The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: Exposition of Job 1:6 (Part 4 of 4)
Ever wonder why some people face crushing seasons with surprising peace? We walk through the book of Job to confront a difficult, liberating truth: God remains sovereign over every moment, including the ones that break your heart. Rather than downplaying loss, we name it—missed promotions, empty cribs, unanswered prayers—and then trace how Scripture refuses to treat suffering as random. Christ called us to endure and persevere, not to chase comfort. That call only makes sense if trials are purposeful and bounded by a faithful God.
You’ll hear rich testimonies from wise voices who have lived this message for decades. We talk about fear and why it loosens its grip when we picture the throne room: Heaven rules, angels serve, and even the enemy must ask permission. Job shows Satan as an adversary under restraint; Exodus shows Pharaoh as a vessel of dishonor, raised up so God’s power would be seen. Those stories aren’t distant; they’re a map for today. If God sets the limits, then our afflictions—though real and painful—arrive as tools of refinement, not signs of abandonment.
Together we practice a simple discipline: encourage yourself in the Lord. Ask, “Is God worried right now?” If not, let that truth reset your breathing. We pray for life on earth to mirror heaven’s order, and we choose joy that blooms in the fire. By the end, you’ll have a sturdier way to read the headlines, face uncertainty, and walk through hardship without panic. If this conversation strengthens you, share it with a friend who needs courage today, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Your stories and reviews help more people find solid hope—leave one and tell us how God met you in the trial.
BE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!
Axims that they that they use with regard to Satan, you know, binding him and I cast you out, and you know, and I, you know, all these little things. I don't use them, so I can't think of them, but you know, I've heard it. But know this. If you understand the God of this Bible, the God you love, understand that He will never let anything happen to you that doesn't fall from His hands. It is an absolute impossibility and contrary to His nature. If you get nothing out of this, understand this. All that you go through, the loss of that job, the loss of that child, God forbid, the failure to give you that birth, the failure to give you that new promotion, the failure to give you that boat or that uh bonus, whatever it is that you're going through that's that's giving you hardship, understand something. What we're learning in the book of Job is that these things come from the Lord, and you will notice through our scripture, especially in the New Testament, when we're dealing with Christ, when did he ever talk about the pursuit of wealth in any kind of a positive light? Ever. Ever. He never did, not once did he say that was our goal. No, our goal is to endure. Why would he use a word like endure? Words like work out your salvation, words like persist, and persevere. Why do you use these words? Because we are going to go through trials. All this language that he uses infers, implies, and overtly conveys to us that we are here to go through trials, suffering, persecution, affliction, tribulation, tribulation, tribulation. Sister Linda, anything you want to add to the conversation, sister? I haven't given you a chance to speak yet.
SPEAKER_03:Hello, brother Jonathan. Hello, everyone. Um, it's good to be with you all. I really enjoyed this Bible study. I have listened to you for maybe three or four months now, I think. And um, I just think that you're so awesome. Um, you really are bringing the word. Um, for me, um, I know I'm in my 70s, so I can testify that, you know, we will go through trials and tribulation, and as we come through them, we become closer to God. Right. And that is the purpose of his will for us, you know, to get closer to him. And we get closer to him through Bible study with one another. We help each other build our faith. And um I just, you know, I'm just so grateful that he has held me up all these years, and um, I continue to grow in him, and I pray that I act as uh Jesus would act in all things that I do. So um thank you for allowing me to just say hello to everyone and uh keep up the good work.
SPEAKER_01:And I know that somebody got they got some years. I'm I'm trailing you by about 10 years. So um I know what you're talking about. You probably know a lot better than I do. You know, but and we we gotta we gotta show these young folks that it's a battle until the very end, right?
