The Right and Left Hand of God

 

There are many "hidden truths" in the Word of God that have not been understood or known by God's people. But we find that in these days God is revealing Himself as never before.

 

                   In I Pet. 1:3-5,  Peter says,

 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

 

 

                   Paul said it this way in Col 1:26,

 

"The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

 

Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and said, "I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world" He spoke to the multitudes in parables and they didn't understand, but then He took His disciples aside and revealed to them what He was talking about. And so it is today, to those who are prepared to wait on Him, He is revealing the secret things of God.

 

If we are to continue with our quest for the fullness of His Spirit, there is a theme about which every Son must have a clear understanding. We must come to an understanding of the dual aspect of God's nature and the two sides of His love. Most Christians have been taught an exaggerated concept of the love of God.

 

          Paul said in 1 Cor 13:4-8,

 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.   It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."

 

Let every man and woman who treasures the beautiful hope of sonship know that there is a DARK SIDE OF GOD'S LOVE!

 

     Heb 12:5-11, says,

 

"And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."  Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  

 

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

 

God loves the most when He is dealing severely with us. Jesus said in John 15:1-2,

 

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

 

When the Father reaches into your life and mine and prunes out that which is not fruit bearing it hurts! But He does this for our benefit so we can experience eternal life. He is reaching in and taking out of your heart and life those things that hinder the development of HIS LIFE and the manifestation of HIS NATURE.

 

When God created the earth He created the day and also the night. He also created the positive and the negative. Scientist have learned that for every action there is a counter action. Everything in God's creation is balanced. And so it is with the love of God. There is the bright side and the dark side. Do you know that hate sprang out of love?  If there is no love, then neither can there be hatred, for hatred is the balance of power in a scheme where sin and death are manifest.

 

It is said of God that He hates but it is also said that He is love. How can these two opposing statements be true? It is because HE IS LOVE that He can hate!  However, God's nature is not hatred. It is love. But out of that love He can manifest this love in a righteous hatred against all evil. In one sense, love is the highest vibration while hatred is the lowest vibration. God, BEING ALL RIGHTEOUS, can move on the lower vibration without perversion, using His righteous hatred to turn evil once again into GOOD. But man, being unrighteous, receives love and by absorbing it into himself, manifests a perverted love. We need to be 'partakers of His holiness', being made ALL RIGHTEOUS, then we will, not pervert that which is pure, but we will be able to take that which has been perverted and restore it to purity once again."

 

This brings us to the thought that we want to share in this message.

 

THE TWO HANDS OF GOD

 

Very few Christians are aware of the difference between the right and left hand of God. For the most part we have taught that God is a one armed or one handed individual. The thought of God having a right hand and a left hand should not be strange to us. In the Scriptures we find the right hand of God mentioned many times, and the left hand of God is mentioned on just a few occasions.

 

A lot has been said as to the meaning of the right hand, but few have any understanding or revelation of the significance of the left hand. First, let us look at the meaning of these two words, right and left. The word "right" as used with "hand" is generally the Hebrew word "yamiym" meaning STRONGER, MORE DEXTEROUS. The word for "left" is "smowl" meaning DARK.  From the meaning of these two words it is very easy to understand that God's right hand is His strength and dexterity, or His wonderful ability to do all things. The implication is that the right hand of God is the GOOD HAND of God, doing GOOD things.

 

The Psalmist confirms this when he says in Psalms 16:11,

 

"In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy RIGHT HAND are PLEASURES for evermore"

 

Again in Psalms 118:15-16,

 

"The voice of REJOICING and SALVATION in the tabernacles of the righteous: the RIGHT HAND of the Lord doeth valiantly. The RIGHT HAND of the Lord is exalted"

 

To which the prophet Isaiah adds in Isaiah 41:10,

 

 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will STRENGTHEN thee; yea, I will HELP thee; yea, I will UPHOLD thee with the RIGHT HAND of My righteousness"

 

But, as we have noted, the left hand in the Old Testament means DARK and from this we can readily understand that it signifies the opposite or what we call bad or evil. The left hand represents the DARK SIDE OF GOD. This is the hand of God so little understood. The distinctive work of these two hands is graphically portrayed in the wonderful parable Jesus told of the sheep and the goats.

