal his camels. That's 3,000 camels. 3,000 animals that they're going to steal and lead and take away.

[14:17] It's got to be quite a crowd here that's coming in here to do this. All right, so they travel. They steal the camels. They kill the servants as well. He moved these people groups to organize and to then execute an attack and to steal and to kill with the edge of the sword.

[14:39] Do you think they realized who was behind this? Do you think they understood that they were being used and led of Satan to perform this thing?

[14:50] Do you think Satan showed up and gave them some little thing on a Ouija board? I'll make you very rich. No, of course not. Yet these people got the concept and this is something we'll see later on.

[15:03] The same thing. You can note it here. They got the concept from the devil to do something that benefited them. And it involved someone coveting something or whatever the case. And there's plenty of evil going on in this.

[15:16] And by the way, this is small stuff for him. Getting them to order this, to execute this, and to do it on the same day. Look at Revelation chapter 20.

[15:28] This is small stuff. Revelation 20. You want to talk about some ability and some power over nations. It doesn't get any bigger than this one.

[15:40] Revelation 20. The Lord Jesus Christ establishes a kingdom on this earth. And for 1,000 years, Satan is bound.

[15:53] He's not permitted to run to and fro in the earth. And when the 1,000 years are expired, in verse 7, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And what should he do?

[16:04] Immediately, verse 8, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are on the four quarters of the earth. Gog and Magog to do what? To gather them together to battle. The number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

[16:18] And they went up on the breadth of the earth and passed the city or the camp of the saints about in the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and devoured them. You know what he does? He comes right back to the spot where he got kicked out of a thousand years before.

[16:33] And tries to take it over again. And he deceives the nations and gathers them together to battle. Now, they went up. You understand?

[16:44] He has power to do this. To deceive the nations. To, he does this in a very short time. Gather nations to rebel against the saints and against the beloved city.

[16:57] And, wow. Now, yeah, he's nobody to be messed with. If he can go, he doesn't have to mess with you personally. Like as a little individual speck of dirt.

[17:09] And he can very much do that if he chooses to. But he'll mess up with, he'll deal with nations. What does this mean for our nation? That ought to make you afraid.

[17:20] That ought to cause you to be like alarmed and realize this is the realm he chooses to play with. And he can do it and he will do it. What does that mean for the United States of America?

[17:32] Christians love to say, well, God's still on the throne. And I'd say, well, when has he not been on the throne? Yes, he is on the throne. But what does that mean? Look at this place.

[17:44] Are we going toward God's word and his will? That's not even a... So maybe it's in fact pretty evident that Satan's been moving and manipulating and working in the area of government.

[17:57] Even in ours. Not just to mention history and all of the world. So he has power over nations and kingdoms and people groups. That's not all.

[18:09] Come back to Job chapter 1. And we're going to see some other things here in this passage. Secondly, Satan has power over nature, over weather, or you might say over the elements.

[18:21] The ability to manipulate them and to control them. In verse number 16, it says the fire... This is the servant's words as he comes back to Job.

[18:32] What he saw, he says the fire of God is fallen from heaven and hath burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. The fire of God.

[18:45] Did God burn up the sheep and the servants? Did God murder and kill all those and consume the sheep? That's what, 7,000 sheep was it? Yep. The fire of God has fallen from heaven.

[18:59] And it fell and landed in a very strategic place to kill and to burn up exactly where Job's sheep were. The servant called it the fire of God.

[19:11] That phrase, the fire of God, only shows up in one other place in the Bible. In 2 Kings chapter 1, when Elijah is seated up on a hill and the wicked king sends out a captain to him.

[19:23] And he says, if I be a man of God, let the fire of God fall down from heaven. And it consumed him. And it's 50 and it did it again. And the third one's like, please don't kill me. If you remember that passage, it says, the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.

[19:40] Look at 1 Chronicles chapter 21. I'm going to consider something about fire and God using it and showing himself by it and answering by fire.

[19:59] 1 Chronicles 21. We were in this passage a few Wednesday nights ago with David and his tender heart. Verse number 26 says, David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and called upon the Lord.