SPEAKER_03:That's right. That's right, it is. It's it's a continual battle, but you know, hold on to the faith. And um we have to try to be as faithful to God as he is faithful to us. Yep. Even though we're not perfect, but we can do what we can do. That's right. Um as long as we, you know, repent for each sin that we commit against him and go forward knowing that he has us. Um, and you know, that's one of the things that I'm always saying on, you know, when I tag something, I you know, you know, just uh repent. You know, when you sin, you fall back, come back and repent, and God, you know, will keep you. He continues to keep us. I don't believe that we can lose our um our our um salvation.
SPEAKER_01:Our salvation.
SPEAKER_03:Salvation.
SPEAKER_01:That's my sister talking right there, y'all. That's my sister talking right there. You tell his sister. Sometimes you gotta let these, you gotta, you gotta let the elders drop it on us because they know. They know. They really know. So Satan, as I said, he enters in among the sons of God. He intrudes. But he comes, he he comes in as an enemy, the enemy that he actually is when he comes to the throne room, when the sons of God are given their account. But he comes there under divine restraint. You know, he when he's when he's there, make you make no mistake about it, he wasn't hidden, he wasn't he wasn't, he can't hide from the divine eye of God Almighty. But he came there to get permission to disrupt. And that permission, God granted him.
SPEAKER_03:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Think about that for a second. He granted it to him to do it. He granted and it shows that even evil spirits, demons, even they, Satan himself, what it shows us that they cannot act and go beyond the bounds that the Lord Himself appointed. Cannot be done. Whatever happens to you, whatever happens to you, no matter how bad it is, understand something. It falls from the hand of the Lord. And its intent is to refine you and to cleanse you and to make you understand your Lord better. Brother Floyd says it's all about understanding and accepting his authority, submitting to him and smarting under the divine rod, as Kai says, because he is faithful, and as Lisa says, it is for his glory. See, this is the senior class talking right here. This this is this is what we're talking about here. Go ahead, Meg.
SPEAKER_05:That's why in scripture it says, submit to God, resist the devil, and he shall flee. It is because we are submitted under the authority of God, and the enemy knows that. And where that authority is, he has to go. There's no place for him there. I've seen so many hallelujahs in this live tonight, and this has been deep, and it's been a lot, and we are literally all sitting here rejoicing right now in tribulation. No matter what it is or what we're going through, we're all together here tonight rejoicing in the Lord God and giving him glory that when we go through these things, it's for him and his glory.
SPEAKER_01:This this is showing us, this is showing us here in the book of Job. The book opens up with us having to learn something about God. And primarily that he is on the throne and that everything that happens comes from the throne. The decree comes from the throne. And if you misunderstand this, none of this book will make sense. You might think you understand it, but anybody who says they read the book of Job and doesn't believe in the absolute sovereignty of God has completely misunderstood this book and certainly have misunderstood the Lord Himself. Sister Lisa, go ahead.
SPEAKER_04:So I just want to ask a question to you and or anybody else on the panel. We we all, none of us are blind, we all see what kind of well, I was gonna use a not a derogatory word, what kind of state our our world is in at the moment, but I really want to ask, is any one of you on this panel, and me in the chat, is anyone afraid? Do you fear? Because I ask, because I honestly, I wish you'd have known me prior to 2020. I would have been ball, I would have been pulling out my hair, my nails would have been bitten to the nubs, I'd have been crying every single night. I am not afraid, and it blows my mind. It blows my mind. I hear, oh, jump is like antichrist. Oh, oh, my mom's sending me video. Oh, do you think that Justin Kutcher's gonna rush in? And I'm like, mom, mom, what's chill? We're good. Do you belong to the Lord? If you belong to the Lord, it whatever happens. So, oh, are you gonna stock up on food? Are you gonna go down? Because now that every it's gonna go easy. And you know what? No. God provided manna, God's gonna provide, you know, whatever. He and if he doesn't, then I'll go home to him. You know, whatever.
SPEAKER_01:You better tell it like you better tell it like the Lord told you, sister.
