What Goes On “Behind the Scenes” in the Spirit?

There are several articles on this site that go into detail about angels, including how to enlist their services. In this article we’re going to consider the possibilities of what goes on “behind the scenes” in the spiritual realm in regard to angelic help and demonic assaults, as well as the spiritual warfare we need to implement for positive results in our lives and the lives of those linked to us.

“According to Your Faith Will It Be Done to You”

Christ emphasized the power of speaking in faith rooted in belief in the heart. He said we can move ‘mountains’ with this principle (Mark 11:22-23). And this explains Jesus’ typical responses to people who experienced miracles through Him. For instance, when two blind men sought healing the Lord asked if they believed they would receive their healing through Him and they said “yes,” to which he replied: “According to your faith let it be done to you”  (Matthew 9:27-30).

The Messiah made similar statements when others received miracles (e.g. Matthew 8:13 & 9:22). These people spoke in faith with their mouths as they believed in their hearts and thus received the miracle they needed. You need to get a hold of this principle if you want to experience your miracle from the Lord!

If you’re a believer you already walked in this principle when you received the miracle of salvation. The Bible shows us precisely how a person is saved:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10

As you can see, you received eternal salvation by 1. declaring with your mouth and 2. believing in your heart that Christ is Lord and was raised from the dead for your justification. You can use this very same principle to receive any miracle—declaring with your mouth and believing in your heart.

You might say: “This is wonderful, but I’m having a hard time believing for my miracle.” Then I suggest meditating more on the promises of God’s Word, which is the basis of your faith. As Romans 10 goes on to say: “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (verse 17 KJV).

Your faith will increase the more you speak in faith that for which you are believing, which is why David said:

¹³ With my lips I recount

       all the laws that come from your

       mouth.

¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes

       as one rejoices in great riches.

¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts

       and consider your ways.

¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;

       I will not neglect your word.

Psalm 119:13-16

This was one of David’s key secrets for being such a man of faith — “a man after God’s own heart” *: He regularly and enthusiastically meditated on God’s Word, recounting it with his mouth. The Hebrew for “meditate” is siach (SEE-akh), which means to muse over and speak out loud. Meditating on God’s Word in this manner naturally built David up in faith; and he acted accordingly. He thus slew the 9½ foot tall Goliath and became one of the greatest kings of Israel. David was so exceptional that, even though he lived 3000 years ago, people talk about his great exploits all over the world to this day, like right now.

* See 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22.

Speaking God’s Word Increases Faith

The definition of siach shows that meditation isn’t just musing over God’s Word; it also involves speaking it out loud. If you’re having trouble believing for a particular miracle, I encourage you to increase speaking the applicable Word of God in faith. The more you speak it the more you’ll believe it; and it will ultimately manifest. Jesus alluded to this here:

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Mark 11:23 (NKJV)

Observe how the Lord emphasized speaking three times as much as believing. Why? Because the more you speak something the more you’ll believe it. This works for the positive and the negative. Speaking of which, let’s look at…

Speaking & Believing for Negative Things

Carol and I were hanging out with a couple recently and we noticed how the wife kept talking in negative terms; often about negative things like physical ailments, cancer and the possibility of dying. While she was likely ignorant of what she was doing, she was nevertheless speaking and believing for negative things utilizing the power of her tongue. Is it any wonder that she had ongoing problems with depression?

In the above verse Christ said that “whoever” says to this ‘mountain’ and believes in their heart shall have what they speak. Notice that Jesus didn’t even specify that the person is in covenant with God. In other words, this powerful principle works for anyone who uses it, regardless of whether they’re a believer or not.

This explains why the pagan Goliath used this principle when he faced David. The intimidating giant eyed the shepherd teen with contempt and said he was going to kill him and feed him to the vultures; David essentially said the same thing to Goliath (1 Samuel 17:43-47). They both used the principle of declaring by faith with their mouths and believing in their hearts in order to gain what they wanted—victory. This potent principle works across the board for whosoever takes advantage of it. This is why you’ll read of it in secular self-improvement books.

