Job & Satan - Part #2, "The Presence of the LORD"

Friends,

This is part #2 in the series "Job & Satan", you can read part #1, here. In this post we will see why Satan cannot enter the presence of the LORD.

"The Presence of the LORD"

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

While we read expression "to present themselves before the LORD" we get carried away and visualize the event to be taking place in throne room of Jehovah, in heaven. Let us examine whether such an understanding is correct.

Before appointing Saul as king over Israel, Samuel, the prophet, said this:

1Sa 10:19 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

If the aforementioned understanding be correct, the 1.3 million Israelites (2Sa 24:9) who existed during the days of Samuel have to present themselves in the throne room of Jehovah, in heaven - for appointing a king, down on this earth! If we examine the context it becomes clear that the event did not take place in heaven:

1Sa 10:17 And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh;

It was a practice in the days of the judges to gather before the LORD at Mizpeh (see: Jdg 11:11; 20:1; 21:5). I hope that you will agree with me that Mizpeh was a place in ancient Israel and NOT heaven.

 Lambs and turtledoves get a free trip to heaven!

Let us examine the purification procedures of a woman from Leviticus chapter 12.

Lev 12:6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
Lev 12:7 Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female.

The lambs or turtledoves that the woman to be purified brings has to be offered in the presence of the LORD.

It is estimated that there would be 30 childbirths, per 1,000 adults, per year. At the time of Moses giving this commandment, there were around 600,000 men in Israel, who could proceed to war. Assuming that there were an equal member of women in the same age group, the total population in reproductive age. With the above estimation, there would be around 3,600 childbirths every year. Do you really think that the priest used to ascend up to heaven with 3,600 lambs and 3,600 turtledoves and sacrificed it "before the LORD"?

While it comes to the ritual cleansing of women after their periods, things become even more daunting. Knowing that there were approximately 600,000 women of reproductive age in Israel while Moses made the ordinances regarding cleansing, every month the priest would have been ascending up to heaven with 1.2 million turtles or pigeons to sacrifice (Lev 15:29) them "before the LORD".

While we read these passages we discern that the proceedings detailed here happen in the tabernacle or the temple. Whatever happens to our discernment to think that the proceedings of Job 1 & 2 happens in heaven? Have we become dumbfounded by reading the word "Satan"?

Reasons why Satan cannot be there in the presence of the LORD.

According to popular Christian beliefs and teachings, sometime before the times of Job, Satan rebelled against Jehovah and consequently was exiled to earth. If Satan was exiled from heaven how he can make a reentry into heaven?

It is hard to understand as to why the same God who protected the way to the garden, after having evicted Adam and Eve from Eden for their disobedience, (Gen 3:24) did absolutely nothing to stop Satan from making a reentry into heaven after he was expelled from there for his rebellion! Was Adam's sin more grievous than the rebellion of Satan?

Read the following verses carefully, at least 2-3 times:

Psa 5:4 For thou art NOT a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
Psa 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity
Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Do these scriptures come with a footnote "except for Satan"?

Joh 8:44...He [Satan, Devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What is the relation between the father of lies and the father of Truth (Jesus)?

1Jn 1:5 ... God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
2Co 6:14 ... what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Conclusion: Despite all the hyperbolic language involved, the presence of the LORD does not always mean heaven, it could be the tabernacle or the temple.

...to be continued in Part #3, Job's opinions on the tests.
In Christ,

Tomsan Kattackal