SPEAKER_04:I'm serious. I just I no fear. It's so good. It's crazy. Crazy.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I I can honestly say, I can honestly say, if there's if there, you know, there are certain things that you will feel comfortable, not you, but you know, a person can feel comfortable about saying in their walk how they've been. And sometimes you're isn't you're even hesitant to say that because you'll you'll be like, uh, maybe there's a time that I've forgotten, you know, where where I was like this. But I don't know a single moment in my life as a Christian where I have ever feared. As long as I've been a Christian, I have never had fear. I've never been afraid of the world. Never. I can't recall ever. Ever. And, you know, like I said, if if if if I did, it's something that's escaped me. But I can't remember a time where I was ever afraid that I was not in the Lord's hands and that whatever I was going through, he wouldn't take me through it. There was never a time. Now, what I'm not saying, now here, listen, uh what I'm saying, when you, you know, when you see things and you you wonder, like, uh, Lord, it's getting a little bit late. You're like loosening your, you know, your collar and you're going, uh, Lord, you gotta come through. But you know what I'll say? He always does. He always does. He always does. And and uh now, look, certainly there are other areas in my life that on the spiritual side where I've fallen short tremendously in ways that many other Christians never have. But that's the beauty of the fellowship that we have. To to to bless one another with the with these things, to encourage one another. That's what encouraging one another is all about. Sharing these things. Uh, Sister May, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05:So, like, I went through a period of time where I was had this fear and I never knew where it came from. I was just like, what is going on with me? And I would, I got to a point, and this helped me more than anything. In the word of God, it says to encourage ourselves in the Lord. I would literally in these moments say, Lord, are you scared right now? Like, I know you see me going through this, but I need to know, are you scared? And the answer is no. God, are you worried right now? You see me in this moment, are you worried? And it's no, I'm not. And so if he is not, then why are we?
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_05:We we have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about.
SPEAKER_01:Uh, brother Jeffrey, encouraging servant, you there, brother? Yes. Oh, I got a question for you. Go. Why did what why why did God say that he raised up Pharaoh? Nobody jump in, let him answer. Why did God say he raised up Pharaoh?
SPEAKER_00:Well, he provided for Moses and the Israelites the opposition that was needed for God then to work the miracles that he wrought and brought to the children of Israel to bring them out of Egypt. And what was it was simply a pawn and nothing more. God enabled him, empowered him, whatever you want to call it, to do what he did. And he did it. After his time was over, he was done.
SPEAKER_01:And that was and what and what did that show? What did that what should that have shown that what did that show the Israelites about God?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it showed some of them that he was God Almighty. A lot of them didn't believe that, and they wandered out in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation passed. And Moses then did not get to go into the promised land with the next generation.
SPEAKER_03:Hey.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Hold on one second. So, Jeff, 100% correct. And Brother Eric Montoya in the comments said something else too. He says he raised up Pharaoh as a vessel of dishonor. He raised up Pharaoh as a vessel of dishonor to display his power in overthrowing Pharaoh, who the Israelites felt was an impossible enemy. Right. Okay. So he raised up Pharaoh in order that he would show his power over Pharaoh in the presence of his people. So now, Sister Lisa, let me ask you, why do you think, in light of what we just talked about, what we just said, why do you think God allowed Satan to come in among the sons of God?
SPEAKER_04:So that he could he could display his glory through Job's faithfulness. He already knew Job was going to be faithful. And he was gonna, he was basically gonna, you know, his glory would be revealed.
SPEAKER_01:His glory would be revealed not only in not only in showing the faithfulness of Job, but what was he showing us about God? What was God showing by what was God showing us about himself in allowing Satan to enter into that throne room? And you're right about Job.
SPEAKER_04:Well, he certainly doesn't fear Satan. He understands that Satan, like you said, is so beneath him. And I think that's the thing that we we need to remember. Um, God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I'm I'm really stop stop right there. You just said it. Okay. Say it again.