 

Jesus said in Mat. 25:31-46 (KJV),

 

"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the SHEEP on His RIGHT HAND, but the GOATS on the LEFT. Then shall the King say unto them on His RIGHT HAND, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.

 

Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of one of these MY BRETHREN, ye have done it unto Me. "

 

Then shall He say also unto them on the LEFT HAND, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat ... then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not unto Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal"

 

 

It is important to understand in this parable that this separation of the sheep from the goats was brought about, not on the basis of whether one had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal saviour, but solely on the basis of WORKS. Everything depended entirely upon what the sheep or goats had DONE or had NOT DONE.  There was nothing of faith or a spiritual experience connected with this separation. The sheep were set on God's RIGHT HAND because of the fact that they had done something. They had given meat and drink to the Lord's brethren, clothed them, visited them, and comforted them.

 

All of these things the Lord said they had DONE TO HIM. But the sheep confessed that they had never seen Him, so how could they have done these things to the Lord? He answered, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  All of this is a kind of ministry performed unto the Lord Himself and it brought all of these people into a separation unto the RIGHT HAND of God! This brought them through an entrance into a Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.

 

This kingdom was not to be some far-off land of ivory palaces, golden streets, beautiful mansions, white night gowns, wings and harps, where there is nothing to do and all eternity to do it in. THIS IS A KINGDOM. And because it is a kingdom it denotes rulership and advancement of all kinds. It indicates the bringing of a great many people brought into a higher realm. But the people who had never done all these things mentioned by the Lord were separated unto the LEFT HAND of God! They received no kingdom. There were no rewards for work done or attainments reached. They entered into the dark side of God where they were put under Kingdom Authority and were placed in a process of fiery judgment to receive correction.

 

There is a lot of revelation truth in these words of Jesus:

 

"These shall go away into everlasting punishment."

 

The word punishment is from the Greek "kolasis" which means simply- punishment. But it comes from the root "kolazo" which sheds precious light upon the nature of the punishment. 'Kolazo', according to Strong's Concordance, bears only two shades of meaning, namely, 'to curtail' or 'to chastise'. To "curtail" means to restrain as a person is restrained in jail or a child is restrained when he is "grounded" for a week because of some disobedience. 'Chastise' has one simple meaning according to Webster's New World Dictionary: to punish in order to correct, usually by beating.

 

It should be clear to any thoughtful mind that the subject here is not meaningless, sadistic, unending torture, but PURPOSEFUL CORRECTION. While the King James version states that these goats go into 'everlasting fire' and 'everlasting punishment', that is not quite the meaning of the Greek. The Greek word here translated everlasting is 'aionios', and aionios is the adjective form of the Greek noun 'aion'.  Aion nowhere means eternal!  Its simple meaning is 'an age'. In its plural form it means 'ages'. This fact can be unquestionably and incontrovertibly demonstrated from numerous Testament passages.

 

Now, once we understand that aionios is the ADJECTIVE FORM of the NOUN aion, a simple little sixth-grade grammar lesson should once and for all establish the exact meaning of 'aionios'.  A noun is a word that tells what you are talking about.  A noun is a word that names something, a person, place, thing, quality, etc. Boy, water, tree, age (period of time), truth are nouns. An adjective, however, is a word that is used with a noun to describe the noun. It is a word that tells you what kind, what color, etc.

 

If you wanted to tell about the hat a woman was wearing you would describe the hat in some way. You might say that it was a large red hat. Large, red are adjectives, words that describe what kind and what color the hat is.

 

Some words are both nouns and adjectives, that is, the same word can be used both ways. Sometimes the adjective form of the word is identical to the noun form, while at other times the spelling is slightly different. But anyone with even an elementary knowledge of grammar (English or Greek) knows that the meaning of a noun and the meaning of the same word in its adjective form MUST CORRESPOND! It cannot have one meaning as a noun and an exactly OPPOSITE meaning as an adjective!