[20:16] And God did what? He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And that's got to be some wild stuff to behold. But that's God answering by fire from heaven.

[20:30] Now come back to 1 Kings 18. Just a little bit back to your left. 1 Kings 18. And here's a very popular story of the fire of God falling from heaven.

[20:46] This is Elijah. And he's standing against the prophets of Baal. There's 450 prophets of Baal. And the prophets of the grove, 400 of them, which eat at Jezebel's table.

[21:02] That's verse 19. So Elijah's standing against these prophets. In verse 24, Elijah says this. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord.

[21:13] And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, it's well spoken. So they agreed to the terms. And so it goes off.

[21:23] They're calling. You know the story of trust that they're crying aloud. They're cutting themselves. They're leaping upon the altar. They're trying to get Baal to hear them and to answer them by fire.

[21:36] Now Satan has the ability. When God said, all that he hath is in thy power, Satan has the ability to make the fire of God fall down out of heaven.

[21:47] And to land at a very specific location. So I would say that based on this thought here that, yeah, he can only use this power by permission. Because it would stand to reason, at least in my mind, that if he had the permission to, he would have sent the fire down on that altar and showed them all who the true God was, you know, to deceive them.

[22:09] At least that stands to reason in my mind. But the Lord stayed his hand there and would not allow it to happen. Look at verse 38. This is after Elijah gets to take over and he has them dump water all over the place and get that altar built up.

[22:25] And he says in verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water. And verse 39, when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, he is the God.

[22:39] The Lord, he is the God. And so God took advantage of that opportunity to prove himself. And Israel is without excuse when worshiping the true God.

[22:51] Now, there's the fire of God falling from heaven in Job's situation. And I think he had the permission, obviously, to do it. I think otherwise, though, that's something that God reserves to himself to use.

[23:07] Come to Revelation 13 and look at this in the future. Because Satan empowers another being, another beast.

[23:20] He's called in the scripture the false prophet. And he gives them the same ability that he has. Verse number 12.

[23:34] Well, I'll start in verse 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.

[23:44] And causeth the earth to worship. Or, I'm sorry. The earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast. Whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

[24:00] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast. And the beast got his power from the dragon. Verse number 4.

[24:11] They worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. And so you've got... Alright, so... There's the fire of God being used. Or fire being used to deceive men and to deceive nations.

[24:24] And understand Satan has power over the elements. He's power to use fire to bring it falling from heaven at a location. A specific location. Back in Job chapter 1.

[24:35] He has power over the weather or over elements. In another sense here in verse number... Where is it? In verse number 19. There came a great wind from the wilderness. And smote the four corners of the house.

[24:48] Where did the wind come from? It came from Satan. It came from his ability to strike. And you could say it was a whirlwind, a tornado. Or what I just called a great wind from the wilderness.

[24:59] And it was strong enough to take the house down. Like old big bad wolf. Where do you get the idea to huff and puff and blow the house down? Well, it's in your Bible long before that.

[25:14] And so these guys, Job's sons and daughters, are in a specific location in the eldest brother's house. It says that in verse 18.

[25:25] It says that in verse 13. Satan knew exactly where they were. And he sent a wind, a great wind. He controlled it. And strategically steered it to just execute one thing right there.

[25:42] That's pretty scary. That's pretty powerful. I can't do that. And you can't either. How much wind can you actually, you know, drum up on your own power?

[25:56] What can you do? Can you blow this plant off the table? You probably can't even do that. You'd get lightheaded and pass out trying. And yet here he does, sends that blast of wind to take a house out.

[26:10] Now, look at Job 37. Job 37. God is consistently credited in the Bible with being in control of the wind and of the weather.

[26:21] Let me just send a few passages at you with this. Just notice this is a God thing to manipulate and to control the weather. Job 37.

[26:34] And we'll begin in verse 9. Look at 9 to 13. The Bible says, Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north, by the breath of God frost is given, and the breath of the waters is straightened.

[26:48] Also by watering, he, God, wearieth the thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud, and it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commanded them upon the face of the world and the earth.