So why did David have the victory on this occasion and not Goliath? The latter was a renowned champion with a long string of victories, so why didn’t this principle work for him this time? Because David was in covenant with the Almighty and Goliath wasn’t. In fact, David confirmed this when facing the giant: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45). David no doubt experienced fear, but overcame it by speaking in bold faith according to the promise of his covenant. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather stubbornly doing what you have to do in faith despite any fear you might experience.

You could say that being in covenant with the LORD gave David the edge and thus he had the victory.

If this powerful scriptural principle works for the positive for “whosoever” implements it, does it also work for the negative? Of course. This is why the Bible says the tongue has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). Your words don’t just have the power of life; they also have the power of death. If you speak negative things often enough you’ll eventually believe them in your heart and they’ll come to pass to the degree that you believe, one way or another.

I observed an excellent example of this on a TV show about unsolved mysteries. A teenage girl, who was about 17 years-old, got it in her head that she was going to somehow be “taken” and therefore wouldn’t be around much longer. Her mother and sister heard her say this repeatedly over the course of a couple years. Then one day she went to the corner store to purchase a romance novel and she mysteriously disappeared. The evidence pointed to forcible apprehension and, sadly, her body was later found, molested. They were still trying to find the killer when the show aired.

How can this strange story possibly be explained? How did this girl “get it in her head” that she was going to be “taken” one day and never return? No doubt an evil spirit whispered this negative idea in her ear, so to speak, until she took hold of it and started speaking it. The more she spoke it to herself & others the more she believed it. And thus one day it came to fruition. Remember what Jesus said: “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Unfortunately, this girl had faith for negative things.

Good and Bad Angels “Released” Through Your Words

What goes on “behind the scenes” in a scenario like this? We know that the angels assigned to us respond to the voice of God’s Word:

Bless the LORD, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

Psalm 103:20 (ESV)

God’s written Word has no voice unless we speak it. When the Holy Spirit conveys a word to you in your spirit—whether you discern it as an impression, desire or inner voice—it also has no voice unless you speak it. Even if a New Testament prophet speaks a divine word over you and it’s confirmed in your spirit, that word has no ongoing voice in your life unless you agree with it and declare it. Whatever the case, when we speak the promises of God in faith we give voice to God’s Word and this releases the angels to assist in carrying out whatever miracle for which we’re believing. This is their very purpose—“to serve those who will inherit salvation,” i.e. people (Hebrews 1:14).

However, if you don’t speak according to God’s Word then your angels cannot obey the voice of the Word because you’re not giving voice to it. They are thus hindered—prevented—from fulfilling their purpose and you won’t partake of their benefit.

Now consider this: If the purpose of godly angels is to serve people and obey the voice of God’s Word, then fallen angels do the precise opposite—instead of serving people for their benefit they oppress people for their detriment! If heavenly angels respond to the voice of God’s Word then evil angels respond to the voice of that which contradicts God’s truth! In other words, they get excited about words that rebel against the LORD and His will; it inspires them!

Now let’s apply this data to the aforementioned girl and her tragic end: She got it in her head through the lies of an evil spirit that she was going to somehow be “taken” and never return home, meaning she would likely be killed. She took ahold of this idea, started speaking it to herself and others, and eventually believed it. The angels assigned to her were essentially bound up from helping and, instead, filthy spirits were released to bring to pass that for which she spoke and believed! These wicked spirts searched around the area for the ‘right’ sociopath and inspired him to go to that particular store at the very time she would be there; and when the girl showed up he took advantage of the situation.

Truly, our words have the power of life and death!

Like this unfortunate girl, I got something negative in my head when I was a teenager. The thought struck me that I was going to die by the time I was 26. I proceeded to dwell on it now and then, and consequently started sharing it with others. I may have only shared it a handful of times but, nevertheless, I was using this principle of speaking & believing for the negative, just as the girl in the story. Thankfully, I turned to the LORD when I was 20 and He soon taught me about the power of the tongue combined with believing in the heart. So I repented of speaking a curse over my life. At 53 years of age, as of this writing, I’ve more than doubled the time limit the enemy tried to put on my life!

Do Unbelievers Have Angels Assigned to Them?

