Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.
Job 41:33-34 (emphasis added)

“There is not on the ground its likeness — the creature without fear. It observes all the lofty; it is king over all the sons of pride.
(Lexham English Bible – merged with the footnotes, the literal translation)

This entire chapter is the final comments Yahweh has toward Job. It is the end of the message. In some ways it is the summation of the entire book. The point of it. It is the description of a creature or animal. There have been a lot of people who have tried to tag it to a specific one, but specifics here aren’t that important because God is using poetic language here. Maybe it is a literal but colourful description. Maybe it’s symbolic. Maybe it’s something else. It isn’t central to the lesson.

This book of the bible isn’t a contest between God and the devil. This isn’t a wager. This isn’t a dare. This isn’t some kind of thing where stuff is happening on equal footing. That is NEVER the deal with God and the devil. The devil isn’t Jesus’ opposite number. The devil isn’t God’s opposite number. The devil isn’t our opposite number. He’s under all of that. He is a nothing. He isn’t even above the angels. He is below ALL of it. The only reason. The single reason he can do anything and stand against anyone is that we gave him our authority and continue to give him our authority. If he didn’t have that, he would be nothing and already toast. He cannot stand if we stop propping him up. He’s a liar and all he really has is words.

This book is about a man getting bullied until the teacher shows up. Seriously. And that’s what all of this is about. The devil is a bully. Imagine a schoolyard. A bully shows up and bullies the other kids. They can’t stand up for themselves (they have a good reason). The teacher sees it from inside and walks out. By the time the teacher arrives, the bully has other kids also bullying kids. They have quite a team. The teacher kicks the bully out of school. The teacher also kicks out the other kids who were bullying. The only ones left are the kids who did not bully. And the teacher takes the kids inside the school and shuts the door.

This is the story of the world. Of humanity’s journey. We aren’t meant for hell. We were never meant for hell. The devil is meant for hell. Anyone who follows him is meant for hell. If you worship him, you’re choosing him. If you choose him, he has power over you. If he has power over you, he will use it. Small ways, big ways, whatever ways further his agenda with the most people. He’ll give you success. He’ll give you food and treats that taste great. He’ll give you sickness and suffering. Whatever works. Whatever he can use. Whatever you give him permission to with your words and your actions. It’s the same kind of back and forth we’re called to with God, but a pale imitation. But we buy into it. We think of him as powerful and terrible. But he is only a legend in his own mind.

Read chapter 41 of Job and think of the devil as you do it. Not for ability, but personality type. I’m sure you’ve heard of those personality type tests. Answer a bunch of questions and they tell you your basic personality and how you function. This is kind of like that. But it’s a spiritual one. This is the type of personality of the enemy. He sees himself as mighty, powerful, fearless, unable to be touched, and king over all he sees. But God is so far above that. What does Jesus say in Luke 10:18? “He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.” This verse tells us that Jesus stayed in His place. Jesus stayed in heaven, glorious, with the Father and Satan fell. The enemy was the one kicked out. Not much of a king, huh?

He isn’t even untouchable. Revelation 20:10 tells us “The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” He’s marked for being kicked out of creation. Creation being everything outside of God Himself — that’s heaven, hell, and the material universe. The enemy and all that are with him are being tossed into a new place. Not hell. A new place. One where they will pay for their treason with the only possible fruit of treason against Yahweh Most High: absence from the goodness of Yahweh. It is a place where there is no goodness. At all. Nothing good that God gives. Well, 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us God gave us love, power, and self-control. So this place has no love, no power, and no self-control. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This place is bad and only those who choose to follow the devil are going there.

Mighty, iron-clad, and raised up, huh? The devil is so far below God that his whole deal gets a single line from PART of a verse. Half of verse 9. Half. And it is a TOTAL dismissal: Revelation 20:7-9 “And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them.” Boom. Done. No flowery description. No epic battle. The devil spends so much effort on getting everyone together, getting them to march, to surround the godly, and then… it’s over. If it was a film it would be a jarring ending. I once read a fiction book and there was a bad guy. Mister tough. Held up as this evil sorcerer. A being of a lot of power. He went from powerful to dead in less than three sentences, most of which were a description of him melting. It was extremely anti-climactic because his defeat was supposed to be the big point of the book. But in the bible, the devil is not the point of the book.