[27:03] He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. Three reasons given there that God sends storms or rain or whatever the case.

[27:17] Could be for correction. All right, look back at Psalm 83. Keep going a little bit to your right. Psalm 83. God's credited with using weather and controlling the elements according to his will.

[27:37] Psalm 83. And look at verses 14 and 15. The Bible says, As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountain on fire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

[27:57] Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled forever. So they're praying that God would do what he can do. And persecute their enemies with what?

[28:10] With a storm. Look at Psalm 107. 107. This psalm is kind of broken up into sections here.

[28:23] I want to begin in verse 23 and read down to verse 30. Verse 23. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.

[28:41] For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths.

[28:53] Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

[29:04] He maketh the storm a calm. Does that sound familiar to you? So that the waves thereof are still. Anybody ever do that, that you know of? Verse 30.

[29:14] Then are they glad, because they be quiet. So he bringeth them unto their desired haven. So there's God-given power. You know, in Jonah, let me find this quick.

[29:26] Jonah, I want to read it so I don't misquote it. In Jonah chapter 1 and verse 4, it says, But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea.

[29:42] The Lord did that. And then it's a little bit later when they cast Jonah off that the sea ceases from a raging. And then in chapter 4 of Jonah, it says, And it came to pass when the sun did arise that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah.

[29:58] So it's all over the place. This is a God thing. You know, using the elements, using the wind in that case. And the point is, Satan has the same ability and the same control over the wind and over the elements and over the weather.

[30:16] What God said, I remind you, was all that he hath is in thy power. And here's what he comes up with. He uses the wind. He manipulates the wind and he manipulates the fire from heaven.

[30:31] What can't he manipulate? Or what can't he control in this physical creation? If he can make fire fall from heaven, if he can make wind to go to a specific house and knock it down and blast it, if he can do that, what is he limited of?

[30:48] I mean, do you get it? Do you get the power that he has that he can enter the physical realm and use it against Job? I think God removed what Satan accused him of putting a hedge about him.

[31:01] God removed the hedge and said, okay, then you can do whatever you want. And so he shows us his ability by what he chose to do. Don't think that he has any limitations as far as power goes.

[31:13] I really believe it's just permission that he lacks. Think about this. It's kind of weird, but maybe it'll help you see it differently. The difference between us and our physical finite bodies compared to the being that he is.

[31:28] If a ladybug flew into this place and landed on the pulpit, it's a tiny little cute little ladybug, I could smash it and it'd be dead.

[31:40] I have that power. I could blow and it could not withstand the force of my wind. I could blow that thing and it would just flutter down to the floor or take off flying again, right?

[31:52] You could do that too. If I wanted to, I'm sorry, this is going to be hard for some of you, I could take a lighter and burn it. I could manipulate fire because I can control fire to a degree.

[32:04] I have the ability, just like you, if we have the right resources. So I could do that to that ladybug, but that ladybug couldn't pretty much do anything against me. I mean, it couldn't stop me from doing that in that sense of it just fluttering down here and landing.

[32:21] And I'm trying to get you to see that the bug can't do those things. The ladybug can't light a fire on me. It can't blow and knock me down. It's virtually powerless against me because we're two different beings and creatures.

[32:33] And that's what I want you to see about Satan is the ability and power that he has far exceeds the frail and the dependent creatures that God made us to be because we are created from dust and we're limited and we're completely structured to exist in this atmosphere.

[32:50] And he's not. He's not at all. And it's hard for us to say, well, does he have the power? When I say that God does these things and Satan has the same ability, it makes you think, oh, he's not equal with God.

[33:01] Okay, no, he's not. He's created by God. But do you understand he's a whole lot higher than where we are and his ability and power. So understand we're studying his might. Now there's more to learn from Job's situation and what we'll try to finish with here this morning if I can is, in my opinion, the most impressive part of all of this.

[33:21] Not just that he can manipulate and control people groups and then have power over the weather and elements, which is pretty impressive. But it's something even greater than that. So let's come back through this story again.

