JOB's FINAL TRIAL &
THE FINAL DECEPTIONS

As we begin this most important article on the final deception to come upon this old world of ours let us enter into a word of prayer. Father God of Israel, we come into your sacred and holy presence seeking your blessing and wisdom upon our understanding that we might become wise in these last days (Dan. 12:10) to know Your truth as we have never known it before, yes, even your Divine and holy character, which is Your glory, Name and Image (likeness). We desire this so we will be able to have your discernment to detect the deceiver in His final disguise and cloak of assumed righteousness, attempting to personate You. Lord thank you for instructing us in this most important matter and giving us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Eph. 3:20. In His Name who is Wonderful (Jesus) we pray. Amen.

Every day I talk to people about the two Lords in the Old Testament. Most people don't have clue #1 about this subject. But for years I didn't either and I am still learning. Just when I begin to think that I have learned as much as there is to know on this important topic, the Lord opens up a new door for me and I never ceased to be amazed at how much I don't know and how much more there is to learn. And He almost always uses people to teach me new things. For example, just last Thursday I began sharing with this young lady in her mid-thirties. She did not look like a religious person, let alone a good Bible student. In fact, she is very humble in this regard for she doesn't even consider herself very astute in these matters. But trust me, she is. She reads and studies every day and over a period of time she has grown into a mighty warrior for God without even knowing it.

When I began sharing my 20 second Bible study with her she never blinked an eye, but simply said, Well, I know what you are saying is true for the Old Testament prophets did not really have a revelation about Satan in their time. It was not until Jesus came that the world began to realize who and what Satan really is. As she continued I picked up a notebook and began taking notes. As I said she was not aware of her vast knowledge and understanding. What a blessing it is when God brings such people into my life.

Even more surprising was a letter from a young man I will be sharing with you later on in this article. He calls me from time to time requesting prayer, usually asking questions regarding how to overcome negative thoughts and asking me to pray that he will have a more humble attitude and not hate those who hurt him. I had not thought of him as being able to go very in-depth into the Bible but the Lord used him to reveal to my mind one of the most profound insights into the last few chapters of the book of Job that I had ever dreamed about. But before we get ahead of ourselves I need to explain the rationale/reasoning and method the Lord has given us to identify/detect and discover when Satan is speaking in the Old Testament. Otherwise it would be like trying to learn higher math, such as physics or calculus before studying Algebra; for there is a definite progression in understanding this fascinating Old Testament subject.

First of all, the noun Lord is not God's name. It is a title that has been used for centuries in England, as it still is today, especially among the upper classes, such as the "House of Lords," or "Lord Mayor." It may apply to a titled nobleman, or peer, or one whose ordinary appellation contains by courtesy the title Lord or some higher title. It is a title substituted in less formal use for marquis, earl, viscount, baron, etc. Even "God," as a noun did not even come into existence in the English language until the 9th century. In answer to a question put to Merriam-Webster Inc. regarding when the name of God was first used in the English language, the following answer was given. The earliest known written use of the word god appeared in the Vespasian Psalter, an early English translation believed to be dated around 825 A.D. The Psalter is the earliest known source of both 'god,' meaning a superhuman being to whom worship is due, and God, meaning specifically the Supreme Being of the Judeo-Christian traditon.

Of course, the titles "God" and "Lord" have been in use for centuries in the original Bible languages of Hebrew and Greek. Even Paul acknowledged that there are "gods many, and lords many." I Cor. 8:5. "Theos," was Paul's choice of the word for God throughout His writings. Although it was the general term used to refer to any deity three great philosophers, Xenophanes, Plato and Aristotle had used THEOS as a personal name for one Supreme God in their writings. Encyclop. Brit. 15th ed. Vol. 13, p. 951. Jewish scholars also used Theos in their first Greek version of the Old Testament as the most suitable equivalent for the Hebrew name for God, Elohim.

Second, up until 825 A.D. the true God was referred to by His attributes such as Redeemer, Sustainer, Helper, Saviour, etc. In the Hebrew language there are a number of specific designations of the true God which reveal His character, i.e., "El Shaddai" (God Almighty); Jehovah-Jireh (Our all sufficient sustainer); Jehovah Rapha (The Lord our Healer).