At this point a question springs up: Do unbelievers have angels assigned to them? For instance, did the girl who was apprehended and murdered have angels assigned to her, regardless of whether or not she was a believer? (If she was a believer, she was obviously ignorant of the power of her words combined with faith in the heart). How about me and my similar story—were there angels assigned to me before I accepted the gospel?

A few passages that suggest this (Psalm 91:11 & Matthew 4:6). In Matthew 18:10 Christ spoke of children and “their angels in heaven.” Moreover, it just makes sense that every person has angels assigned to him or her in light of the divine purpose of angels: “to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Who is it that’s supposed to inherit salvation? People in general—the only physical beings created in the likeness of God. It is true that only genuine believers will inherit salvation, but unbelievers might inherit salvation; so angels need to be there for them, particularly when believers pray for them. And angels cannot readily serve people unless they’re readily available.

‘Serve’ is the Greek word diakonia (dee-ak-on-EE-ah), which literally means serving in the sense of waiting on someone’s table. How can angels wait at people’s tables—whether they’re saved or not saved—if they’re not even there to wait on their tables? So, yes, every person has angels assigned to him or her.

Now, say I’m interceding for an unsaved guy and I pray that the LORD would continually bring the gospel to him, one way or another; and, furthermore, provide godly believers to minister to him wherever he goes. Who is it that works behind the scenes to carry out such a prayer? Obviously the angels assigned to this man.

The Power of the Tongue and Your RESPONSIBILITY

The tongue is a powerful gift that the Creator has given us. It has the power of life or death, depending on whether we speak words of life or words of death; words of faith or words of doubt; blessings or curses (Proverbs 18:21). This applies to the words we speak over ourselves, as well as the words we speak over others, whether they’re present or not. This includes our prayers for people. It is through the words we speak, including our prayers, that angels are released or hindered.

This relates to both heavenly angels and fallen angels. For instance, the girl who was apprehended at the store used her tongue to speak words that hindered heavenly angels, yet empowered fallen angels. She didn’t repent, but kept it up. And it eventually brought about her doom. This does not negate the responsibility of the sick thug who murdered her, of course, but God had placed a great gift at the girl’s disposal and she inadvertently used it to bring about her own destruction! The fact that she was ignorant of the power of the tongue didn’t negate the power of this God-given tool. If a boy innocently picks up a gun and kills himself he’s dead regardless of whether or not he was aware of its power. The gun is neither good nor evil, but it has the potential for positive and negative results based on the actions of the person using it. The gun can put food on your table or protect you from criminals, but it can also kill you or others if wrongly used. It’s the same thing with your tongue working together with belief in your heart.

Speaking of children, who is responsible for the words spoken over them since kids are generally ignorant of the power of words? Obviously their parents, but also any adult figure that has influence over them, like teachers, coaches, relatives and friends’ parents.

When I was a kid my dad constantly spoke negative words over me, such as “You’re no good,” “You’re going to turn to $#!&” and worse. These words were implanted in my heart week after week, month after month, year after year, to the point that I started believing them. As soon as I hit 13 my life took a horrible nosedive. I started hanging around the wrong crowd, drinking, doing drugs and committing crimes (like breaking & entering, theft and vandalism). By the time I was 15 I was seriously considering suicide. What brought about this whirlwind of destruction? The negative words constantly spoken over me, which I meditated on, eventually accepted, and repeated with my tongue.

Who’s responsible for the destruction that ensued? Surely, I must take responsibility for what I used my mind to dwell on—my thought life—and what I used my tongue to speak. Yet my father was the influential authority figure who planted these negative words in my heart in the first place. So he bore partial responsibility for the destruction of my life as a wayward teen.

My point is that we must realize the power of the tongue and take responsibility for the words we speak over ourselves and others. Search your heart. If you’ve been speaking negative words over yourself or others—including gossip, slander and negative-spinning—simply repent and God will forgive you, which means he’ll dismiss your offense and wipe the slate clean (1 John 1:8-9).

