Job and Integrity
We all know about Job and his trials, but I learned something last evening in my devotions. That lesson focuses on integrity and how it applies to him. Read on to learn more...
After Satan launched his initial salvo against Job, he appeared before God once again. God, knowing his intentions, rebuked him this way in Job 2:3 (LSB) - “Have you set your heart upon My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity. So you incited Me against him to swallow him up in vain.”
If you compare this description to Job 1:8 - the first time Satan appeared before God - there is a key difference. The end of the summation speaks of Job clinging to something - his integrity. This instance is the first use of the term “integrity” in the Old Testament and it would do us well to slow down a bit to focus on it.
That term in Hebrew - תֻּמָּה -transliterates into English as “tummâh” and is a rare word. It is used 5 times in the Old Testament, with four of them being in Job and once in Proverbs to describe the upright man. Here are the uses in Job:
2:3 - God uses the term to reference Job’s activity despite how Satan has mistreated him.
2:9 - Job’s wife rebukes him for continuing to cling to integrity and, instead, encourages him to curse God and die.
27:5 - Job, in his defense against Bildad who argues man cannot be right before God, mentions that he will not let go of his integrity. He will hold it until he dies.
31:6 - In his last defense against his so-called friends, Job declares his innocence and says that God can justly see his heart (something man cannot) and knows he lives with integrity.
While that sounds like great, trivial information, we have to ask and answer this question - so what? Why does it matter? Simply stated, the term “integrity” is uniquely associated with one man in the Bible - Job! We should then study this man to learn more about him, what integrity means, and how to apply in our daily lives.
In usage, the Hebrew term literally means “innocence” and is based upon a root word that implies wholeness, completeness, and fullness. Collectively, those definitions speak to the entirety of the person - every facet of you (and me) is aligned with a commitment and devotion to follow God and that we are innocent of harboring evil in our lives. If there is any misalignment, then we are not living in, acting out of, or preserving integrity. Let that sink in - God described Job as wholly committed to Him and Him alone before Satan, who is the accuser. What a testimony this man had!!!
Here are a few lessons we can learn:
Integrity is before God first and is then noticed by others. Who we are in private, that only God can see, is who we really are. People around us may think they know us, but we hide things from them all the time. We are fully open before God, so our integrity (or lack thereof) is well known by God.
Individuals - even those close to us - will, at times, challenge our integrity and those challenges can be vicious and prolonged. We can see how Job’s wife, due to her pain of loss, struck out at him in rebuke. His friends came to sympathize with him but then turned against him trying to root out his wrongs. Without a doubt, this added to his stress and sorrow, but he would not give up his integrity by striking back at them in malice.
When our integrity is challenged, remember that we serve an audience of One - God! Job’s consistent responses are telling for us. He was frustrated as their help ended up being hurtful, but he continually pointed back to God, kept his eyes on heaven, and stayed the course.
In conclusion, we all have daily choices that can either preserve or ruin our integrity before God and men. It is an intensely personal choice - often in private moments - that will be revealed in public actions. For this reason, we need to stay in God’s Word, learn more about Him every day, and then intently choose to be more like Him.