Job CCLXXIII

 Job 27:8-12, “May my enemy be like the wicked, and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he may gain much, if God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God? I will teach you about the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. Surely all of you have seen it; why then do you behave with complete nonsense?”

Look for the differences between a righteous man and a hypocrite long enough, over a span and time horizon of more than an hour, a day, or a week, and they will be so obvious and glaring as to make one wonder why they didn’t spot them sooner.

Job doesn’t say that the hypocrite won’t succeed at putting on a believable performance, they may even be so good in their pretense as to gain much through their endeavor, but when it comes to it, when the rubber meets the road, the hypocrite has no hope, nothing to cling to, nothing to buoy him, and nothing to sustain him.

Since his friends had intimated that he was a hypocrite, a farceur, someone who pretended at righteousness and devotion rather than sincerely loving God for who He was, Job sets about dismantling their narrative and pointing out the differences between the hypocrite and the blameless.

The first question Job asks regarding the hypocrite is whether God will hear his cry when trouble comes upon him. This question and the way Job phrases it reveal the deep and abiding faith Job had not only in God but also in that when he cried out, God heard him, even though He had not answered or acted upon his pleas.

Trouble had surely come upon him. He had surely cried out to God, yet God had remained silent. This did not sway Job’s deeply rooted faith that, though He had not responded, God had nevertheless heard him.

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

While the passage in Hebrews defines faith, Job exemplified it, put it into practice, and acted upon it with conviction and assurity. There was no doubt in his mind or heart that God had not heard his cry when trouble came upon him. He understood that God has a purpose in all things, even in His silence, and the one thing Job wrestled with is not understanding that purpose himself.

I will trust God, I will trust that He hears my cry, even if He remains silent, even if the situation I’m pleading with Him for remains unchanged, because I know my God, I know whom I serve, and there is nothing that can sway me from this certainty. Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him!

Job’s second question was as revealing as his first, worded in such a way as to make his friends consider all that he’d said since they first came to comfort him, hoping that they would be able to see beyond their hastily drawn conclusions to the reality that stood before them.

While still referencing the hypocrite, Job asks, “Will he delight himself in the Almighty?”

A hypocrite by his very nature will attempt to use God to obtain what his heart truly desires. There is no delighting himself in Him, there is no yearning to spend time in His presence, there is no inclination toward faithful obedience, or worship. Everything is feigned, performative, well-calculated, and forced rather than sincere because the hypocrite is attempting to affect the perception of those in close proximity as to his own spirituality rather than serve God in spirit and in truth.

Do we find our delight in the Almighty or in the things the Almighty provides? If it’s the latter rather than the former, then when those things go away, when they are taken, stolen, lost, or burned in the fire, our hearts will grow bitter, and our instinct will be to shake our fist at the heavens and insist that God is unjust, unfair, or callous rather than loving, forgiving, and gracious. Herein lies the danger of finding delight in anything other than Him.

God is not interchangeable with anything or anyone. He must have singular prominence in our hearts, and our delight must be in Him. Yes, we thank Him for our daily bread, the roof over our heads, healthy children, and the ability to work, but the things He gives cannot replace Him, nor can we place equal value on them as we do on our relationship with Him.

To some, Job may seem cold or callous in that he did not react in a manner they would have given all the things he lost, but such individuals have never known intimacy with God on the level Job did. In his entire existence, there was only one thing he could not do without, and that was the presence of the God he’d served for countless years. It’s not that he didn’t feel loss or didn’t mourn, but for one such as Job, the presence of God was an existential need. He could not see himself continuing on; he could not see himself numbered among the living without God’s abiding presence.

The next question about the hypocrite is emblematic of the human condition, as Job asks, “Will he always call on God?” The adage that there are no atheists in a foxhole has proven true often enough. There comes a time in most men’s lives when they will call on God, when they have no other means of escape or recourse, as will the hypocrite for all the good it will do him.

Later on, as the New Testament was being divinely inspired, those who love God were instructed to pray always and pray without ceasing. We do not commune with God or open up the lines of communication only when we find ourselves buffeted, see no escape, or need Him to come through and save us from the mess we’ve gotten ourselves in. Being in fellowship with God is not a chore, a burden, or something we drag our feet in doing, but the single most important event on our calendar, every day of the year without fail.

Job knew how much time he spent in God’s presence. He knew how much time he spent calling on God, and his question was not intended to puff himself up or highlight his consistency in calling out to God, but to contrast what a hypocrite would do with what his friends knew him to have done.    

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.