SPEAKER_04:God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_01:He God is showing, he is showing us right now in these words. He's showing us, the believer, that he is the one that is sovereign. By allowing Satan to enter into that throne room and giving Satan leave to do what he was going to do, he is showing us that he is the one on the throne.
SPEAKER_04:And I would say this view, Jonathan, I would say that he probably caused Satan to come into that throne room. Oh, he did. You know, of course. Of course, of course. And not that he just wandered up there. No. Because, you know, that's so that is so awesome. I mean, that's what we have to remember as his children, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Amen.
SPEAKER_04:My daddy's big.
SPEAKER_01:He ordered it and is is is bigger than us for sure. But this is what he was doing. He is showing us that the most wicked of all creation, the most wicked being of all creation, he himself has to submit to the Lord of glory. And what does that do for us? It gives us confidence in that whatever falls from his hand, we know is from him. We know that no matter what Satan may be doing, no matter how much of an instrument he may be in our affliction, we know that he was sent by God to do it. Christians. When you look at how people are at Christmas, getting gifts and all these kinds of things. When it comes to us being the children of God, using the metaphor of Christmas morning, for a lot of young kids, a lot of little kids, especially, for us as servants and sons of God, every gift would be filled with affliction in this life. The best gifts that a Christian can receive from the Lord God Almighty is to be afflicted. It is to suffer, it is to go through it. Not to avoid it, not to hide from it, not to run from it, not to fear of it, but it is to go through it. Brother Floyd says we are transformed in the fire, and he is right. That's what it is about. A true Christmas morning in the sense of me using that as a metaphor. I'm not trying to build an argument about Christmas and like that. I'm just using it as a metaphor to say that the best gifts that a Christian can get is to suffer for his name's sake. Sister Joni, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, um, I just wanted to say that when we do go through it, um we go through it in peace, and then again, that shows his power working through us.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:And that's where we get people. How are you doing that?
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And we get to spread the word the gospel.
SPEAKER_01:So we see here, and I'm almost done. So we see here that it says in the beginning of verse 6, there was a day when the sons of men, when the sons of God came to present themselves. And the day is simply talking about this appointed time or an appointed season where the Lord is going to exhibit his decision or his dominion in unfolding the mysteries of his providence. You know, and so it's not it's not like it was on, you know, a Thursday night sometime in eternity past. It was just a period of time that was set aside for the sons of God to come and to do whatever business the divine council had for them. The tribune, the, the, the, the, the tribunal of God, and we're able to see that this is how it works. God is giving us a peek into the divine boardroom. This is what he's doing. He's getting helping us to understand. And all of this is designed for one thing to promote our confidence in him, which promotes his glory. And then we spread that glory by communicating that this is the God that we worship. Because people won't understand how you can be at such peace and have such joy, like my brother Eric Montoya always says in his in his morning messages. Having that joy, and we are supposed to have joy in the midst of our trials and these afflictions that we go through. And this tribunal represents the regular order of the divine administration. This is how it always is. This is how it always is. God is up there with the Son, and He's up there, and the Son is mediating on our behalf, and they are discussing these things, and the Lord is sending his angels to do his bidding, his servants, the Holy Spirit is doing what he's doing within us, and this builds nothing but a supernatural divine confidence in the dry in the downtrodden believer. And understand that no matter how dry the shrubbery gets around us, we will always ultimately be made green. This is what he this is what our God does. Remember what Christ told his disciples when he asked them, when they asked him, teach us, Lord, teach us to pray. One of the greatest lines that he Christ gave in that prayer was his will be done on earth. How?
