SATAN

GOING

TO & FRO:

in the earth

and

up & down

in it

Job 1:7

SATAN GOING TO & FRO:

in the earth and up & down in it

Job 1:7

And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

& 2:2

And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Satan has presented himself before the Lord in company of other angels who have come to seek His face (i.e., Sons of God). We don’t know why they came, but they came. Just because they are “cast out” as far as eternal residence is concerned they still have access. We know this for at a later date one of them becomes a lying spirit in the mouths of professional prophets

(1Kgs:22:22: And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.).

Satan has come from going TO&FRO in, up, and down in the earth as a “roaring lion” seeking a harmless prey to devour. He is our Adversary and he attacks Job with all his furver.

I Peter 5 : 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The Lion attacked Job in every area of I John 2 : 15 - 16 :

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Satan attacks Job’s flesh by taking his children; he attacks his eyes by destroying his possessions; and kicks him in the pride of life by leaving Job his wife and three “good” friends. Job’s situation caused him to toss TO&FRO in bed; gave him nightmares; and created suicidal wishes of “I want to die!” (Job 7:4: When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. Job said he was like a leaf tossed TO & FRO with the wind and broken

(Job:13:25: Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?).

Would you chase a leaf like a child might just for the pleasure of breaking it? Well, the Devil chased Job and reduced him to a pile of ashes. Do you think your plight will be less strangling? If you are not in a -- Bible Preaching - Teaching -- Church then by all means run to one and hide there. Under church leadership you are to learn to do battle. It is the responsibility of Church Leadership to equip you and keep you from being tossed TO&FRO in the arena of doctrine:

( Ephesians 4 : 11 - 14: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;)

Noah, God’s man of righteousness, knew where to stay till God gave clear indication he should move out elsewhere. Noah’s guide was a Ravin flying TO&FRO until the Lord provided place for weary feet:

(Genesis 8 : 7: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.).

Noah stayed put. You should consider the same until you get a clear signal from the Lord. One major avenue of seeking the Lord’s direction is to struggle in prayer as did the prophet Elisha. While entreating the Lord for the dead he walked TO&FRO in the house, pacing the floor, waiting on God:

(II Kings 4 : 35: Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.)

As you struggle to find God’s place God is searching TO&FRO in the earth to find that person with a perfect attitude toward Him. When He finds you searching you will find His strength:

(II Chronicles 16 : 9: For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.)

Sometimes we get caught in the storm of life and, like a drunk, we stagger TO&FRO in the storm:

( Psalm 107 : 27:They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.).

Remember that in the end of tribulation the earth will reel TO&FRO like that same drunk man and the high ones on high who are against you will be punished:

( Isaiah 24 : 20: The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.)

So look for God to deliver !

The vanity of Job’s suicidal thoughts is comparable to getting gain by lying. The resulting emotional trauma creates a situation that makes you feel like you’re being tossed TO&FRO :

(Prov:21:6: The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.)

In this life there are many types of spoilers that will deceive you. They are like Gypsies roaming TO&FRO like a band of grasshoppers:

( Isaiah 33 : 4: And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.)

While you are living in this TO&FRO situation you need to stabilize yourself with the wisdom and knowledge of God. Keep your guard up, and your watch on the Devil for he would like to give you confusion of face:

(Daniel 9 : 8: O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee).

He will do anything to throw you off the path God wants you to walk on. He wants to keep you captive to his will and/or the lust of your flesh. He will do his best. He will even turn your children against you to make your life tossed and moving TO&FRO :

(Isaiah 49 : 21: Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?).

So when you find yourself running TO&FRO in confusion, and your children are in rebellion, idolatry, and sexual perversion, as in Jeremiah, Chapter Five, THEN: you need to seek a person of truth who can render a proper judgment of your situation and point you in the right direction:

(Jeremiah 5 : 1 - 8: Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.)

As in the Old Testament you need to show evidence of repentance. They put on sackcloth and ran TO&FRO crying for their captivity:

(Jeremiah 49 : 3: Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.)

You need to find someone to stand in the gap and make up the hedge of your life--someone to restore your life to where God wants it:

(Ezekiel 22 : 30: And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.).

Ezekiel prophesies against Tyrus in chapter 27. Tyrus is symbolic of Satan and his kingdom. It speaks of those who get over occupied in commerce and they end up running TO&FRO and their end is bitterness:

( Ezekiel 27 : 19 , 30: Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.... And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: )

It is also prophetic of the end time where Daniel says that then people will be running TO&FRO before the resurrection:

(Daniel 12 : 4: But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. )

Sounds like today.

One of these last days is called the Day of the Lord, a day of gloom and pain and war, a day of running TO&FRO. It is a time to rend the heart before God and repent that we may receive of His mercy:------------->>(Joel 2).

The Day of the Lord is a day without truth, without God’s Word. You can run TO&FRO around the world and you will find few that truly believe the Word of God. Truly God has allowed a famine of His Word:

(Amos 8 : 11 - 12:: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.)

Zechariah 1: 7 - 11:Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

; 6 : 7And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

Zechariah the Prophet informs us that after the tribulation the horsemen will run TO&FRO through the earth and return a report of peace and quietness. God told Zechariah that he would rebuild but it would be by the power of the Holy Spirit with the eyes of the Lord running TO&FRO through the earth:

(Zechariah 4 : 6 , 10: Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.... For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.)

So, we have ran TO&FRO from Job the ancient to Noah, to the Kings and Prophets. We now return to the New Testament and Paul’s book to the church at Ephesus:

EPHESIANS 4 : 11 - 16 \\ 11: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12: For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:14: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;15: But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Find a God fearing, Bible Preaching, Bible Believing - Teaching Church and join it! Then dig in and study and get your roots down. Then you will stop the tossing TO&FRO