When God chose to reveal Himself on Mt. Sinai He didn't hand Moses an embossed card with His Name and address on it, "God, Heaven, Universe, Call anytime." You will remember that this is what George Burns did in the movie "Oh, God," when he met John Denver. But when Moses implored God, "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory," the Lord replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,..." Exodus 33:19; 34:5, 6. Old Testament Bible scholars tell us that the original pronunciation of God's true name was lost centuries ago when certain scribes, either because they were afraid of God's wrath coming upon them if they pronounced His sacred Name incorrectly or simply, out of extreme reverence, chose to begin writing His Name without any vowels so it would be impossible to pronounce it. This version of Jehovah is known today as the Tetagrammaton, the four letter Hebrew word written JHVH or JHWH, YHVH OR YHWH, representing without vowels, the ineffable name of God, pronounced in Hebrew as "Adonai" and commonly transliterated in English as "Jehovah."

Satan has and still does imitate the true Lord all the time. For Scriptural proof of this assertion I submit Matt. 7:21-23 where Jesus told His disciples, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy Name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Having read this amazing statement from our Lord Himself, let us now go to the Old Testament and discover for ourselves how to distinguish in the Scriptures the true God from the false, pretender, imposter God.

From 2 Sam. 24:1 and I Chron. 21:1 we discover and document the fact/truth that the noun/title "Lord" could be assigned to Satan in the Bible, especially when he was attempting to deceive someone into believing that God is speaking to them, which is the case in the story about David's numbering Israel. We see that it was really Satan who was moving or tempting David to sin against the true God in this fashion. Otherwise, throughout the Scriptures the only way we can tell the difference between the true Lord and the false Lord is by the character of the words themselves. Until Jesus came in the flesh the universe had no clear frame of reference to distinguish the difference between Christ and Satan. Christ's life, death and resurrection became the Divine benchmark upon which the kingdom of God would be built. "Upon this rock {the fact/truth that He was the Christ} I will build my church," was Jesus' response to Peter's statement of faith, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Yet none of the disciples understood the real issues of the Great Controversy, the non-destructive nature of God and that Jesus was to be slain as an innocent Lamb. They believed He would take up a sword and lead Israel to victory over all their enemies.

The following statement is probably the most enlightening in the human language when it comes to understanding why Jesus had to come and allow human beings, urged on and incited by evil angels to crucify God's precious and only Son.

"Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion." DA 758. And so Jesus had to come and die to open our blind eyes and break our hardened hearts. If even the good angels could not see/discern/understand who Satan really was and what was wrong with him until Jesus came--what does that tell us about the evil angels and Satan's power over their minds. And what does it tell us of God's covering up for Lucifer, perhaps to protect him from his followers who will eventually seek to destroy him according to Ezek. 28. The fact that the noun Satan appears in only four books of the Old Testament should tell us something in and of itself. I Chron. 21:1; Job 1, 2; Psalm 109:6, Zech. 3:1, 2. In the Old Testament God assumed the blame for everything Satan did. In order to remain Sovereign He inspired the prophets to write both good and bad events up as if He were doing both. There could be no duality of worship...two Gods or Lords...one doing all the good and the other doing all of the evil, even sometimes in the New Testament. That's why the prophets always wrote as if God was doing the evil as well as the good no matter what it was. He is even blamed for casting Satan out of heaven when Jude 6 tells us clearly that Satan and his followers left heaven of their own free will. They were not forced out. Rev. 12:4 tells us Satan's tail cast them to the earth. And Job 18:7 says, "The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down."

With this thought fresh in our minds let us go back to 2 Sam. 24:1 and go a little deeper into one of the key words in that verse which will reveal the personality and character of the speaker behind this most awesome temptation. By the way, God is never referred to as the "tempter" or "destroyer" in the Bible. Only Satan is dishonored by those most unflattering titles. The key word I want us to look at is "moved." It is derived from a Hebrew word transliterated as "cuwth," pronounced "sooth." It has the negative connotation or meaning of "to entice, move, persuade, provoke, remove, set on, stir up, take away." Strong suggests that it is originally derived from the Hebrew word "shayith," meaning "scrub or trash, i.e. wild growth of weeds or briers (as if put on the field) thorns. The Revised Standard version, as well as the New International Version both translate "cuwth" as "incited," instead of "moved," as the KJV does.

