Job 2:1  Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 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.
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.
Job 2:4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Job 2:8  And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
Job 2:9  Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:10  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.

The U.S. is gearing up for an “election” this fall. In Canada, there are three provinces that will hold “elections” this year. Our federal government is supposedly going to have an “election” in the fall of next year.
To me it is amazing that with over 300 million people in the U.S. the best they can come up as a choice of presidents is a corrupt and senile Democrat and a corrupt Republican. The bottom line is that God sets up rulers and He takes down rulers. Both the U.S. and Canada do not deserve anything better than we currently have and than that which is on the horizon.
In our text, God chose to give us a detailed account of a man who lived around the time of Abraham. This man’s name was Job. God recorded some important facts about this man. Satan did not like this man. Satan accused God of over protecting Job. Satan was sure that if he had a fair opportunity to corrupt Job, he could win. Satan is a liar and a murderer. He is so deluded that he assumes that he can manipulate anyone he wants to.
Satan does not understand the power of God at work in the heart and life of the child of God. Twice in the verses we have quoted, we find the word “integrity”. The Hebrew word translated as “integrity” here means “innocence.” It is found five times in the Old Testament. Four of those times it is found in the book of Job.
Job was a man who was innocent in the sight of God. That is the key here. Job’s wife did not understand what made Job tick. She counselled him to curse God and die. She was of no help to him. Job proved his integrity by continuing to pursue truth rather than throw in the towel. He needed to learn some things and he did learn them. He was able to be used by God to show us how a man of integrity functions. It is possible to be steadfast in the faith in our day as well. The devil is still trying to destroy godly men and women. He can only succeed if we entertain his lies.
When we look at the U.S. situation currently, we should be able to see a major problem. The U.S. is supposed to be the super power of the world. The president of the U.S. is supposed to be someone that the world can look up to and respect. We know that is not the case with the current president. It is assumed at this point that he will not be the president next year. It is assumed that Mr. Trump will be the next president. Mr. Trump has already had one term as president and he demonstrated his inability to govern. During his entire first term, he was under investigation and accused of many things. Prior to his “election” he bragged about all the good people he knew and how he would have the best people around him.
We cannot expect a lost man to have good judgment. Yes, Mr. Trump can make money. He knows how to hire lawyers and book keepers who can help him to make money. After his decision to run for president and chose to defy the standard corruption of the U.S. system, things changed. He did not bow to the dictates of the WEF. He decided to do things differently and he did make some changes. However, he was not smart enough to put good people into places like the FBI and the result was that the corruption that has existed in the U.S. for a long time, continued to grow under his watch. He proved that even the president of the U.S. is not that powerful. There is a bigger organization running world affairs. The WEF tries hard to put in place its puppets. When it does not succeed at that, it raises as much interference as possible to stop its opponents. Trump lost the “election” through suspicious actions and since that time the Democrats have used the FBI and other agencies to try to keep him from being able to run again. They want him in jail. They have not yet figured out how to assassinate him. There is no doubt they are working on that.
Our Canadian system is no better. We have a government that is running neck in neck with the corrupt Jean Chretien government. We have younger men seeking leadership in our country, but they are no better suited for the position that what the U.S. has. They are not men of integrity.
As we study the Bible, we see that during the time of Jesus Christ and later, during the time of the apostles, there was a corrupt government in charge. The devil was working behind the scenes to keep the leaders of that time in the dark. The apostles did not allow the corrupt government to keep them from obeying the Lord. They were men of integrity. They knew Who their Master was and they were not intimidated by soldiers or prison. They were willing to accept beatings and other trials. They all suffered persecution. Some might suggest that the apostle John was not a martyr, but if history is correct, there can be no doubt that the things he suffered would have had an effect on his health.
Integrity, translated from the Hebrew word we have in our text, is an important quality that is something that only a God-fearing person can have. It is a necessary quality that every born again Christian should be governed by. If we operate under the standard that Job did, we will take a different approach to the culture of our time. We will want to know the truth and we will want to have a greater understanding of what God is doing. We will not get bogged down in supporting corrupt governments. God puts governments in place and He removes governments. He tells us that the world is immersed in wickedness. He tells us that there will be falling away in the last days. He tells us to preach the Gospel. That should be the priority of every saved person.
We need to expose the corruption that is all around us. We need to understand that our hope is not in government. It is in God.
Pastor Bartel