[33:35] And remember, this is Satan going off, if I could say, that he went to the drawing board and devised a plan. He didn't just say, okay, like, to my knowledge, I would expect, at least in the human, you know, the way things would happen, we wouldn't just show up the next day and be knocking on Job's door.

[33:53] If there was any time that transpired, it's him devising and planning and orchestrating this thing out. And as it's happening, notice in verse 14, there came a messenger unto Job.

[34:04] So this is a normal day for Job. How normal of a day is it? Look back at verse number, look back at verse number four. It says that his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one is day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

[34:20] And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, what did Job do? Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

[34:33] Thus did Job continually. So this is one of the days, verse 13, a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine. So you know what Job did that morning? He got up early in the morning and he sacrificed to the Lord like he did continually.

[34:50] Job's walking with God. He's a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil, verse one. This is not just like, oh man, I haven't been doing right for a while.

[35:01] So Job's, he's right. He's sacrificed in that morning and that day there came a messenger. It's a normal day and he's telling them about the Sabaeans and what they did and don't think for a minute that it was just that little line that the servant just came up.

[35:17] I mean, he came running. His adrenaline is just, you got to see the story. It's real. These are human beings and how they would react is the same way you would react to some incredible, seeing this group come in by surprise and killing probably this servant.

[35:36] I wouldn't doubt. He killed my brother. I saw him take their swords. My dad was right there with the oxen and he just cut his head right off. I mean, this guy runs for his life, gets to Job.

[35:47] I don't know how far this is, but it's land that he's covering. He gets to them. He's out of breath. The adrenaline is just going. He's so wired. He just witnessed murders of people that he works with every day, watched all of Job's sub, Job's sub that he was responsible for, to a part, be taken away and he comes back to bring this evil report before Job and so just know that it wasn't just a few words that we see in verse 15 that he says.

[36:13] He's probably saying, slow down. What happened? Tell me. Just take a breath. Talk to me. And he's telling them what he saw. He's telling them how they came from this side, they came from there and they came in with all these horses and he's just, and he's telling them and it's unfolding.

[36:27] Job's thinking, man, what in the world? What's going on? The Sabaeans are out to get me. Surely this isn't the first time that Job, somebody with this great amount of wealth had to deal with people, had to deal with, you know, situations, stuff happening.

[36:41] And I was thinking, man, like Abraham, out of all the trained servants in his house, no doubt Job had his own army, thinking, what am I going to do? I need to retaliate? Do I need to act now?

[36:51] Do I need to gather some information? Do I need to seek some help? Some allies here? What do I do? And as he's processing this thought, verse 15, verse 16 says, while he was yet speaking, there came also another.

[37:09] And this guy says, Job, out there with the sheep, the fire of God, the fire of God, fire from heaven, this isn't the Sabaeans anymore.

[37:22] This is something like God. I mean, I sacrificed to God this morning. God's doing something here. Come on. When in your life do you see something that is a natural disaster of this proportion and you just not associated with the Lord?

[37:42] I mean, if you ever saw fire fall from heaven, why would you not think it was the Lord? Why would the Lord be doing this to me? First it's Sabaeans and now it's this.

[37:54] Something's wrong. Something's going on and Job doesn't even have time to process the extent of this. It's just, boom. God, the fire of God, God sent fire from heaven to take away my sheep.

[38:07] And while he was yet speaking, verse 17, and so I'm seeing Satan watch this thing. This is his plan. And as he's watching it unfold, he's watching the one come and slowing the other next one down.

[38:26] Not yet. Okay. And he's, the other one's coming and he's watching and he says, wait for it. And Job's getting the bad news about the second one. This is going just like I planned it.

[38:36] And here comes the third one right on time. And the third one comes in telling him about the Chaldeans and the three bands and slaying the servants with the edge of the sword. And Satan's just watching this thing unfold to his satisfaction.

[38:53] What was a normal day for Job. And there's these two phrases that have much significance in this passage is the first one repeats itself.

[39:03] They both do. is I alone or I only am escaped alone to tell thee. I only one person got away that wasn't an accident.