 

Let me illustrate it this way. If we say, "John is in college," the word college is a noun. But if we say, "John has sixteen college credits," college is an adjective, modifying the word credits - telling what kind of credits. Now we all know what a college is, so we understand what kind of institution John is attending in the first sentence. Since we know the meaning of college, when we come to the second sentence we have no difficulty understanding what kind of credits John has - college credits. No one in his right mind is going to read that and conclude that John has just finished kindergarten, or that he has a diploma showing he finished sixteen lessons in leather craft at the YMCA, or that he has $16.00 worth of credit at a department store!

 

College as a noun and college as an adjective cannot have altogether different meanings. They mean the same in both cases! And yet men who should know better tell us that the Greek noun 'aion' means an age, or ages which is TIME, and then proceed to explain how the adjective form of the same word, "aionios", means exactly the opposite - unending, everlasting, ETERNAL!

 

A child of ten should be able to understand that is not so. The adjective 'aionios' modifies two nouns in Mat. 25:46: punishment and life. It tells what kind of punishment and what kind of life Jesus is talking about.  It is ages-lasting punishment and ages-lasting life, or the LIFE OF THE AGES.

 

Now I can hear someone protesting, "But isn't the life we have received from God ETERNAL LIFE?"  Certainly God's life is eternal life. But we have received that life injected into TIME, so that the inworking of that life through the processing's of God is experienced in relation to TIME rather than ETERNITY.

 

Let me explain. Anything that is absolutely eternal is not only unending, but is also UNCHANGEABLE. Anything that changes in any way is not eternal, for in the change some characteristic is left behind and a new one acquired.  In every change something ends and something else begins, at least in form. That which dwells in an eternal state knows NO CHANGE.  Change is possible only in that which is limited, imperfect, or not fully developed.

 

The Lord declares of Himself, "I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT" (Mal. 3:6), and the inspired apostle says of Him, "with Whom there is no VARIABLENESS, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). But we, in our spiritual life, are STILL BEING CHANGED! "And all of us ... are constantly BEING TRANSFIGURED (changed) into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another" (II Cor. 3:18,      Amplified). Thank God! we are being changed! The life of God that has been deposited in us, which is His Word, is perfect and will never change. The manifestation of that life, however, is subjected to a process limited by our understanding of His Word. The manifestation of that life is in a limited, imperfect, underdeveloped stage, and in some measure immature. This is why Paul said in Rom 12:1-2,

 

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

 

God has dispensed that life into us in a time frame and through a process of time with its experiences and revelations, the spiritual life may be perfected and matured and brought to the fullness of that which HE HIMSELF IS.  When the process is completed and we are fully conformed to that life within us, we will see Him AS HE IS and there will BE NO MORE CHANGE.

 

Complete eternal security is known only by the overcomers who have fully and forever conquered every vestige of the world, the flesh, and the devil, having been conformed into the image of the Son. Of these triumphant ones it is written, "To him that OVERCOMETH will I give to eat of the TREE OF LIFE," and again, "He that OVERCOMETH... I will NOT BLOT HIS NAME OUT of the Book of Life" (Rev. 2:7; 3:5).

 

The inference is clear ... until this "overcomer" state is attained, it is possible to have one's name BLOTTED OUT of the Book of Life. That could not be ETERNAL LIFE, for if it were absolutely eternal it could not be lost! Little wonder then, that our Lord says to the Church at Smyrna, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a CROWN OF LIFE" (Rev. 2:10).

 

It is my deep conviction that He speaks not of the death that takes this old body to the cemetery, but the death that comes by the INWORKING OF HIS CROSS until all that pertains to the realm of carnality has been completely and forever dealt with. Then, and only then, are we CROWNED WITH LIFE His life reigning within without interference or possibility of defeat.

 

The life we now have is a progressing, growing, conquering life - the LIFE OF THE AGES. It is life that has come by the quickening of our spirit by His Spirit, giving a new beginning, and the potential to become, in due time, all He is. But I am sure all of us must confess that there is much progress to be made in our lives and much growth and much transformation to be experienced yet before we stand in Him in the fullness of that life that needs no change and no further development.