Repentance tends to have a negative connotation these days, but it’s actually a very positive thing; it means to change for the positive by making a 180  turn. We need to regularly “keep with repentance” (Matthew & Luke 3:8). Repentance goes hand-and-hand with the “corrections of instruction,” which are the “way to life” (Proverbs 6:23). In other words, we positively change as we receive correct data and adapt accordingly. A wise person changes course upon receiving corrective instruction while a fool stubbornly continues on in his/her foolish way.

Prayer “Releases” Angels to Serve You and Others

I encourage you to regularly pray for yourself and your family & friends, but also for those who are closely connected to you in your neighborhood, at school or work. Pray for them by name on a regular basis. This “looses” God, the Holy Spirit, and angels to function in their lives.

We’re now going to go over some meaty material to discern how this works. If it gets too heavy you can always come back when you’re ready for it.

If the idea that prayer “looses” God and angels to function in people’s lives sounds strange to you, it’s in line with the principle of binding & loosing, as taught by the Mighty Christ:

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16:19

“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

¹⁹ “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18-19

In the first passage Jesus said he was going to give believers the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” “Keys” refer to authority or power. If you have the keys to a vehicle you wield the power to take advantage of it. The “kingdom of heaven” of course refers to God’s kingdom, the kingdom of light. Jesus was saying that he was giving his disciples the power to take advantage of God’s kingdom. This is driven home with the second part of the verse: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” You could put it this way, Heaven will back us up in any legitimate effort to manifest God’s kingdom on Earth via faith and love, which are the terms of the new testament (Galatians 5:6).

What exactly does it mean to “bind” or to “loose”? The Greek word for “bind” is deo (DAY-oh), which means to literally bind up or figuratively in the sense of prohibiting or hindering; “loose” is luo (LOO-oh), which means to unbind or release. So deo means to lock up whereas luo means to unlock. As such, believers have the authority to hinder or prohibit the kingdom of darkness on Earth and to release God’s kingdom. The kingdom of darkness is prohibited in Heaven so we can prohibit it on Earth; the kingdom of light reigns in Heaven so we can loose it on Earth.

In the second passage Christ links the principle of binding & loosing to prayer. We bind the kingdom of darkness and loose the kingdom of light through our prayers.

This is supported by what we know as ‘the Lord’s prayer,’ which is the prayer outline that Jesus gave his disciples:

“  Our Father in heaven,

    hallowed by your name,

¹⁰  your kingdom come,

    your will be done

        on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:9-10

Verse 10 is not talking about praying for Jesus’ return and the set-up of his eternal kingdom on Earth. It’s talking about the principle of binding & loosing in this “present evil age.” This means now. Do you want God’s kingdom to reign in your life and the lives of others? Of course you do, but it has to be released through prayer. Do you want God’s will to be done in your life and the lives of others? You have to loose it via prayer. In other words, God’s kingdom will not come and reign on this Earth unless a believer releases it through prayer and action; and God’s will is not done on Earth unless the church looses his will via prayer and action. Simply put, believers have the power to bind the kingdom of darkness and loose the kingdom of light.

Someone might understandably respond: “Well if God’s so Almighty why doesn’t he just automatically do everything? Why does He need believers to ‘release’ his will through prayer and service?”

It is true that the LORD is Sovereign, which means he “reigns supreme.” The Bible describes God as “the King of all the earth” (Psalm 47:7) who owns the Earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1, 50:12 & 1 Corinthians 10:26). Christ himself called Father God “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). So there’s no disputing that the Almighty reigns supreme and “does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 103:19 & 135:5-6).

However, it’s also clear in Scripture that the devil is the “god of this age” and the “prince of this world” who rules the kingdom of darkness or Underworld, which is the dark spiritual dimension that underpins the world (John 12:31 & 14:30). Anyone who’s not part of God’s kingdom is subject to this dark kingdom because they’re “by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3); this includes everyone who doesn’t have a covenant with the Almighty, meaning all unbelievers. The following verses verify this: 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Ephesians 2:1-2.

These passages show that the “whole world” is presently under the control of the kingdom of darkness, which is why the Bible refers to this current era as “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4).

This doesn’t, of course, mean that all unbelievers are frothing at the mouth with evil, but rather that they’re subject to the kingdom of darkness, whether they realize it or not. The depth of their subjugation is dependent upon how far they choose to embrace the flesh, which is the satanic nature. It’s also dependent on how far their belief system deviates from biblical truth.

