The Power of Life and Death (Part 1)

(Part 1 of 2) …

Who has the power of life and death? We know God has that power … but does Satan also have the ability to take the breath of life from someone, or does God alone possess that power?

I'm not talking about death by some violent means … a gun, automobile wreck, or some other kind of accident, etc. If Satan has this power as some believe, can he sneak up behind you and take your life … cause you to die right then and there.

We know when Adam sinned, his sin brought spiritual death into the world, and as a by-product of sin, sickness also brought physical death to man. So, I guess one could say that because Satan is the author of all sin … he is the one who causes or is the author of death. One could say that … except for the fact that it was God who made death … "the wage or payment for sin." God alone pronounced the sentence of physical death on man.

With this as a base platform to work from, I want to look into Scripture … The Word of God … to find the answer to my first question: "Who has the power of life and death?"

Death comes in many ways and from many things. Some are from the evil in the world, from the evils of fallen nature. Some are from evils of men; sometimes from our own mistakes; sometimes it can be my fault, your fault, or no one's fault … just life in general. Is it not true that all these things can be instruments of God, to bring about His purpose and design?

So, with that in mind I begin with …

Isaiah 45:7 …"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

God is the author of all things of every kind, which includes this word, "evil" which is also from Him. Not the evil of sin; for this is not to be found in the creation God made; evil of sin is of men, although permitted by the Lord, and overruled by Him with the evil of God's judgments … punishment for sin. Death from famine, pestilence, evil beasts, nature and the sword, (war) usually come from the effects of sin, and are permitted by God. All afflictions and adversities from man and nature, come under this same name, "evil" and are of God … see Job 2:10 below.

Even though God is the source of all things, this does not prove that God is the author of sin or moral evil, and to hold such a view is totally opposed to the true character and nature of God.

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?"

In the Providence of God, (governing and controlling all things) man does evil which he wills, and suffers evil which he wills not. Evil is of two types … evil of sin, and evil of nature. The evil of nature, the afflictions and adversities of life are evils … designed by God … for punishing the evil of sin. Natural evil is the punishment of moral evil; God sends the former when the latter is persisted in.

Some evil is sent either by His own hand, or by the hands of those He employs. Whoever are the instruments, God is the principal agent. John Wesley says … "Out of God's mouth, both good and evil proceed."

Augustine has said …"Evil, which is sin, the Lord hath not done; evil, which is punishment for sin, the Lord bringeth."

The question Amos asks …"Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it" … is not to be understood as evil of sin, of which God is not the author, sin being contrary to His nature and will; although He permits it to be done by others … He never does it Himself.

Job 1:21 …" Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Job ascribes to God, not only the giving, but the taking away; it is not the result of the fire from heaven, or the storms and winds; it is not by accident or bad luck. Why didn't Job blame the storm? Why didn't he blame or suspect Satan? None of these things occurred to Job. He traced the removal of his property and his loss of children to … "God" … and he found consolation in the belief that a Sovereign God presided over his affairs, and that He had removed only what He gave.

Job spoke the truth when he said …"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away"… all the things of this world are the Lord's, and are at His disposal; the earth, and the fullness of it; the kingdoms, nations, countries, houses and lands, the beasts of the field, and all the cattle on a thousand hills; the gold and silver, all the riches of the earth. Even though these are gifts to men, and are the blessing of God through His providence; He still retains ownership of His property that is given, and therefore has a right to take it away whenever He pleases.

God, whose sovereign will and overruling hand is in all things done; Job is the result of God's design and purpose, and whoever has been the agent or whatever has been the instrument of it; it is … by the providence of God. These evils of nature were but instruments used of Satan; and he had no power except what was given him from God; and therefore for that reason alone, Job sits down satisfied and quiet.

Job 2:3 …"And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause."

Here we have a second conversation between God and Satan. God says, "I allowed you to take everything Job had, his possessions, his children, all he had, and still you want more … his life. You want Me to destroy him without a reason."

The original word …"destroy"… signifies to swallow up or devour; and this is the same meaning Peter no doubt had in mind when he wrote the words … "Your adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

The sense here is, not that Satan could work upon God to cause him to change His mind and will, who is unchangeable in His nature and purpose; but he proposed it, and requested to have it done; and he prevailed and succeeded, though only in part according to God's own counsel and will.