It is most interesting that the NIV Exhaustive Concordance never translates this word incite one time in a favorable or positive context. A good example of this is I Chron. 21:1, the parallel verse which Ezra put together about 500 years later. In this revised version we learn the astonishing truth that instead of employing the noun "Lord," the noun "Satan" is inserted which is the greatest proof in the Old Testament that the noun "Lord," can be and is indeed assumed by Satan whenever God allows. It is the most important precedent in Scripture for proving that Satan often masquerades as God Himself. As already noted it has become a standard benchmark, as it were, or capstone from which we may begin in our array of proofs that Satan does indeed speak in the name of God many places in the Old Testament. So, now we have a Lord who is like Jesus, our Friend and Saviour, and a Lord who is our adversary which is what Satan means. He is against us. The true God is never against us. "If God be for us who can be against us?" Rom. 8:31. Satan has been inciting rebellion against Jesus from the beginning. The word "incited" is also used in Job 2:3, "though you incited me against him to ruin him."

Now, beloved this brings us to a most important consideration in our investigation...and that is to the actual motive, spirit and attitude of the being, person or speaker behind the "Lord," in each of these texts. Paul gives us an unerring guide in Rom. 8:9. "NOW IF ANY MAN HAVE NOT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, HE IS NONE OF HIS." This immediately reminds me of the time James and John asked Jesus if He would like for them to "COMMAND FIRE TO COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND CONSUME THEM, EVEN AS ELIAS DID?" Luke 9:54. Notice Jesus' response: "But he turned and rebuked them, and said, YE KNOW NOT WHAT MANNER OF SPIRIT YE ARE OF. FOR THE SON OF MAN IS NOT COME TO DESTROY MEN'S LIVES, BUT TO SAVE THEM." V. 55. Only the KJV retains the phrase, "for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." The Modern Language version says, "You do not know your attitude," and retains the original thought but places it in brackets. This immediately raises a question about the "Spirit" of Elijah. Which "spirit" prompted him to call down fire in the story about the three captains of 50 that King Ahaziah sent out to arrest Elijah as found beginning in 2 Kings 1:10. Who actually brought this fire down from the sky? Of course, Elijah thought it was Jehovah, the God he served; the very same God whom he "thought" had brought down the fire on Mt. Carmel to help him defeat the homosexual and bi-sexual priests of Baal.

But now, Jesus' statement completely reinterprets both stories and, in fact, the entire Old Testament, for destructive fire fell from the sky on many occasions. We know it fell in Job's day. "The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them;" Job 1:16. But which God sent this fire? If you go back to verse 12 it is quite clear that Jesus, the true God and the Lord of this great convocation of the "sons of God" or universal council of the heads of all the planets in the universe, had given Satan (formerly Lucifer) permission to bring this destructive fire down upon Job's sheep and servants. This is further verified in Job 2:1-6 when a second universal council was convened and again Jesus asks Satan what he now thinks of Job who "still...holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause." The LB says, "And he has kept his faith in me despite the fact that you persuaded me to let you harm him without cause."

Of course, someone is going to ask Why wasn't Elijah held guilty for commanding fire to come down in his day when Jesus rebuked James and John for the same desired action? My answer is that Jesus was bringing a new revelation of truth about Himself and establishing a new era or dispensation with ground rules more in harmony with this higher and more exalted revelation of God's true character of love.

Each generation has been receiving more information about God and His character. Elijah was not held guilty because, he, like Moses, Abraham, David and others before him were acting solely out of a desire to glorify God's Name and not to glorify, vindicate or revenge themselfs. In other words, the motive in these men's hearts was pure and God honored that because in each particular time frame throughout history there were the ground rules that had been established and upon which they were operating. It was still the era of "an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth." Paul dealt with this principle in his eloquent speech to the Greeks of Athens when he said, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" Acts 17:30. The Modern Language says, "God overlooked those times of ignorance." The LB says, "God tolerated man's past ignorance about these things..."