[39:16] Secondly, while he was yet speaking. And those things show up with each situation, which is teaching us that Satan not just has the power to move the people groups and nations and get them to do things for his will.

[39:31] He doesn't just have the ability to manipulate the weather and the elements, but he can craft this together in such a plan and in such a strategy so that the one follows right after the other.

[39:47] The timing, it's not two days later this guy shows up. It is all about one moment in time to floor Job. Not just hurt him and slap him, but to take him down to where he is broken.

[40:01] And the timing of it shows that he is a mastermind of devising and organizing. I'm calling him the ultimate engineer of evil.

[40:17] And so that's the third one with the Chaldeans and now he may be thinking did they collude with the Sabeans? Is this all, there's more of them out to get me? What is really going on when the fourth one shows up?

[40:29] And in verse 18 while he was yet speaking he says, your sons and daughters. I mean, Job hasn't even been able to process the other three. And he hears of his sons and daughters and he hears that they're all dead and that just this one servant I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

[40:50] So it was one blow after another with no time to react and to process and understand it. All his substance is stolen and destroyed. All of his servants are murdered and for the finishing blow on absolute purpose Satan's saying, wait for it.

[41:06] Oh, here it comes. This is the one. This is it. Here comes the final blow. The dagger into his very heart. Your sons and your daughters are all dead.

[41:19] And Satan, with that anticipation, you could see this mastermind. He's building it to a climax. He's expecting Job is going to break. He is going to curse God. And there you go.

[41:33] There's the ability. There's the power, the might of our enemy. A master of devising and organizing an evil plan. He has the capability to orchestrate multiple major events and to watch them play out.

[41:53] And to me, the most impressive of it all is that he can time it to the very moment. Now, if we're going to go to war against another nation or any nation and the generals meet together, they devise a plan and one will try to use a surprise attack, the element of surprise, and they'll probably try to go with this front and that front.

[42:13] And if it's a real surprise attack, they're going to try to time it to where it's hitting hard and fast and this is what he did. But to think he wasn't using a military like we would think with planes.

[42:26] He was using fire, wind, then other people, not his own people necessarily like we'd say, other people, various people groups and the timing of it all shows he's a master of this stuff.

[42:43] And if that's all in that passage right there whether you've ever really laid it out and extracted it and realized this was his plan that he sat down to the table with was I've got to get Job in one moment of time.

[42:58] I'll pick a day and when it's that day, I am going to try to hit him so hard from so many angles that he can't even process this over time. He has to cave.

[43:09] He has to drop to his knees. And in that moment, he'll curse God. That was his attempt. That's what he came up with. It was pretty good. It didn't work to a man like Job that's perfect and upright that feared God and eschewed evil.

[43:26] And Job arose and fell. He ran his mantle and shaved his head and you can see him just fall down upon the ground. But he worshipped. And so Job responded in a way that Satan didn't expect because he said, oh, he'll curse you to your face.

[43:42] And no, he was wrong about that. But we're studying his ability here, his might. And so far, we've gotten three things out. The one, he has ability or power over nations or kingdoms or people groups.

[43:57] Secondly, he has power over the weather or over the elements. And then thirdly, he's the ultimate engineer of evil with a mind and an ability far exceeds anything that we could come up with.

[44:12] And that's a little bit scary if God gives him permission to use it. Because now back up and look at our earth and look at the nations of this world and see if he isn't manipulating and subtly, deceitfully moving and putting some things little by little in place.

[44:31] It's so easy to say, oh, no, God's on the throne. It's not, oh, you're missing. And you're not paying attention to his ability and to how slow he'll move when he's trying to get something big accomplished, like get the entire world to come together for him to worship him and to be completely deceived.

[44:49] And there's signs of it all over our generations. Little by little, signs of it all over if you've got your eyes open. Now next week, we'll pick it back up and we're going to stay right here in this passage because Satan's not done with Job and we're going to learn a little bit more of some ability he has when he's allowed to touch Job's body.

[45:09] And it says that he smote Job with sore boils. Where'd he get the boils from? We'll figure that out next week or at least take a look at it.