Satan's motion was made without a cause, there was no just reason for it; therefore God said "no" to Satan, allowing him only to touch his body, but never giving him permission to take Job's life. Even in the taking of the lives of his children by the "evil" force of nature, Satan had to receive permission from God. My question today is … do these same rules still apply concerning …"the taking of life?"

Satan answers back to God … "You touch his physical body and Job will curse you to your face."

Job 2:5-6 …"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."

Satan is here urging God to afflict Job and would have had God do it Himself; but God afflicts not willingly; therefore, if it must be done, let Satan do it … who delights in such work. So God says …"He is in thy hand, do thy worst with him"… but gives him a limitation …"save his life. Afflict him, but not to death."

Job 2:9-10 …"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."

Job responds to his wife with this question … (My translation) "If we receive good things from the hand of God, why shall we not also receive evil?"

Lamentations 3:38 …"Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?" (This is more of a statement than a question.)

All the blessings of God's Providence; natural good things and natural evil things, even all afflictions which seem, or are thought to be evil, come from the mouth of God, and are according to His design, purpose, counsel, and will. They are all dispensed by the hand of God, and should be willingly received, the one as well as the other. Job is reminding his wife that they had received many good things from the Lord, and therefore they should be willing to receive the others as well.

Shouldn't we have enough confidence in God to believe that His dealings are ordered from a heart of love? The moment He takes away our possessions, and visits us with pain, will we lose all our confidence in Him? Do we submit to all the arrangements of the government of God without a complaint only during good times … or even when natural evils are sent in their place?

We breathe the air which God has made, walk upon His earth, and eat the food He provides; but if and when He takes one or all away, do we feel that He has taken only what belongs to Him … of which we have no right or claim to anyway?

In addition to that, a true understanding of the purposes and motives of God would cause us to feel that any claim, to any blessing, if it had ever existed, has been forfeited by man's sin nature. What right has man to complain when God withdraws His favor, and subjects him to suffering? What claim has man on God that should make it wrong for God to send what we think of as evil?

It should also be noted, that the source of all these dealings with Job was not related to Satan's accusations, but came from God Himself as He set all these things in motion. When God asks Satan the question …"have you considered my servant Job"… it was because He Himself had. Satan was but one of many instruments to bring about God's purposes with Job, and Satan may still be one of many today.

We must therefore conclude that Satan only had the power of death over men when God allowed him such power.

Job 14:5 …"Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass …"

"Seeing his days are determined …" exactly and precisely, how many he shall live, "thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass …" the boundaries of his life, the period of his days, beyond which he cannot go; the term of man's life is so peremptorily fixed and settled by God, that he cannot die sooner, nor live longer, than God has determined he should. As with the time of a man's birth, so the time of his death is according to the purpose of God; and all things that will come to man throughout the whole course of his life … they all fall under "the appointment of God" and are according to His design and will.


The word for "bounds" here signifies a set, stated, or appointed time. As Job uses the word "determined" here, it means "fixed or settled." God has fixed the number of man's days, so that they cannot be exceeded; nor can death be avoided. But, although man cannot live past his appointed bounds, he may also live such a sinful and hard life that he may never reach them; as the psalmist has said in … Psalm 55:23, "… bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days …"

Job 30:23 …"For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living."

The phrase "to death" means to the house of the dead, or to the place where the dead are … the grave. That house is "appointed" for all, the rich and the poor, young or old; it is not by chance that we go there, it has been so ordained; it is fixed and settled that all should die. Job knows the case with him will be as with all men; death has become necessary because of sin, which brought the sentence of death on all men; by the decree and appointment of God.

This has also been confirmed by Paul when he wrote in Romans 6:23 …"For the wages of sin is death …" as did the writer of Hebrews 9:27 …"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment …"

"…to the house appointed …" Job most likely was referring to the grave, which is the house for the body to be placed in when dead. For us however, the apostle Paul states in 2nd Corinthians 5:1 …"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

To be continued …