The Riches No Bank Can Hold
“ Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart ” —Job 22:21, 22, NIV. Taken at face value this verse sounds like perfectly good advice. The words were spoken by Eliphaz to his friend, Job, while Job was going through the ultimate in hard times. The advice, good though most of it is, contains a misconception. Job’s friends were trying to convince him that he needed to repent of his sins if he expected God to restore to him all that he had lost. None of the men knew that what was happening to Job had nothing to do any sin Job might have committed. Job had lost everything: family, possessions, health. It was logical to assume that all this disaster was because of something Job had done to offend God. In fact, all this was a test—a battle between God and Satan through which God was going to show Satan that some people won’t sin, and turn their backs on God, even when you hit th...