SPEAKER_02:As it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_01:Amen. As it is in heaven. What we're seeing in this first part of Job is what that looks like. And he is teaching us to pray so that we understand this is what our goal should be. That his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. We see how it happens in heaven. We just read it. But what he what Christ is also teaching us is to pray consistent with the will of God, which is however he's managing things in heaven, manage it that way here. And you know what? He does. He just needs us to understand that he does. So when people get upset because we talk about the sovereignty of God too much, we are not talking about the sovereignty of God enough. Because that is that net that sits below us when we're swinging recklessly on that trapeze. He is our net that sits below. There's no way you'd go up on that trapeze trapeze if there was no net unless you were a fool. But right now, we know that the Lord has provided us absolute assurance. And so these scenes that we see here in the book of Jones, Job, they open up with these to show that these afflictions that are about to happen to Job, they are not by chance. They're not by or the result of a lack of favor that God has on the part of Job. That was not the issue. God favored Job. It wasn't an issue that it was a chance because we know that Satan went in and God gave him permission to do it. And like Lisa said, it is what, you know, God was the one who initiated it. He initiated it. It wasn't the devil who did. But what it does tell us is that this was the deliberate, the deliberate, determinate counsel of God that initiated and put all these things in motion. So much so that even Satan, in all his evil and all of his malice, and all of his devouring appetite, it serves to test and to refine the faith of the righteous. Do not be foolish to think that this is only a story about Job. This is the story of every single Christian. Be thankful that you may not have had to go to the lengths that Job had to go through. But he was a man that was made and built up by God to endure far more than most of us will ever have to endure, thankfully, in this life in 21st century America. And there's no telling how long this country may go before we start enduring affliction, which I do believe is on its way. I do believe that. With all my heart, I believe that's coming to America. Christian persecution by our own government. It's coming. It is coming. And to me, I see what looks like the framework of it being built. Anyone who doesn't see it is insane. The adversaries come in among the sons of God, showing Satan showing, like I said earlier, his restlessness, showing his malicious nature, roaming the earth, doing everything he can to oppose God's people. And you know what? When he does, it is because God gave him leave to do so. Let it be so now, Satan. Go do what you will to my people, but you will leave them alone. You want to bring them pain in their physical health, you want to take away family members, you want to incarcerate them, you want to punish them, you want to starve them, you want to do what you will. And he sends them. And Christians, these what I'm telling you right now, these things, these words, will give you that hope that you need when trying times come. Because I definitely believe with all of my heart and soul, it is coming to America. When it comes, I don't know how soon uh it comes, I don't know. But it's like Christ says, How do you how can you tell when it's gonna rain? But you can't tell the signs of the times. I'm telling you, I believe that this that the tea leaves are have already been drafted and they're open before our eyes to see it. So all the stuff that happens, the important takeaway here is this, and this is where I will close. The most important takeaway here is that our reflection comes from the Lord. Don't give Satan credit for that. It comes from the Lord to refine us, to improve our status with him, to improve our knowledge of him, to improve our love of him, to improve our appreciation of him, to show us that he is sovereign not only over those who believe, but over those who don't believe and who are his most wicked adversaries. He controls them. Satan, the devils can do nothing to you that God did not order them to do to you. Nothing. This stands as a profound revelation of God's divine sovereignty and his spiritual reality. Heaven rules, angels serve, and even the devils must obey the sovereign purposes of God. And this is what brings our comfort, brings comfort to us. It humbles human pride, it humbles pride, and it and it reminds us that it is the unseen world under God, the unseen world under God who orders all the events of our visible lives. And every trial of the faith begins and ends. Under God's eye and by his sovereign hand. Be provoked and be persuaded.
SPEAKER_04:That was good, Jonathan. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Amen. Wow.
SPEAKER_04:God bless you all.
SPEAKER_01:God bless everybody tonight.
SPEAKER_04:Love you.
SPEAKER_01:And I'm looking forward to tomorrow to continue. But I knew full well that my expectation was to get through one verse because verses 6 through 12, I'm going to take my time going through because I want to make these things that we read in these verses really stick. So if I sound repetitive as we go, please bear with me. It is for your good, for my good. And for the good of the body. So may God bless you all tonight. And may God be glorified in you. And uh I look forward to tomorrow night.
SPEAKER_03:Good night, guys.
SPEAKER_04:Good night, good night.