 

Only faintly now do our eyes behold the splendor of that ETERNAL REALM which lies before us, but if we approach softly with reverence and godly fear, the Lord of glory will meet us and will be a Father unto us and we shall be the Sons of God in whom the Father shall unfold the fullness of His life, mind, will and glory. Paul told Timothy in 1 Tim 6:12,

 

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

 

By FAITH we lay hold of the eternal life that has been deposited within us.  However, this is not a name it and claim it proposition. The laying hold on eternal life kind of faith is this.  We know that as our minds are renewed by the continual unveiling of His Word to our understanding we are being changed into His Image.  This is a process that He puts each of us through to purge us from the world.  This process cannot be bypassed by Faith. Jesus said, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting  ( aionian) fire "  The Bible in Modern English by Farrar Fenton reads, "And these He will dismiss into a LONG CORRECTION."

 

Rotherham's New Testament says, "These shall go away into age-abiding correction."

 

Young's Literal translation says, "And these shall go away to punishment age-during."

 

How sobering are these meaningful words of truth,

 

"And He shall set the sheep on the RIGHT HAND, but the goats on the LEFT. Then shall the King say unto them on His RIGHT HAND, Come, ye blessed of My Father...then shall He say also unto them on the LEFT HAND, Depart from Me, ye cursed!"

 

But just what or who are these TWO HANDS OF GOD? The two hands of God represent two aspects of God's dealings, two ways in which He moves and acts to accomplish His purposes.

 

 We can readily see from the parable of the sheep and the goats that God deals through both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE forces. The right hand of God speaks of God moving and acting through POSITIVE FORCES, while the left hand of God denotes God moving and acting through NEGATIVE FORCES. A key to this vital truth is found in the words of David in Ps. 111:7 wherein he states,

 

"The works of HIS HANDS are verity and judgment."

 

God has two hands, one of verity, and one of judgment. The word "verity" is actually in the Hebrew the word for TRUTH.  Thus we see with one hand He is bringing forth truth, and with the other hand of His judgment He is moving to bring us into harmony with truth. What beautiful co-ordination in all the works of His hands! Every time God initiates a new phase of His purpose, He then brings forth the measures needed to bring us into alignment with that purpose.

 

If He can do this through POSITIVE  forces He will, in the dealing of His right hand. But if corrective measures are needed He will stretch forth His left hand and bring negative forces into action to teach us the necessary lesson. How often we pray for God to stretch forth His right hand of VERITY because we are hungry for blessing and truth, and He graciously imparts.

 

It has been my experience that He does not make His love for me a one-sided working, always piling up blessing upon blessing and revelation upon revelation until I am out of balance. I have found that He loves me enough to correct me even against my will. In the DARK SIDE of HIS LOVE, He takes His OTHER HAND and graciously disciplines, corrects, forms, molds and shapes, until I become one with the truth He is wanting to reveal to me.

 

In speaking of the corrective judgment brought upon Israel by Babylon, the prophet cried in Jer 51:7,

 

 "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand"

 

God used Babylon as a NEGATIVE FORCE in HIS HAND to discipline His people. John saw the power and love in His mighty right hand in Rev 1:16-20,

 

"And He had in His RIGHT HAND seven stars ... the seven stars are the messengers (ministries) of the seven Churches"

 

Again we see the working of HIS TWO HANDS. In the one hand is Babylon, a golden cup of fury and judgment, a vessel of wrath.  And in the other hand we see seven stars, light bearers, positive ministries, vessels of mercy with a quickening word, through whom He shall reveal His truth and glory to all nations!

 

 

THE LEFT HAND OF GOD

 

 

That "all things are of God" is declared over and over again in the Bible. Did not the Lord say to Pharaoh, that wicked man of rebellion against all that was of God Rom 9:17,

 

"I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

 

The infinite wisdom of God's mind cannot be ascertained by these carnal little heads of ours. We must banish our childish theology and bring our minds into harmony with the mind of Christ. We must begin to peer through the mighty telescope of God's wisdom as it looks through the vast universe of good and evil until heavenly light bursts with blazing brilliance upon our inquiring spirits and we see with crystal clear vision that God is in all things, and is responsible for all things, including all the so-called evil things as well as good things.