We see evidence of Satan’s ruler-ship and influence all around us constantly: wars, crime, corruption, broken families, immorality, injustice, poverty, false religion, legalism, harmful ideologies, disunity, disease, addiction, death, etc. Don’t be alarmed, however, because the above passages show that the devil’s control is limited to those designated as “the world,” which doesn’t include blood-bought, spiritually regenerated believers, Hallelujah! Christians are the “church” of Jesus Christ, which literally means “the called-out ones” in the Greek. This signifies that believers have been rescued from Satan’s kingdom:

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

Colossians 1:13

Not only have we been rescued from bondage to the kingdom of darkness, we’ve been transplanted into God’s kingdom as his beloved sons and daughters!

When you pray for yourself and those linked to you—family, neighbors and people at school and work—you’re binding up the kingdom of darkness and loosing the kingdom of light, which includes loosing the angels assigned to them. Some of the people you intercede for are lost and some are Christians who are ignorant of these things; as such, the angels assigned to them are limited in helping them, to say the least. But your prayers can release them to work in their lives, one way or another.

This doesn’t negate freewill, of course. No matter how much you pray for someone and no matter how much they’re exposed to the Word of God, the moving of the Holy Spirit and the service of angels, he or she can still stubbornly resist. And that’s their choice. You did your part; they have to do theirs. If they refuse then that’s their problem and they’ll be held accountable for it when they stand before the LORD.

Praying for those whom you regularly come in contact with is to your social relations what oil is to a bike chain. Without your prayers the kingdom of light is hindered in these people’s lives, which includes the service of angels. When this occurs the kingdom of darkness takes advantage of the situation: Unclean spirits will naturally have more freedom of movement and therefore more negative influence, which isn’t good for the individual in question or for your relationship with him or her. Since godly believers are guaranteed to be persecuted, why open the door to unnecessary problems due to skipping out on your duty to intercede? (See 1 Timothy 2:1-4).

My Example in Praying for People

Christian servant-leaders are called to set an example for believers (1 Peter 5:1-3), so allow me to share my example. What I usually do when interceding for several people is voice a general prayer, such as the apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers:

…we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 1:9-12

Notice how Paul prays this excellent general prayer for all the Colossian believers rather than say a similar prayer for each person by name. This makes sense and saves time because it keeps you from saying the same general prayer over and over for each individual.

After praying a general prayer like this I then lift up various names from my intercession list, praying in the spirit as led of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). When I get to a certain individual, a specific need might come up and so I pray about it—both with my understanding and by the spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15)—and then move on to the next person.

I mentioned an “intercession list.” This is simply a list of names in my mind; in other words, a mental list (I’m good with names and have an excellent memory). But I sometimes pray from an actual list as well, at least a couple times a week.

Praying for Governing Authorities

We talked about praying for people linked to you, whether family, friends, neighbors and people at school or work. With this in mind, be sure to also regularly pray for governing authorities, whether spiritual or political (1 Timothy 2:1-4). By spiritual authorities, I mean key ministerial leaders in your area, nation and otherwise.

If you need some inspiration on this topic I encourage you to see the excellent 2015 movie War Room.

What Goes on Behind the Scenes: The Bottom Line

Our subject is: What goes on behind the scenes in regard to angelic help and demonic assault? If you disregard the power of the tongue and use it to speak death rather than life, the angels assigned to you will be hindered and demonic spirits will have more freedom of movement to attack and oppress one way or another. The answer to these types of unnecessary attacks is to make a 180  turn and start using your tongue to speak life. This means taking advantage of the spiritual weapons at your disposal and, specifically, utilizing your tongue as the “sword of the spirit,” which is the Word of God spoken in bold faith (Ephesians 6:17-18).

The angels around you naturally obey the voice of the Word of God. It’s what they do. When angels are loosed, evil spirits are hindered; but when angels are hindered, evil spirits are loosed.

The Church must get ahold of this.

