ON THE VANGUARD

PERMISSION TO ATTACK
“The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”
Job 1:12

During the Hague Convention of 1907, the Opening of Hostilities was defined in regards to war. The protocol for a declaration of war defined the formal act as an act of speech or written document authorized by a party of a national government. In other words, even if I am fully against the actions of another country, I am unable to declare war on that country since I am not the government official of the country I live in. This action is one of the responsibilities of the president, prime minister, king, whatever the official title may be, of that country. But this same principle works in the spiritual as well. We see it in the story of Job. The devil was unable to do anything bad to Job without the LORD first approving it and setting into motion the declaration of war. Allow me to explain.
In Job 1, the LORD asks Satan from where he had come from. Satan’s response was from roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it (Job 1:7). It was at that point that the LORD questioned if the devil had considered His servant, Job. The LORD knew the character of Job, that he was blameless and upright, fearing God and forsaking evil. But the devil had a suspicion that this character of Job was only a result of what God gave him and questioned, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9). This was the point in which the LORD then gave Satan the permission to attack Job, declaring a war on him. The only exception was that he could not lay and finger on Job. He could attack him in taking everything from him, but he could not touch him. “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’ Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:12).
This same principle is true for us, even if we choose not to see it that way. What allows the devil access to our lives? Now granted, we know his characteristics and plans, that he wishes only to steal, kill, and destroy us, to keep us pinned down and unable to get ahead in life. But what gives him the access from wanting to do these things to us and puts it into the action of truly doing these things to us? The answer is sin. Sin opens the door to the evil that comes to us. When we sin we fall out from under the protection of Christ, therefore opening the door that allows the enemy to overtake us. And just as the devil was unable to lay a finger on Job, so he is also prevented to lay a finger on us. However, he can still throw more temptations on us, sickness, accidents, and a host of other items from his bag of junk. It is not until we come back under the protection of God by closing that door to sin that he is cut off from further attacking us.
Oh, but wait, there is more. When I was explaining this principle to my son the question then came up about sowing and reaping. This too is a valid principle and also plays a factor here. Although we ask God for forgiveness, we still have to pay the price for what we did outside of God’s protection. An example is in pregnancy. The woman who decides to engage in sex outside of marriage comes out from under God’s covering. If she gets pregnant in that moment, the pregnancy doesn’t go away when she asks Jesus to forgive her. What she sowed still has to be reaped. And as is true for us, we still will have to embrace the reaping for the seeds sown.
I write this today not as a judgmental devotion, for trust me I have no room in which to speak, but I write it as a devotion of warning. Before you engage in that moment of sin, keep in mind that you are coming out from under the protection of God. Once this happens, war is declared. I want us all, myself included, to realize this truth before we walk into an additional battlefield. The devil will try to get you away from God therefore we must resist the devil (Jms 4:7). But additionally, we should keep those doors closed so that a full out war is not allowed.