 

Is it not a fearful thing to say that evil is of God? There is nothing fearful about this view unless the TRUTH is fearful! I would not be surprised if some of the compatriots of the prophet Amos may have thought he was speaking blasphemy when by the Holy Spirit he said in Amos 3:6,

 

"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be EVIL in a city, and THE LORD HATH NOT DONE IT?"

 

There are untold millions of Christians who do not like to believe that ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD - including evil. They much prefer to believe, as the harlot system has taught them, that God created good, and the devil created evil! Why, Oh why can men not believe the simple, unvarnished Word of God?

 

We even have God's own Word for it - His positive statement that HE CREATES EVIL. Isaiah 45:7 says,

 

 "That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that THERE IS NONE BESIDE ME. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and CREATE EVIL. I THE LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS"

 

And in Isaiah 54:16-17,

 

"See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."

 

Brother Dave, are you trying to tell me that God creates evil? No!  God is trying to tell you that He does.  He is sovereign! There is no other sovereign in all of creation. I have shown to you what God, Himself, said about this.  Now, what are you going to do with this information? More than likely, you are going to have to change your understanding of this and admit that God is guilty. No amount of trying to get around this can change what He has said about it.

 

You say, "Surely it cannot mean that GOD creates evil, sin, sinners, devils, famines, pestilence's, calamities, judgments, wrongdoing!"  The word here for 'evil' is the Hebrew word 'ra' which is used throughout the Old Testament to denote wickedness, sin, and all other evil things.  In some five hundred passages it is so used!  You must realize that it solves most all problems to realize that all the forces of good and evil are directly under the HAND and CONTROL of God. Then we can see that God has PURPOSE in it all, and that no evil forces can ever go beyond the bounds of the limits set by God to accomplish His purpose. It is not even a question of how much God PERMITS. The fact is that God creates just the right amount and kind of evil in order to bring His will to pass fully and completely in all He does.

 

But let us UNDERSTAND! The good that God uses COMES OUT FROM GOD. Also, the evil that God uses is CREATED by God only for the purpose that He has for it. The Bible states that God IS GOOD, IS LIFE, IS LIGHT, etc. Nowhere does the Bible say that God IS EVIL, only that He CREATES evil. There is a vast difference. Once having been used of God, He then brings it to naught, or as is often said in the bible, “It came to pass!”.

 

One of the fundamental laws of creation is that an OPPOSING FORCE is necessary for growth, and to produce strength, stamina, and endurance. Any living thing that grows up without any opposition is weak and powerless. God's NEW CREATION must be strong and powerful, and anything that desires to be strong, or anyone, must wrestle with a force that is contrary to them. Any man who wants to develop muscular power and be strong, must spend weeks and months and years in vigorous training doing heavy exercises, lifting heavy weights, using the OPPOSING FORCE of gravity to DEVELOP HIS STRENGTH.

 

A plant that grows in the greenhouse sheltered from the winds and rains, pampered day after day, may grow large, but it is inherently weak, and if suddenly exposed to the elements will wither and die. But a plant that is constantly exposed to the fierce winds and pounding rains, burning heat and chilling cold, is strong and not easily destroyed. Likewise, if we would be the SONS OF THE MOST HIGH we must be STRONG in the Lord and in the power of HIS might!

 

Our Father wants us to be strong, so He has wisely given us WRESTLING PARTNERS to wrestle with, so we will become strong.   These are NEGATIVE FORCES (thank God for them!) that come from the LEFT HAND of God.  Some of these adverse things are the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. Paul said in Eph 6:12,

 

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places"

 

There is a great and magnificent future ahead for the Sons of God, and a great work our Father has for us to do in the ages to come, and He is preparing us and making us ready for the high and holy place He has for us. Can we not see that ALL THE NEGATIVE OPPOSING FORCES WE NOW ENCOUNTER  are working together for our good - to develop the strength, character, wisdom, and power we must have? The chastening and judgments of God, too, are negative, though they do bring forth a positive result.  The positive work of God from the realm of His right hand lies in the inner anointing, guidance, enlightening, etc., and in the five fold  ministries. The Lord has set these in the body for our exhortation, edification, and comfort.

