Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons 1 Timothy 4:1
“Doctrines of demons” is most commonly understood as something some other Christian denomination teaches. This is convenient because it makes the doctrines easy to spot, but I suggest that there is an even faster and easier definition. A “doctrine of demons” is a belief based on something said by a demon. Scripture is absolutely correct that Bible-believing Christians hold this kind of belief these days, and that others have discarded Christianity because of the doctrine being taught by those Christians. You read that right. Many Christians believe something said by a demon. Worse yet, the Bible clearly states that it is Satan—a demon—who says it. There is no “appearing as an angel of light” as we are warned that Satan can do in 2 Corinthians 11:14. Job 1:10 Satan says that God put a hedge of protection around Job. If you believe this is true, you are accepting and believing something Satan says. In other words, you are giving heed to a doctrine of demons. I do not care how many Christians believe this or how long this belief has been held. Satan said it and so as a Christian I take it as a lie from the pit. It seems to me that the choice is pretty clear. Jesus said in John 8:44 that Satan is the “father of lies”. God Himself said that Satan cannot tell the truth because the “truth is not in him.” So, when Satan says that God put a hedge around Job, you can either believe this is true or you can believe Jesus. I strongly recommend believing Jesus, but you can make your own choice. Job 1:12 I’ve heard it argued that God confirms what Satan says is true by lifting that hedge in verse 12. It seems to me that this contradicts what Jesus said and so makes God a liar. You can split hairs all you want, but I think this is an absurd understanding of verse 12. Since Satan is lying in verses 10, then we can understand verse 12 as God correcting Satan. Everything Job had was in Satan’s power. God corrects Satan for a very simple reason. God wants us to understand that all physical things are in the dominion of Satan. This is clearly stated in 1 John 5:19, which says that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one”. It’s interesting to note that Job is considered the oldest book in the Bible and that the epistles of John are the most recent. It has also been said that God repeats Himself on the important points to be sure we get them. Scriptural Support The idea that God would correct Satan is demonstrated in the encounter that Jesus had with him. This well-known incident is recorded in Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4. Each time Satan makes a statement Jesus corrects Him. Jesus’ answers are consistent with Scripture—He quotes it—giving us confidence that Satan consistently lies and God consistently tells the truth. By the way, Satan lied at least once when he said that he would give control of “all the kingdoms of the world” to Jesus as recorded in Luke 4: 6-7. Not only is it doubtful that he would have followed through and done this, but “all the kingdoms” would have included Israel, which of course belonged to God. There may have been other examples, but we can count on Satan to lie and overstate his position. More Scriptural Support The flawed notion that God had actually put a hedge around Job leads to the conclusion that God was testing Job by lifting the hedge. This is just plain wrong. God has no need to respond to Satan by testing Job because God already knows that Job would fail the test. God knows that Job is dust (Psalm 103:14) and won’t stand up to the test. God is right again, and Job whines, complains and accuses God of being unfair to him! In addition, it is perfectly clear when God is testing someone, as evidenced by Genesis 22:1. This verse specifically says that “God tested Abraham”. This is in stark contrast to the implied testing of Job. The fact that Isaac was not killed in Abraham’s test and Job’s children did die is another striking difference that we should not ignore. Trust God It seems almost unbelievable that Christians would choose to believe Satan instead of God. Yet this is clearly the case in the opening chapter of Job. Furthermore, this error leads to all sorts of strange ideas about God and His character, with things like disease and poverty being framed as “God’s will” and a “blessing in disguise”. There is another horrific consequence to believing Satan that is discussed more fully in my post “Satan’s Second Best Trick”. However, the worse is that non-believers are turned away from God and His love for them. Christians who love the lost and believe that Jesus tells the truth are in a great position to correct this error and help everyone understand that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (John 1:5)
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November 2019
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