Now, let us go back to Job's case and the conversations between Christ and Satan over the loyalty of Job. Both of these exchanges took place before the entire universe and yet the angels nor the unfallen worlds understood what was wrong with Lucifer (Satan). Evidently, Job was a very rare exception in the earth. It would seem that the vast majority of mankind were not of Job's caliber in a spiritual sense. So, naturally Satan could say, well, this doesn't prove anything except that Job is a fanatic. A real nut case or words to that effect. It was not until Jesus came in the flesh that the eyes of the universe were opened.

Beloved, do you fully comprehend the significance of these words? For 4,000 years the very angels of God were not able to figure out what was wrong with Lucifer. There are very deep implications here. First of all, it means that the Father never once exposed Lucifer. Never once has our God ever brought a railing accusation against Satan. Yet, Satan has continually been trying to destroy and ruin God's reputation, as well as ours, for if he can make God's children look bad that reflects back on the Father. And this is where he has succeeded so well. But there have been exceptions and Job was one of them.

The Lord decided to make Job a case study on what the human race was all about and what they were really made of. So, as we have already noted, upon the occasion of the convening of these two great councils of all the representatives of the various planets the "lord" Satan came among them as the representative of planet earth. The Lord asked him if he had noticed what a wonderful man the patriarch Job was...a good and upright man who truly served Him. Of course, Satan had noticed Job and he was very irritated and upset about it for he had not been able to entice Job into serving him. So, Satan began casting doubts upon Job's real motives for serving the Lord and obeying him. He serves you only because you have blessed him so much. But just take away those many benefits and watch him curse you to your face. The Lord told Satan that He would partially remove the hedge so Job could be tested. The only restriction was that he would not be allowed to kill Job himself.

Well, we know the story...Satan was allowed to destroy everything that was dear to Job except for his wife and friends who each in their own way disowned Job and turned against him. Later he was allowed to afflict his body with boils. Yet, Job never once blamed God for any of these troubles. So, even though Job only had a very limited knowledge about His Creator He loved him supremely and was willing to endure any kind of suffering or death God allowed Satan to place upon him. "Though he slay me yet will I serve Him." Job 13:15. And he believed God would raise him up at the last day. Job 19:25-27. Of course, Job did not know that it was Satan who was afflicting him. He thought it was the true God. Even so, Job continued in his unfailing allegiance to this mysterious God He had absolute faith in no matter what happened.

The question we must ask ourselves today is this: Are we any smarter than Job or Elijah? Satan has been very busy since the time of the resurrection. Listen to this: "...Satan has not been stupid and careless these many years, since his fall, but has been learning. He has grown more artful. His plans are laid deeper, and are more covered with a religious garment to hide their deformity. The power of Satan now to tempt and deceive is ten-fold greater than it was in the days of the apostles. His power has increased, and it will increase, until it is taken away. His wrath and hate grow stronger as his time to work draws near its close." 2SG 277.

So, here we are now at the end of the world and do we have any greater understanding of who God really is than they did? In a broad, general sense I don't think the average person does. Obviously the worldly, unsaved masses don't understand God's true character for they don't even know God on a kindergarten level. They don't even have the first clue. But what about the Christian community? What about the church? And more specifically what about those who claim to believe the Bible? And more to the point, what about those who claim to believe the third angels message? Where are they in their understanding of God's true character? In answer let me quote to you from a favorite author...an acknowledged and cherished authority whose writings have been greatly revered and respected for over 100 years now by those who profess to be modern Israel and even God's chosen people today.

I am going to quote the exact words of one who, though dead since 1915, still has as much standing and authority among these professed people of God as Moses did to the Jews in the days when Jesus walked the dusty roads of Galilee during those sinless years beneath the Syrian blue. Yet, like the Jews of old, they do not understand, follow or obey the teachings of this modern day Messenger anymore than the Jews obeyed Moses or any of the prophets. Listen carefully, beloved, and weep for the blind and lost in Zion for over 95% slumber on in a death like, Laodicean condition as earthquakes, heatwaves, ice storms, famine, war, crime, AIDS (due mainly to sexual immorality on an unheard of scale, including homosexuality and every other perversion man has invented since time began ravages the earth like a fire out of control)...yes, my beloved friend, all of this is going on right now before our very eyes, reported hourly, day and night in living color with an incessant, unrelenting, merciless repetition raping the mind of even the most hardened cynic. Yet Laodicea slumbers on. But let us go to the quote:

