Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. Now that man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
Sometimes we could overthink the whole idea of what it means to be upright before God. It is really not that difficult. Job recognized that shunning evil was one of the ways to show that he had aligned himself with and had feared God. He recoiled from evil, treating it with disdain, as he knew that tolerating evil would affect his relationship with God. The man Job protected what was most valuable in his life from those things that could cause it harm. He lived that way and God called Him blameless and upright.
To shun evil
To shun evil means to intentionally ignore, reject, avoid, or recoil from anything that is wicked, immoral, or vile. I love the word recoil because it gives us a visual of someone moving away, flinching back in fear, horror, and disgust from something that they do not want to be around, for fear of contamination or harm.
Evil affects us in that way, in that it has a negative impact on both the person who commits it and the people around them. Job understood these truths written in Gen 4:7, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master it, and 3 John 1:11, do not imitate evil. He practiced avoiding, ignoring, and rejecting evil, not completely, but enough that it got God’s attention. That is how we also ought to live.
The Hebrew word for Shun is Sur, and it means To Turn Aside.
Other Dictionary Definition
Your dictionary – To avoid or keep away from.
Webster dictionary – To avoid deliberately and especially habitually.
Cambridge dictionary – To avoid something.
The free dictionary – To stay away from.
Merriam dictionary – To get or stay away from.
They all carry the same message, STAY AWAY FROM!
Suddenly is a necessary act that we must incorporate into our response to evil. It is another visual of how extreme our reaction should be where evil is concerned. Any other attitude would indicate a tolerance for sin and suggest that we need to be more vigilant in working towards aligning with God.
To hate those things that God hate, and to love what He loves, is a biblical principle seen throughout scripture that we must use to train our heart to please God. In doing so, we automatically begin building our reverence for God without even trying. One causes the other to fall into place.
The Bible contains many examples of evil, intended to serve as lessons for us.
Happy hunting!
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