Job 13:15-18; 19:23-29
Job makes a sobering statement that the Church should listen to carefully. “He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.” Job is simply stating that even though others do not believe me, God will prove my integrity to be genuine for He will hear me and bless me and everyone knows that God will not tolerate the company of a hypocrite. It is not safe to play the part of an unregenerate person who is acting and claiming to be born again. Many do, some because of ignorance, some because of pride, and others because of a dishonest heart. But do we really understand what it means to be a hypocrite? A good look at the Hebrew word and its usage will be very helpful to our understanding of this concept.
The Hebrew word for hypocrite is hanep. It literally means to be defiled, polluted, profaned or corrupt. While we often think of the word as only meaning someone who is deceptive or who is acting out a part that is not genuine, this word points a the cause of the problem. The culprit is not misinformation, bad environment or poor training but rather a corrupt heart.
The main idea for hanep is to incline away from right. It refers at times to land that is polluted for various reasons. It includes breaking the laws of God and breaking His covenant which lead to a moral and spiritual pollution of the land. Five of the times that it is used in Job it indicates that the hypocrite is a godless man – one who forgets God and lives a life of sinfulness.
A different twist to the meaning of the word is found in Psalms. The Psalmist David talks about the upside-down character of godlessness. He likens the hypocrite to the coarse jesting that takes place among the godless at their times of feasting and revelry.
(Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
Dr. Gayle Woods
Job 1:20-22; 2:1-10
In these verses the writer informs us that Job was a model man of God. God boasted of him to Satan saying that “there is none like him in the earth.” What were his distinctives? What set him apart? Four things are mentioned. A look at the Hebrew words might help us in knowing better what kind of behavior and demeanor impress God.
Job was a perfect man – The root of the Hebrew word Tam means to be complete. In many instances it speaks of that which is ethically sound. For example the Psalmist says that we are to be “wholly” Gods (Psa 101). David said, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” Psa 101:2 Tam means to be undefiled or upright and nine of the thirteen times that the word is used speak of Job. “Some of these utterances are no more than asseverations that the speaker is innocent of particular crimes laid to his charge; others are general professions of purity of purpose….Those who make them do not profess to be absolutely sinless, but they do disclaim all fellowship with the wicked, from whom they expect to be distinguished in the course of Providence” (A. F. Kirkpatrick, Cambridge Bible, Psalms, I, p. 87).
Job was an upright man – yashar – to be level, straight, upright, just, lawful. One of the characteristics of the blameless is that they live upright lives. Being upright suggests that the life is not bent toward sinning but rather toward pleasing God completely. Uprightness is a word that characterizes God and the people who emulate Him. It is a quality of heart and mind which causes a person to remain steadfast in his determination to do Gods will even when others cringe and cower under the pressure of differing opinion.
Job feareth God – yare – fearing, afraid – (see last lesson)
Job escheweth evil – sur means to turn aside, depart – Sur is used both in a negative and in a positive sense. It often speaks of the apostasy of Israel. It means to make a distinctive and definite act of removing yourself from where you were before.
To sum up these observations we would have to say that Job was a holy man . . . a model of the holiness lifestyle.
(Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
Dr. Gayle Woods