"Like ancient Israel the church has dishonored her God by departing from the light, (went into darkness) neglecting her duties, and abusing her high and exalted privilege of being peculiar and holy in character. Her members have violated their covenant to live for God and Him only. They have joined with the selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin have been cherished, and CHRIST HAS DEPARTED. HIS SPIRIT HAS BEEN QUENCHED IN THE CHURCH. SATAN WORKS SIDE BY SIDE WITH PROFESSED CHRISTIANS; yet they are so destitute of spiritual discernment that they do not detect him." 2T 439-442. Oct. 2, 1868. Now, beloved, do you think that God's professed people have improved since then or have they gone backwards, like ancient Israel, and just gotten worse? That's what Jeremiah 7:24 says happened in his day. Yes, each year the apostasy grows worse as Paul predicted it would, 2 Tim. 3:5, 13. "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

Nevertheless, there is good news for those in Zion, as in the days of Elijah, when an invisible Remnant of 7,000 had not bowed the knee to Baal. God is again raising up a Remnant from among apostate Israel who are heeding the call of Isa. 60:1-3. "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory (character) of the Lord (Jesus) is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

The reason this Remnant will survive the final days of this earth and be translated when Jesus returns is because Satan, as the Lord of this earth, will not be able to deceive them into believing that He is "Jesus" who has come to save planet earth. And believe me, Satan will come as Jesus Christ and sit in the temple over there in Jerusalem which they are planning to build. It is the big news throughout the religious world community. Even the Pope of Rome, in Vatican state, has been making peace with Israel. So, everything is being set up in anticipation for the arrival of this "Messiah." We know from the Scriptures and from the book "Great Controversy," also published under various other titles such as "America in Prophecy," that when Satan comes, personating Jesus, the majority of the world will bow down and worship him and believe every last word he says. Why? Because they will have the same spirit. His spirit. Satan's spirit. The very spirit of anti-Christ.

When we interpret the Bible with this same kind of a spirit we end up with false interpretations and false views of God. For example, let us take the story found in I Sam. 15. Samuel is speaking to King Saul in the name of the "Lord," and telling him to go slaughter an entire nation. Now, let us carefully analyze the words and attitude of the one who is speaking in the name of the Lord. Is it Lord Jesus or is it Lord Satan? "Thus says the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." v. 2, 3. Let us honestly ask ourselves if this voice sounds like the loving and merciful Jesus of the New Testament? Are the words, intent, spirit and attitude of this speaker, claiming to be the true Lord, according to the character of Christ? Can you picture Jesus speaking these cruel, ruthless, vindictive, hateful and revengeful words? It sounds more like the spirit of Pharaoh and Herod...of Hitler and Stalin. These words just reek with the spirit of "get even." A revengeful spirit. And who is it that promotes that spirit? We know that it is Satan, the "god of get even," the "Lord of the royal payback." So, this voice could not possibly be our lovely and precious Redeemer. He just doesn't talk or act like that. In fact, He is the very one who told us to forgive our enemies and pray for them who despitefully use us and to go the second mile when they take advantage of us.

But there is even more proof. When I looked up the word, "Remember," in Strong's concordance I found that it is used 110 times in the Old Testament. Now, this is really amazing and mind blowing but in 109 instances the same Hebrew word, Zakar," (Remember) (Saw-kar, 2142) simply means to remember, recount, record, think on, well, etc. It only has a good connotation. But when I looked up the Hebrew word that is used here in I Sam. 15:2 we find a most interesting story. The Hebrew word in this instance is "PAQAD" (PAW-KAD, 6485). This is the only instance in which it is used. It means "to visit (with friendly or hostile intent);...avenge, bestow,...charge, count, etc. go see, hurt, punish..." Of course, the context in this verse is clearly hostile in intent. So, which Lord do you think was speaking? Jesus or Satan? I will let you ponder that question and decide for yourself.

