What the Bible says about Satan as Tool of God
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Job 1:6-12 Notice that God Himself takes the initiative in setting this up, choosing the antagonist (Satan) and defining the parameters of what could be done. Can we say in the face of accounts like this that God only permits difficult trials to occur? Can we say He is not actively testing His children to see what is in them? Can we say He is not actively directing Satan to carry out the calamities He designs? John W. Ritenbaugh God's Sovereignty and the Church's Condition (Part One) Related Topics: Calamity | God's Sovereignty | Satan | Satan as Tool of God | Satan's power Limited by God | Tests | Trials | Trials, Purpose of | Trials, Shaping Power Of

Job 1:6-7 Was he just telling another lie? He was traveling back and forth on the earth, and he described it as walking. When he came before God, it was some other place than the earth. Where does God reside? The Bible names heaven as the only place of God's abode. So Satan must have left the earth and traveled to be in God's presence because this conversation did not take place on the earth. John W. Ritenbaugh Image and Likeness of God (Part Three) Related Topics: Heaven | Heaven as God's Abode | Heavens | Satan | Satan as father of liars | Satan as Tool of God | Satan's Lies | Satan's power Limited by God

Job 1:6-12 This clearly illustrates that, despite having far greater natural powers than a man, Satan can do nothing against any of God's children that God does not permit. God is overseeing our preparation for His Kingdom, and the Devil is, in reality, a dupe in God's hands to that end. Verse 10 shows that God puts, as it were, a protective wall around us, commanding Satan, "This far and no farther." John W. Ritenbaugh Power Belongs to God (Part Two) Related Topics: God's Sovereignty | Hedge | Protective Wall | Satan | Satan as Tool of God | Satan's Influence | Satan's Power | Satan's power Limited by God

Job 2:6 Here is a principle that we can take great comfort in. As He does with Job, God also deals with us. God has set limits on what Satan or the demons are able to do with or to us. God deals with us according to the measure of our faith, our love, the measure of His Spirit within us. By faith, we have to deal with what He allows to occur, understanding that we love God for what He is and not because He has given us good things. That is an additional blessing. We see, then, that from time to time we will have to overcome the demons that God allows to test us. John W. Ritenbaugh Satan (Part 1) Related Topics: Demonic Influence | Demonic principalities | Demonic Spirits | God Deals with us According to Our Faith | Overcoming Human Nature | Overcoming Satan's Influence | Satan | Satan as Tool of God

Jeremiah 15:1-4 The church has been purposely scattered by God. Nothing of this magnitude occurs without His permission! If He has given Satan His permission to be the actual "instrument of scattering, it still would never have happened if God did not agree that it needed to be done. Some think, "Satan came up with this idea, got into the flock, and scattered it." Could Satan do anything like this without God giving His permission? Impossible! And, if God gave His permission, then it was His will that it occur. Satan became merely an instrument of God's sovereign judgment. John W. Ritenbaugh Avoiding Superficiality Related Topics: God Scatters the Church | God's Sovereignty | Limitations to Satan's Power | Satan as God's Instrument | Satan as Tool of God | Satan's power Limited by God | Scattering of Church

2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul twice says, ". . . lest I should be exalted above measure." God gave him this "thorn in the flesh" so that the apostle would not get too big for his britches, as it were, because God had given him some revelations. That sort of communication from God could swell a person's head. Thus, the apostle says God allowed Satan to afflict him so that Paul would not venture beyond what he had been given. Richard T. Ritenbaugh Countering Presumptuousness Related Topics: Humility | Presumption | Presumptuous | Presumptuousness | Pride | Satan | Satan as Tool of God

2 Peter 2:9 Peter clearly understands that Satan is somewhere in the picture, and he wants us to be encouraged, to be filled with hope, because these ungodly people, though they appear to be gaining strength, are still under God's control. God knows how to deliver His people from their schemes—even as He delivered Noah, Lot, and others in the past from plots that were going on in their days. John W. Ritenbaugh Satan (Part 4) Related Topics: God's Intervention | God's Protection | God's Providence | God's Sovereignty | God's Watchfulness | Hope | Satan | Satan as Tool of God

Revelation 20:1-3 Like everybody else, Satan has only the power God created in him and the latitude to use it only as He permits and no more. The power given to him is meted out for what God wants him to accomplish for His purposes. Seeing all of the horrible things happening on earth, we may suppose that his power is unlimited, but it most assuredly is not. John W. Ritenbaugh Power Belongs to God (Part Two) Related Topics: Satan | Satan as Tool of God | Satan's Authority | Satan's Influence | Satan's power Limited by God | Satan, Restraint of

 

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