Spiritual Attacks for Righteousness’ Sake

But some demonic attacks are not the result of using your tongue to speak death or opening the door through unrepentant sin (Ephesians 4:27). In fact, some attacks are the direct result of practical righteousness.*

* I say “practical righteousness” as opposed to positional righteousness, although the foundation of the former is the latter. To explain: All genuine believers are righteous in a positional sense due to spiritual regeneration wherein they receive the “gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17 and 2 Corinthians 5:21). Practical righteousness, by contrast, is actually walking in righteousness as a result of living according to one’s new nature, which is “created to be like God in true righteousness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). Practical righteousness naturally increases as one matures spiritually.

The example of Job in the Old Testament is Exhibit A. The first two chapters of his book reveal what went on behind the scenes in regards to Job’s extraordinary trials.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. ⁷ The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

⁹ “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰ “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹ But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹² The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 1:6-12

Satan appears before the Sovereign LORD in Heaven where God proceeds to boast of Job and his extraordinary character. The devil argues that Job is devout merely because the Lord has blessed him so greatly and, furthermore, that God had “put a hedge around him, his household and everything he has,” which provided supernatural protection.

Before getting to the meat of this occasion, what do you suppose this “hedge” involved? Surely, this intangible shield was implemented and maintained by angels whose very purpose is to serve and protect people.

In any case, Satan insists that Job would curse God to his face if this “hedge” was taken down and his many blessings were removed. This naturally provokes God to conduct a test by allowing the devil to assault Job and take “everything he has.” Thus, using neighboring tribes and weather phenomena, Satan causes Job to lose all his animal stock and his ten children in a single day (Job 1:12-19).

But Job passes the test, saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (verse 21). Job was, of course, unaware of what went down behind the scenes. He didn’t know that the devil—whose very name means “slanderer” or “accuser”—incited God to permit the attack in order to test Job’s character. He wasn’t aware of Satan’s role in the proceedings and therefore wrongly attributed the events to the LORD.*

* Although Job was right in the sense that Yahweh is the Sovereign God who “reigns supreme” and thus would have to allow negative events even in cases where the kingdom of darkness is directly responsible.

This opens the door to round two, which begins when the devil appears before the Creator a second time:

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴ “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵ But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶ The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

Job 2:3-6

Satan argues that Job passed the first test because he was personally unscathed, but if his body were attacked he’d surely curse God to his face. Thus the LORD permits the devil to attack Job’s body with the condition that he couldn’t take his life.

In this second round, Satan afflicts Job with painful sores from head to toe, but Job refuses to turn against God even though his distraught wife encourages him to “curse God and die” (verses 7-9).

What I want to drive home here is that Job wasn’t attacked by the kingdom of darkness due to opening the door through sin or using his tongue to speak death, which would’ve bound up angels and loosed evil spirits to oppress him one way or another. Job was so exceptional that God literally boasted to Satan that there was no one on Earth like him—“he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:1,8). Being “blameless” would include being blameless with the use of his tongue.

So the account clearly shows that Job was attacked due to being blameless and upright.* As such, Job’s incredible trial can be designated as an MIT—a Maturing-Intended Trial, which takes place through no fault of the person tested. To explain, let’s consider the three basic types of tests you’ll face in life…

* I’ve heard some theorize that Job opened the door to the devil through fear, which they argue is backed-up by his statement: “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25). But this can be rejected for a few obvious reasons: 1. We already know in plain language from the previous two chapters of Job that he was not being attacked because he opened the door to the Enemy through fear; rather, God praised him as righteous & thoroughly blameless and this is what spurred Satan to unjustly bring into question his character, which compelled the LORD to allow the test. Nowhere is it even hinted that Job opened the door for a horrible attack through fear. On the contrary, note what God says in 2:3. Scripture interprets Scripture. 2. Speaking of that hermeneutical law, the context of Job 3 is of a man relentlessly venting after two horrible satanic assaults wherein he lost his ten children and all his great wealth; then, after seven literal days of intense silent suffering with a few hushed friends (2:13), Job finally speaks his mind and his verbiage is hysterical: He curses the very day of his birth and argues for non-existence as opposed to life in this troubled world. 3. If we are going to dubiously base our entire interpretation of the book of Job on one verse spoken in venting hysterics then we should also be able to argue that Job opened the door to Satan by expecting good based on his later statement (when he was a little more rational): “when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness” (Job 30:26).