In this brief article, which really only touches the tip of the iceberg on this subject, we do not have time to analyze many other stories in the Old Testament where the "Lord" is commanding, advising and instructing Israel how to go to war against their enemies. These war horror stories plus the story of Samson have been held up as examples of God's "power and might" to overcome in the physical realms of life whether it be in sporting events such as football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, boxing and worst of all in war itself. These Old Testament characters such as Moses, Joshua, Samson and King David are held up as great heroes who trusted God for victory over all their physical enemies such as the Philistines. This mighty "God" of Israel whom even Moses characterized as a "man of war" Exodus 15:3, had a "glittering sword," Deut. 32:41. David, who was probably the most prodigious killer in the Bible wrote, "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight." He obviously was not very clued in about God's non-destructive character of love when he wrote Psalm 137:8-9, which says, "O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones." Sounds like David had a lot of unresolved anger in his heart toward his enemies and desired revenge. "Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly." Psalm 3:7.

This same "God of Israel," whom David is praying to, not only taught the children of Israel how to kill, maim and destroy their enemies in times of war but actually helped them do it by bringing down great hail stones from the sky and sending lightning and fire upon the earth. This is the "god" most christians worship and support through donations of time, money and service through the various churches and religious organizations of Christendom. And this "god" is Satan.

When the disciples asked Jesus what the sign of his coming would be he gave this answer: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am (or I represent) Christ; and shall deceive many." Matt. 24:4. This has been fulfilled not only in the United States, but around the world through the various church organizations which teach that God destroys, using various Bible texts and stories from the old and new testaments to prove their point. World War I and II as well as Korea and Vietnam had a strong religious basis for its support. We must destroy the heretic or unbelievers, they say, whether they be Nazis, atheistic Communists or Buddhists from Japan or North Vietnam. The war between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and the war in Yugoslavia today are basically religious wars. Both sides claim that God is on their side and will help them kill their enemies. All who misunderstand the truth about God's true character will be deceived and drawn into the ranks of those who believe in and serve the killer god, Satan. How important than it is to study carefully and prayerfully this subject of the two Lords.

"Behold," say the Scripture, "the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee." Isa. 60:2. It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory (character), the light of His goodness, mercy and truth...(Isa. 40:9, 10 then quoted) Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, 'Behold your God.' The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love." COL 415.

A few days ago I received the following letter:

The writer of this letter also pointed out that this "Lord" had spoken to him out of the "whirlwind," or "storm," NIV, whereas I Kings 19:11 reveals that God was not in the wind, earthquake or fire that nearly tore the mountain apart where Elijah was hiding. Finally the true God spoke to Elijah with a "still small voice," such as Jesus described the Holy Spirit's quiet, gentle presence when He spoke to Nicodemus. Well, I was very impressed with this man's phone call and letter and a few days later wrote up a flier and sent it out as a thank you letter and new years greeting. I would now like to share with you the essence of that letter.

The test involves much more than just enduring the loss of all our material possessions, children, self-respect, spouse and friends. It also involves more than enduring terrible physical pain and suffering, for it includes and involves being faithful to God even though you don't know why any of it is happening. But most of all it is about believing in the love and goodness of God with no visible proof but the witness in your own heart. The final test of the Remnant will be able to detect the deceiver in his disguise. This I now intend to help you do by detecting the voice of the pretender, imposter God who spoke to Job out of the whirlwind or storm.

Almost anyone who knows the English language has either heard about or read the story themselves...the story about the first billionaire in the Bible who went broke overnight as a result of a series of disasters one on top of another. If there had been insurance companies in Job's day they probably would have suffered some very severe losses, if not gone belly up. So, everyone who has read the book of Job is familiar with that basic story. But what we are not very familiar with is what I now call the story of "JOB'S FINAL TEST."

After much prayer, study and thought on this matter I have finally concluded that God allowed Satan to speak in His name to Job directly. Job was demanding an audience and so the "god of this earth," granted him one. But here is what we don't understand very well. Satan could only say to Job what God allowed him to say. Satan's speech had to be submitted to the King of the Universe, Jesus Christ Himself, and run through His throne room and given His stamp of approval before he was allowed to speak to Job. See Exodus 23:20-22. So, what Satan said to Job was correct, in regards to how God runs the universe, guiding the stars, feeding the animals, etc. But the way he said it...his attitude and spirit was very aloof, haughty, proud and even harsh. And, of course, Satan is very good at pretending to be "God" for that is what he has aspired to be from the very beginning of his rebellion in heaven. He has had a lot time to practice on the human race so as to learn what works and what doesn't work in terms of deceiving them.