 

 

However, there is the work of purging, pruning, discipline, dealing, and training which must be fulfilled in each and every one of God's Sons. The positive work of God is wrought directly by the Holy Spirit within or by the Spirit   through His anointed ministries.  The negative work of God is brought about by Satan, his co-horts, his instruments, and the whole negative realm of evil. All the people, things, and happenings used in the chastening and judgments of God are of Satan's manipulation.

 

For example, if someone is opposing us and causing us trouble, this opposition or trouble is directly the work of Satan. Again, a thief who steals our money, or a fire which burns down our house, is the work of the adversary. If someone is obstinate, rebellious and sins against God, and as a result becomes seriously ill, this sickness is a work of the devil. Therefore, all the people, things, and happenings involved in the discipline and judgment of God are measured to us by God according to our need. But the one who is manipulating and acting upon us in order to harm us is Satan. Actually, if you want to study this deeper, James said in James 1:13-17,

 

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither                tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

 

The whole problem is caused by our mistaken identity and the double mindness we have.

 

We see the left hand of God revealed in the life of Job. God had blessed this man with great wealth and a large family. He had seven sons and three daughters, He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses. His household was very great with many hired servants so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. The only reliable testimony we have of Job's true state of being is that spoken by the Lord Himself, and HE declared that Job was a PERFECT AND UPRIGHT MAN, one that feared God and eschewed evil.

 

Perfect yes, but UNTRIED, UNTESTED, and UNPROVEN, as Job himself witnessed in the midst of his ordeal, declaring, "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).

 

His perfection remained to be fully proven, tested, and demonstrated. Now, what does God do but deliberately hand over this perfect man into the hands of Satan to do his worst upon him.  It was because God desired to test Job that He brought forth "the smith to blow the coals upon the fire."

 

Please note that it was not Satan's idea to persecute poor old Job!  Oh, no! It was God Himself who brought up the subject! There Satan was, presenting himself before the Lord, appearing for duty, and God asked, "Where have you been?" Satan replied, "Walking up and down in the earth" (no mention of Job at all).  "Well, Satan," the Lord asked, "Have you considered My servant Job? Have you noticed that he eschews evil and fears God?

 

You can be assured that Satan HAD noticed Job, but he wasn't doing anything to him. Satan responds, saying, "Hast Thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth THINE HAND now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face!"

 

Did Satan ask permission to put forth his OWN HAND and touch Job? Not at all!  He said, THY hand," or "God, you put forth YOUR HAND and touch him."  But he challenged God to stretch out HIS HAND, and that if HE touched Job and took away his blessing, Job would curse Him to His face. And the Lord said unto Satan, "Behold, all that he hath is in THY POWER; only upon himself put not forth THINE HAND."

 

Can we not see by this that Satan was the NEGATIVE FORCE through which GOD WAS MOVING UPON JOB.  Is it not clear that this was the LEFT HAND of God as He was working with Job to bring him into yet a higher place than he had occupied hitherto? Though Satan moved swiftly against Job, GOD WAS DOING THIS and His intention was to do Job good.  This was not Satan acting out his own little plan in rebellion against God, but his authority to do this came only as God allowed him to act!

 

In the second chapter of Job we find all this repeated. Again the sons of God have come before God to report on their activities, and again Satan comes among them. Again, Job is presented to Satan by God as a perfect and upright man. I now quote from Job 2:4-6.

 

"And Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth THINE HAND now and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse Thee to Thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in THINE HAND; but save his life."

 

Now Job's body will be wracked with disease and tortured with pain, and he will lose his reputation before all men. His good works will be forgotten and he will become the object of ridicule from those who were formerly his friends.

