Delivered to Satan(Continued from page 41).

Before going into the details of Job's trials, it will be well to consider the question of the character and limits of Satan's power. Can he, of his own power, bring down the lightning or raise up a whirlwind ? Can he inflict disease, and order events as he may desire ?

There are two extremes, from each of which we must guard ourselves. The one would ascribe to Satan powers little, if any, short of 'divine. It is claimed that as prince of this world, all things are in his hand-all the forces of nature as well as the mind and heart of man; in short, that he is the God of providence for this world. The opposite view would ignore his dignity of position, his power as chief of God's creatures, and make him practically inferior to man. We must turn therefore, however briefly, to Scripture, and examine its positive teachings, as well as some passages which need special explanation.

Of his moral power over man there can be no question. "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Cor. 4:4); "According to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2); "The whole world lieth in the wicked one" (i John 5:19). His power is to blind men to the gospel, and to keep them away from God in the broad way that leadeth to destruction. The whole world is thus under his blinding, seducing influence. To those who yield themselves wilfully to his sway, he is father :"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do … He is a liar, and the father of it " (John 8:44). " He abode not in the truth," and would lead men away from the truth. In the garden of Eden, he seduced the woman into disobedience, in which Adam united and thus brought sin into the world (Rom. 5:12). – "The wages of sin is death," which has passed upon all men-as necessitated by the universality of sin-and thus Satan has the power of death (Heb. 2:14), not the power of inflicting death, but the moral power of sin which brings death, and the judgment which follows.

Sickness is the shadow and precursor of death- "Sick unto death" (Is. 38:i)-and it is a witness to the solemn truth of man's separation from the Source of life-"alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18). The alienation is moral; the physical death is the governmental infliction. Sickness is thus connected with Satan's power in a moral rather than a physical way.

The subject of demon possession is too large to be entered upon fully. It must suffice to notice the moral effect this possession had. The man in the synagogue at Capernaum had an unclean spirit (Ml. 1:23). Another man had a dumb spirit. Frequently the power of these demons was exerted in leading their victims to injure or even to destroy themselves. The " daughter of Abraham " who had "a spirit of infirmity" (Lk. 13:11-16) and thus bound by Satan, was undoubtedly more than sick in the ordinary sense. As the power of the enemy made some dumb, it bound her down. It is difficult to define the relation between our own spirit and the body; it must be more so in the case of demon power. But the power seems to be exerted through the mind. This is evident in the case of the demoniac boy (Matt. 17:15) who was "lunatic and sore vexed " with a demon.

It is striking that Satan was permitted to manifest his power in this special way during our Lord's ministry. It gave Him the opportunity to show to the least believing that He "was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil" (i Jno.3:8).

We come next to those scriptures which connect Satan's activities with natural, physical phenomena. He carried our Lord to the top of the temple, and urged Him to cast Himself down (Matt. 4:5). He would take possession of the body of Moses (Jude 9). As Elijah called down fire from heaven (2 Ki. i:10), we know that the Antichrist will do the same (Rev. 13:13). An angel rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulcher (Matt. 28:2), and another released Peter from prison (Acts 12:7, etc.). Scripture gives no intimation that Satan has less power than the angels, for he was chief of them all. What then are we to gather from these facts?

The material universe-all things-has been created by the Son of God. "Without Him was not anything made that was made" (John i:3). Satan has brought nothing into existence; he is but a creature himself. Similarly all the forces of nature act according to divine laws. "Laws of nature" are but laws of God, the manner in which all things are upheld by the word of His power. He has not relinquished His prerogatives as God of providence any more than His place as Creator. He is sovereign and doeth according to His own will, blessed be His name. He causes His sun to shine and rain to fall; He sends fruitful seasons, filling men's hearts with food and gladness. He holds the winds in His fists, and rides upon the storm. "The sea is His, and He made it; "and the stormy wind, which He commandeth and raiseth up, doth but fulfil His word.

"He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might."

God's creatures can use these forces of nature only by His permission. A Christian professor, in performing experiments in natural science before his class, was accustomed to say, "Gentlemen, God is working before your eyes." Man cannot force nature to act contrary to the will of God.

