One minister, whom I will not name here, has made the following statement: “Because of sin, Satan had access to Job, as he did ALL men.”

This same minister also said, Job is the “poster boy” for religion.

This belief is straight out of the Word of Faith movement’s play book, for they need to find something Job did wrong so they can explain why it was Job’s fault. Otherwise, Job’s experience discredits much of their theology.

The scriptures do not lay the blame on Job for his trial. The Bible tells us Job was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil ~ Job 1:1. We read this in the very first verse of the book of Job. Then in verse 8 we read the following:

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? ~ Job 1:8

While the minister mentioned above asserts that Satan had access to Job because of sin, God himself says otherwise. Who are you going to believe? God or the one who spoke contrary to what God said?

After God gave Satan permission to test Job, Satan left the presence of God and began to wreak havoc against Job. Consequently, four messengers came, one after another, bearing terrible news. The last came and reported the death of Job’s children.

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. ~ Job 1:20-22

Even after the terrible things Job experienced, the scriptures tells us that Job “sinned not.” This is contrary to the assertion that Satan had access to Job because of sin.

Let’s continue.

In Job 2, Satan again came before God and God said the following to Satan:

Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. ~ Job 2:3

Notice the words of God (above) defending the righteousness and integrity of Job.

The remarkable thing about the minister whose comments I am refuting is that his assertions are actually aligned with Job’s three friends. It was Job’s friends who accused Job of sin and not God. All one has to do is read the dialogue between Job and his friends and it will become evident that Job’s friends accused him of sin.

In chapter 42 God confronted Job’s friends: And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. ~ Job 42:7

God confronted Eliphaz the Temanite, and God was angry with him for not speaking correctly about him to Job. God also tells him that his servant Job did indeed speak the thing that is right about God.

The minister who blamed Job for sin and called him the poster boy for religion also has said, “Job’s situation changed when he changed his mind about God’s plan.”

This is made -up and not at all what happened. Here is what the scriptures actually say happened:

And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ~ Job 42:7-10

The scriptures do not say Job’s situation changed when he changed his mind about God’s plan. On the contrary, the scriptures says, “the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.”

Throughout the book of Job, God repeatedly comes to the defense of Job, and nowhere in the entire Bible does God ever say anything about Job being any other than upright in his sight.

Yes, God did confront Job’s misconceptions, but God never accredited sin to Job in the book of Job, neither does any scripture – anywhere!

Job was a righteous man, and in Ezekiel, God mentions Job along with Noah and Daniel as righteous ~ Ezekiel 14:14, 20. In the New Testament, James tells us that Job is an example to us of patience and he learned that God is merciful and compassionate. ~ James 5:10-11

The condescending attitude towards Job by the minister mentioned in this article is an old Word of Faith ideology which I am very familiar with. Job gets a bad rap by Word of Faith teachers for two reasons.

1. They cannot make Word of Faith theology work with the life story of Job as recorded in the Bible.

2. They zero in on Job’s concern for his ungodly children and Job’s statement, “the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” They do this to blame Job.

In Word of Faith theology, fear is taboo. Consequently the entire book of Job gets interpreted through this one statement by Job and the rest of the scriptures testifying of Job’s righteousness, integrity, and godly life is ignored.

Why does this happen? It happens because in Word of Faith theology – you are in control of everything, even God. In Word of Faith theology, Job’s fear controlled God and gave Satan access to his life because Job’s fear was sin.

Maybe they ought to actually read the book of Job.