 

I would like to  draw your attention to the magnificent words which reveal Job's reaction to all this. Job 2:9-10 says,

 

 "Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die! But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the HAND OF GOD and shall we not receive evil? IN ALL THIS DID NOT JOB SIN WITH HIS LIPS"

 

Notice! Job never did recognize any such person as Satan in all his trouble.  He recognized ONLY GOD in this and said that even as he had received good from the HAND OF GOD was it not logical that he should receive EVIL ALSO FROM GOD?

 

What faith! What marvellous UNDERSTANDING! Job actually attributes all this evil to the work of God. He doesn't even recognize Satan as doing anything, no sitting on the ash heap moaning, "The old devil has been after me all week!"  It will be an appalling shock to many precious people to learn that in ALL this Job did NOT SIN with his lips!

 

We have every right to conclude from this that Job was speaking the absolute truth when he attributed all this evil to God.  What he had said was right in the sight of God. No place did the Lord rebuke Job for his words in any way. In fact, in the end of the experience God said that Job had spoken RIGHTLY of Him and ALL OTHERS HAD NOT.

 

 Job said in Job 19:21,

 

  "Have pity upon me, O ye my friends: for the HAND OF GOD HAS TOUCHED ME" 

 

Whose hand touched him? The hand of God! WHICH hand of God? Why, beloved, it was the LEFT HAND of God! Job knew that the hand of God had not been laid upon him for good, but for evil.  Prior to this experience, Job had known nothing but the RIGHT HAND of God in good and blessing, in the anointing of God.

 

The nominal Church and its preachers try to make us believe that Satan conspired to do all this to poor old Job by his own design.  But the truth is that it was God and Satan was only the LEFT HAND of God, or the negative means God used.

 

The nominal Church have no knowledge at all of what they are talking about because they know nothing of the ways and the workings of God. They have exalted Satan to godhood, giving HIM the glory for all he does, and, indeed, in most things, they attribute more power to him and praise him more than they do God!  Ignorantly these foolish ones talk about poor little God "trying" to do this and that, while the shrewder and smarter devil slips up on God's blind side and demolishes His whole work. Rubbish! Don't believe for one moment that anything in all God's great universe in not in the control of HIS HANDS or part of His plan.

 

God IS GOD, He IS in full control of every sphere of activity, and Satan himself is under the province of God. May the blessed Holy Spirit enlighten our minds to perceive the truth that Satan has no power at all except that which God delegates to him. If you believe that Satan is a problem to Almighty God, then your God is entirely too small! It is true that those who would be Sons of God MUST OVERCOME HIM. But when that purpose is accomplished, you will have been fully dealt with by God's LEFT HAND so that you might be exalted to a place of eminence, glory, and power at GOD'S RIGHT HAND! Hallelujah!

 

The left hand of God is manifested through a people, those in the kingdom of darkness. The right hand of God is likewise revealed through a people, the Sons of the Kingdom. Thank God! we are not called to be a part of the left hand company.

 

Paul said in Col. 3:1-2.

 

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, WHERE CHRIST SITTETH ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth"

 

Jesus said in Rev 3:21,

 

"Him that overcometh will I grant to sit WITH ME IN MY THRONE, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne"

 

Psalms 118:15-16 says,

 

 "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the RIGHT HAND of the Lord doeth valiantly, the RIGHT HAND of the Lord is exalted"

 

Although at this time there is humiliation and suffering, there is coming a time of exaltation, already experienced within.   Although today it seems as though not much is happening outwardly, yet there is a time approaching when GOD'S RIGHT HAND COMPANY shall step forth in the fullness of the power of HIS THRONE and there shall be a manifestation of the "greater works" Jesus spoke of. When on earth, the firstborn Son suffered reproach and finally death - but where is He now?

 

Exalted to the RIGHT HAND of the Father, far above all principalities and powers, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but in that which is to come. He passed through a season of shame and reproach, but dwells now in a glory that can never fade. And there is a place with Him and in Him for all who overcome, a place of glory and eminence and power at the right hand of God for all who move on into God!