The devil is a footnote. He is hardly mentioned in the Old Testament because there was nothing they could do. They had no authority — they’d given it to him! Jesus had not come to be our sacrifice yet, so they didn’t HAVE a mediator like we do (1 Timothy 2:5). They – Job and the rest of humanity – were stuck in the kingdom of darkness without a saviour (which is their good reason why they can’t fight back. They have nothing to fight with). They were in the devil’s power just by existing. The Old Covenant was about us being covered by the Lord even though we don’t deserve it. It was a wonderful demonstration of His love for us. Yes, sin had to be punished and there were consequences. But think of what we do medically to people to ‘save’ them from cancer. We nuke them and cause horrific pain and damage – but it’s better than being eaten by cancer. Sin is a cancer and the Father sometimes had to nuke a few to save the whole – right up until Jesus was able to arrive and make a Way back. To pay for sin so it is no longer a factor. To be our redemption so His Grace could shine in us. It is a MUCH better Covenant (Hebrews 8:6-9).

The Old Covenant was about how again and again the Israelites walked away from the Lord. It was their big problem. Not the devil. THEMSELVES. Sure they were tempted, but the Lord was there offering so much more. In black and white (Deuteronomy 11:26-28). But they didn’t listen. Once the New Covenant was in place, it was a different ballgame. We could be more cognisant of the enemy because we had Jesus to abide in. Jesus to walk in. Jesus in us to do the works. Jesus in us to stand against him. Until we get our full redeemed selves on (the body to match our spirit and soul) we won’t be in our intended place in the scheme of things. We were made to be only a little lower than Yahweh God Almighty himself (Psalm 8:5 and Hebrews 2:7). We gave that away and we only will have it back if we are (1) saved and in Jesus — that’s the now part; and (2) have our renewed bodies in heaven — that’s in the future once everything is wrapped up (Philippians 3:31, 2 Corinthians 5:1, and Revelation 21:1-4).

In Jesus, we have authority. But that authority isn’t the point of our walk with Him. It isn’t our focus. Remember, the enemy is a footnote not a major plot point. Luke 10:17-20 “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”” We have authority in Jesus to stand against the devil and anything he brings against us. That is our right. But it’s an as it comes up. Kind of like we have wipers to clear the windshield when we are driving. It isn’t the point of driving. It isn’t the major point of driving, but it certainly does help in certain conditions.

We don’t need to focus on the enemy or what we think he’s doing. We don’t need to listen to the narrative of demons, evil spirits, and the devil being all bad and powerful and scary. We should instead be focused on the Lord and on our relationship with the Lord. James 4:7-10 “Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.” When God is number one, the devil has to take off. He’s already defeated.

He can be king of the sons of pride. We are called to be humble as Jesus was humble (Ephesians 4:1-3). We’re called to be obedient to the Lord God Almighty (Matthew 11:29-30). If we stand in the Lord, armed with the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), then there is nothing the devil can do to us. He has to flee before us because he cannot stand against the might of the Lord. He never could. No matter how fearless, arrogant, physical, loud, or posturing the enemy and the forces of the enemy get, we have the victory because Jesus has the victory and hands it to us. Jesus says in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”” Believe Him. Stand against fear. Don’t let him convince you he’s something he is not. Believe the truth. Believe Jesus.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 4:20-24

There is a certain amount of flattery when a child wants to be like us. When they dress like us. When they copy us. And it is a gesture of love to let that child imitate you. Sometimes it’s annoying, but overall it’s sweet. It’s something we tell each other too: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. God loves us so much He demonstrates it. Not by imitating us, but by enabling us to be like Him. It’s like making a child a costume. Giving them all the tools they need so that they can feel just like you. So they can imagine they are you. So that the illusion is complete and for all intents and purposes they are a new you. Yahweh God gave us His son so that in Him we can be Him. We can inhabit the righteousness and holiness of the truth of the Lord God. Renewed in our minds and renewed into the likeness of God. Not as a costume, but being created anew. Dead to death and alive to life. Able to walk in the Glory, Mercy, Grace, Joy, Peace, and Love of the Lord. To be more than we can be. That is love. Thank Him today for what He lets you go and equips you to do: be just like Him. Not imitators, but clones. Perfect replicas. It is the ultimate gift, the greatest gesture of love that I could ever conceive of. Thank Him for it today.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.