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me." The KJV says "I will demand of thee, and answer thou me." The LB says, "Now get ready to fight, for I am going to demand some answers from you, and you must reply." It is as he is saying to Job, Ok, you little smart alec, spoiled brat...stop whining and complaining. Stand up like a man and listen to me. You think you are so smart. Well, now you just listen to me for I am going to ask you some questions and you better give me some good answers...or else you'll be a lot sorrier than you are now. Of course, this is implied in the tone of the words.

Now, remember friends, Job has lost everything. He has been very ill, basically on his deathbed you might say. He needs some comfort and words of hope. When Christ was on earth he invited everyone to come to Him for rest and to get rid of their yokes. In Matt. 12:18-20 we read of how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 42:2, 3. "He shall not strive, nor cry;" (get into arguments). "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench." In other words a man whose dimly burning candle, i.e., (his life or smoking flax) was flickering, about to go out.

Jesus would not finish him off but would lift him up with words of comfort and bring healing to his soul. But this is certainly not what the Lord from the whirlwind (storm) was doing for Job. Notice the sharp, military-like command with its accompanying sharp, curt, to point, even harsh manner of speaking. This is very uncharacteristic of Jesus whose words are always so gracious and filled with love, compassion, tenderness, gentleness, longsuffering and understanding. He always treats people with the utmost dignity and respect, quite unlike this harsh and mean "Lord."

There are 71 verses of severe reprimand, condemnation and put down of a man who has just lost all seven of his children, the respect of his friends as well as the moral support of his wife to say nothing of his entire fortune. He has been tortured for an indefinite length of time with painful boils and ridiculed and hammered relentlessly by his "friends" to "repent and get right with God." The only thing good that came of this whole ordeal was that Job was totally humbled in his attitude and bowed and worshipped the Lord. So, the true God knew that Satan's speech, although harsh, demanding and proud, would humble Job's heart in preparation for the blessing of total restoration of health, family and fortune.

So, are there any other reasons I believe this was Satan speaking to Job? Yes, there are at least two. The first clue I had that this was not Jesus speaking was the fact that this voice commanded Eliphaz the Temanite to go sacrifice seven bullocks and seven rams as burnt offerings. Job 42:8. The true God never spoke or commanded animals to be killed or offered as sacrifices or burnt offerings. Isa. 1:10; 66:1-7; Jer. 7:22. I suspected right then that this arrogant, condemning voice who spoke so haughtily and proudly to poor Job was his majesty the devil. But until I received this fellow's phone call it didn't all come together.

The second piece of evidence was the fact that the voice of this Lord came from the "whirlwind," which the NIV and RSV translate "storm." From Elijah's experience we know God was not in the wind. I Kings 19:11. Winds always represent strife, war and bloodshed among the nations. Jesus, as the Prince of Peace, would not be represented by such a symbol. A "gentle whisper" or "still small voice" is how the real God speaks to His people, not "out of the wind, whirlwind or storm."

In response to my flier I received one letter I believe is worth noting:

I share this letter for I believe it represents the majority opinion in the church at large. Until recently I probably would have agreed with the above correspondent's conclusions. And that is the serious problem we face today for Satan is a mighty "Angel of light," who is even now planning his final deception that will sweep the majority of God's professed people into his camp. Matt. 24:24 warns us that the deceptions will be so subtle and convincing that it will almost deceive the final elect. It is my sincere prayer that this brief article will serve to stimulate you, the reader, to study on your own and come to your own conclusions after much prayer and study and perhaps a 12 or 24 hour fast so your mental facilities will be sharper. Please know that I am your friend and will be praying for you and yours. Please feel free to write or call me at any time. Take care now and remember me as loving you and praying for you and yours.

Truly your friend and servant in Christ, our Lord, Pastor Mike Clute.