This applies in an especial way to Satan, for he is no longer a servant of God, one of the usual agents of His will, but a rebel. He can do nothing except by divine permission. As prince of this world, he rules in the hearts of men, individually and corporately, but his domain stops there. He is not prince of the earth, the sea, nor air. " Prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2) does not mean lord of the winds, but one whose evil influence pervades the moral world, as the atmosphere envelops the physical. Where faith realizes the omnipresent supremacy of God over all nature, it can, in its little measure, sleep on the waves amid the tumult of the storm. But only One can say to that storm, "Peace, be still."

Our answer then as to the nature of all miraculous powers of Satan is that they are divine power put forth with divine permission with a divine object, in answer to a Satanic demand for that power. Satan desired to tempt our Lord, and God put all His power at the enemy's disposal to effect his object if possible. The result was the exhibition of the perfections of the sinless Man. The "messenger of Satan" (2 Cor. 12) given to Paul was permitted of God with a purpose of grace, in spite of the malignity of the one who would destroy the usefulness of a servant of the Lord. In regard to every outward form of Satanic activity we can-use the words of our Lord, "Thou couldst have no power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11). In other words, it was not Satan's lightning, but God's that smote Job's property; God's, not Satan's, whirlwind that destroyed his family. Satan had demanded this- "Put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he hath" (chap, i:n). Job sees only God's hand in his affliction-"The Lord hr/h taken away" (ver. 21); and God Himself says to Satan, "Thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause" (chap. 2:3).

The bearing of all this upon human sickness and the use of medicines is simple. The connection of sickness with Satan is through sin, and it is a governmental dealing of God with men calculated to turn them to Him in their need. Medicines are creatures of God, acting according to divinely established laws. To call them works of the devil is the opposite of the truth. Faith therefore can use them, as every other creature of God, with thanksgiving.

We come now to the strokes that fell upon Job.

There were four of these, suggesting by their number the trial to which the Lord's servant was subjected. The first blow fell upon his oxen and asses, the means of labor which is the chief source of strength. "Much increase is by the strength of the ox " (Prov. 14:4); "That our oxen may be strong to labor" (Ps. 144:14). The Sabeans, a mixed nomadic race of near-by Arabians, swooped suddenly down, slew all the servants except the fugitive who told the tale, and made off with all the spoil. We can see Satan's work in stirring up the cupidity of these people, ever ready to murder and to rob, but the supernatural part was that along with all the rest, it took place at just this time, God permitting it all.

The second stroke follows immediately, falling upon the sheep, the source of his food and clothing, and their attendants. The agency this time was " the fire of God " from heaven. It is not designated as lightning, though some authorities consider it was that, but has been thought to be similar to that which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Whatever it was, it was "an act of God," as men say, when destruction comes without human interposition. We have already intimated, in the earlier discussion, Satan's part in this.

The third stroke falls upon the camels, the animals used for burden-bearing and for travel, the source of commercial wealth. The agents here are the Chaldeans, from the north of the country of Job -apparently a warlike and numerous people at that day, though not yet in their place of later national supremacy. They clear all away, both of camels and servants, as completely as had the Sabeans.

Lastly, the whirlwind falls upon the house where the sons and daughters were feasting, leaving but one servant to tell of the awful calamity.

Thus the blows fall in quick succession without opportunity for partial recovery. They come with terrible suddenness, in the midst of prosperity, happiness and piety. They were incurable, cumulative, stunning. In one brief hour Job is stripped of all. Truly, Satan had done his work thoroughly, under the permission of an all-wise God.

The storm has burst in all its fury; how does the sufferer act beneath it ? Not a murmur escapes his lips at the loss of his property; and when the climax is reached, he meets it in the dignity of a man of faith, yet with a tender, broken heart. Rent mantle, and shorn head are the marks of a mourner. He acknowledges that nothing was his by right; he had come into the world naked, and would leave it as he came."We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (i Tim. 6:7). But he turns from the stroke to the Hand that gave it. He looks past all second causes, whether human or miraculous, and lays his sorrow at the Lord's feet."The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

So Satan has utterly failed thus far. His object had been to drive Job from God; he had only drawn him to Him. This proves the reality of Job's faith.

But more, much more, is to follow. S. R.

(To be continued)