Distinguishing SITs, MITs and DITs

David Servant came up with a great way to categorize human trials—SITs, MITs and DITs:

• SITs refer to Self-Inflicted Trials, like when someone bangs up his/her body due to careless snow skiing or gets nausea after eating too much junk food or suffers poverty because s/he is too lazy to work (which isn’t the only reason for poverty, of course). In each case the pain suffered isn’t some diabolical spiritual plot, but simply the result of the person’s foolish actions and choices.
• MITs refer to Maturing-Intended Trials, like Job’s test. The LORD permitted Satan to assault Job for the purpose of testing his motivations. Was Job godly and devout solely for the purpose of having God’s blessings? Would he curse the Almighty or deny His existence if his many blessings were temporarily removed? Although the rest of the book of Job shows him severely venting to God after the misery and frustration of the ensuing weeks (e.g. Job 10:1-3) Job didn’t turn away from his Creator, but rather went to Him, and therefore passed the test. God then restored him and blessed him doubly (Job 42:10). Job’s trial, by the way, lasted several weeks, perhaps even months, as verified by the fact that he was reduced to “skin and bones” during the ordeal (Job 19:20). When New Covenant believers are attacked we need to recognize it for what it is—an attack of the enemy—and resist in faith. If you do this, the enemy will flee like a pathetic cur with its tail between its legs (James 4:7). As with Job, God will “restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” “after you have suffered a little while” (1 Peter 5:8-10). You will experience greater maturity and favor with God as a result.

• DITs refer to Discipline-Intended Trials, which pertain to God permitting us to be inflicted by one or more of the five general curses as a means of rebuke for disobedience. This is why some of the Corinthians were sick or prematurely died, because they brought judgment on themselves due to disobedience (1 Corinthians 11:27-31). It was the same thing with a woman in the church at Thyatira—a self-proclaimed “prophetess”—as well as those who were foolishly following her bad example. Jesus said He gave them time to repent but they were unwilling so he was going to inflict some of them with sickness (“a bed of suffering”) and even strike some of them dead (Revelation 2:20-23)!

Needless to say, when we experience one or more of the five mundane curses—1. physical illness, 2. mental illness, 3. human attack and defeat, 4. the threat of premature death, and 5. financial lack—we need to ask ourselves if it’s an SIT, an MIT or a DIT. If it’s a Self-Inflicted Trial, we simply need to acknowledge our folly in the matter and make the necessary changes. If it’s a Maturing-Intended Trial, we should “fight the good fight of faith” with perseverance and victory will be ours. If it’s a Discipline-Intended Trial, we need to seek the Lord concerning what it was we did to incur His discipline, humbly acknowledge the error, and repent; that is, change for the positive. This would include repenting of foolishly using the power of the tongue to speak against the Word of God, which automatically hinders angels from performing their services and releases demonic spirits to oppress.

Now, someone might point out that Discipline-Intended Trials complicate the issue because they require the believer to determine if the malady in question is an attack from the kingdom of darkness for righteousness’ sake or a disciplinary measure on God’s part due to unrepentant disobedience. To do this requires an actual relationship with the LORD through “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Bear in mind that relationship is what true Christianity is about and separates it from mere human religion. How is this relevant? If a believer has a genuine relationship with God s/he will be able to discern fairly easily if the curse they’re hit with is the result of an MIT or a DIT. On the other hand, believers who fail to cultivate such a relationship will have a harder time distinguishing MITs from DITs. So, in reality, this is a spur to go deeper in God!

For important details on spiritual warfare see:

• Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them
• Spiritual Warfare — Do You know What You’re Fighting For?

This article was edited from chapter 6 of…

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Related Topics:

ANGELS — What Are They? What’s Their Purpose?

WORDS have the Power of Life and Death

Evil Spirits (Demons) — What Are They? What’s Their Purpose?

Satan (the Devil) — Liar, Slanderer, Thief, Murderer

Why do Unclean Spirits seek out Dry Places?

Why is this World so Messed Up?

REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation

The Basics of Christianity