Behind the curtain

How many times do we only look at the surface and assume?

Do you remember the first time you saw the wizard of Oz? Me neither, but I do have this impression in my mind of the fiery floating green head of the wizard with the booming voice and all. And I remember little Toto pulling back the curtain to reveal the little nervous man behind it. When I was in seminary I did a cultural exegesis paper on the movie Constantine with Keanu Reeves. At one point in the movie Keanu goes into Hell. What hell ends up being is just a different dimensional view of the earth. As he looks over the streets of LA the same buildings and palm trees are there but there are burning and falling apart. While I don't believe in ever burning hell and I don't believe anyone is burning as we speak, there was a certain ring of truth to this unveiling.

In Job 16, job cries says his adversary has sharpened his eyes against me he is gnashing him with his teeth and made him desolate. The typical translation shows Job's words as they are with no interpretation and it seems God is the one Job is blaming for all of these things happening to him. And really this is what Job is doing, he sees God as sovereign and responsible for what is happening. But is was very interesting when I read the amplified version. The translator seems to pull back the curtain and let us see what is happening behind the scenes. Let me show you the comparison.

Job 16:7 (ESV) Surely now God has worn me out;he has made desolate all my company.8 And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face. 9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. 10 Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have pstruck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me. 11 God gives me up to the ungodly
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

Job 16:7 (Amplified) 7But now [God] has taken away my strength. You [O Lord] have made desolate all my family and associates. 8You have laid firm hold on me and have shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; and my leanness [and wretched state of body] are further evidence [against me]; [they] testify to my face. 9[[a]My adversary Satan] has torn [me] in his wrath and hated and persecuted me; he has gnashed upon me with his teeth; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. 10[The forces of evil] have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me upon the cheek insolently; they massed themselves together and conspired unanimously against me.(A) 11God has delivered me to the ungodly (to the evil one) and cast me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked (Satan's host).

While I think the translator took some interpretive liberty with the language he has effectively pulled back the curtain on what is really happening. We know this because of the context at the beginning of the book and theology from the rest of scripture. Sure enough the Devil is the one afflicting Job. The accuser of the brethren is the devil. He is the prosecuting attorney on the case. This is what the Devil does.

How often do we forget this? How often to we look at our lives and say, well I guess today just isn't a lucky day. Or we get into the pain of life and blame ourselves and our mistakes or the sin of others. But if we could remember to pull back the curtain we would see the dimension of the spiritual battle going on around us. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist."

The good news though is the devil isn't the only one behind the spiritual veil. In the end of Chap 16 Job cries out for an advocate with the Father. He wants his defense lawyer in this court. When the curtain is pulled back we also get to see Jesus our advocate in heaven, our intercessor, our high priest. Evil is not the only power playing behind the curtain. Jesus is there. The holy angels of God are there waging war with us and for us. Fight for us today God of the angel armies!!!

May our eyes be opened today to the scene behind the curtain and see the evil we so often ignore and blame each other for and even more so the God who fights for us, who defends us, protects us, and sustains us. Jesus has already won the war so now he sustains us through the battle seeking to rescue as many as possible until the day comes when he will deliver us and vanquish evil for good.