Job 3

1. First round of discussion

Job’s First Speech

13 At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth.

2He said:

3“Let the day of my birth be erased,and the night I was conceived.

4Let that day be turned to darkness.Let it be lost even to God on high,and let no light shine on it.

5Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own.Let a black cloud overshadow it,and let the darkness terrify it.

6Let that night be blotted off the calendar,never again to be counted among the days of the year,never again to appear among the months.

Children never tire of asking why. Yet the question produces a bitter taste the older we get. Children wonder about everything; adults wonder about suffering. We notice that the world seems to run by a system of cause and effect, yet there are some effects for which we can't find a clear cause, and some causes that don’t lead to the expected effects. We would expect Job’s wealth and family to give him a very happy life and, for a while, they did. But the loss and pain he experienced shock us. The first two chapters of his story are more than we can bear. To those so quick to ask why at the smailest misfortune, Job’s faithfulness seems incredible. But even Job had something to learn. We can learn with him. Our age of “instant” everything has caused us to lose the ability to wait. We expect to learn patience instantly, and in our hurry, we miss the contradiction. Of all that we want now, relief from pain is at the top of our list. We want an instant cure for everything from toothaches to heartbreaks. Although some pains have been cured, we still live in a world where many people suffer. Job was not expecting instant answers for the intense emotional and physical pain he endured. But in the end, what broke Job’s patience was not the suffering, but not knowing why he suffered. When Job expressed his frustration, his friends were ready with their answers. They believed that the law of cause and effect applied to all people’s experiences. Their view of life boiled down to this: Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. Because of this, they felt their role was to help Job admit to whatever sin was causing his suffering. Job actually looked at life almost the same way as his friends. What he couldn’t understand was why he was suffering so much when he was sure he had done nothing to deserve such punishment. The last friend, Elihu, did offer another explanation for the pain by pointing out that God might be allowing it to purify Job. But this was only partly helpful. When God finally spoke, he didn’t offer Job an answer. Instead, he drove home the point that it is better to know God than to know answers. Often we suffer consequences for bad decisions and actions. Job’s willingness to repent and confess known wrongs is a good guideline for us. Sometimes suffering shapes us for special service to others. Sometimes suffering is an attack by Satan on our lives. And sometimes we don’t know why we suffer. At those times, are we willing to trust God in spite of unanswered questions? • Allowed his desire to understand why he was suffering to overwhelm him and make him question God • Knowing God is better than knowing answers • God is not arbitrary or uncaring

9Pain is not always punishment

11For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, lookat the prophets who spoke in the name of the LORD. We give greathonor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you knowabout Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the LORD waskind to him at the end, for the LORD is full of tenderness and mercy”(James 5:10, 11).Job’s story is told in the book of Job. He is also referred to in Ezekiel 14: 14, 20 andJames 5:11.

9 Let its morning stars remain dark.Let it hope for light, but in vain;may it never see the morning light.10 Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb,for letting me be born to see all this trouble.11 “Why wasn’t I born dead?Why didn’t] die as I came from the womb?

12Why was I laid on my mother’s lap?Why did she nurse me at her breasts?

13Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace.I would be asleep and at rest.

14T would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers,whose great buildings now lie in ruins.

15I would rest with princes, rich in gold,whose palaces were filled with silver.

16Why wasn’t! buried like a stillborn child,like a baby who never lives to see the light?

17For in death the wicked cause no trouble,and the weary are at rest.

18Even captives are at ease in death,with no guards to curse them.

19Rich and poor are both there,and the slave is free from his master.

20“Oh, why give light to those in misery,and life to those who are bitter?

21They long for death, and it won't come.They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.

22They're filled with joy when they finally die,and rejoice when they find the grave.

23Why is life given to those with no future,those God has surrounded with difficulties?

24I cannot eat for sighing;my groans pour out like water.

25What I always feared has happened to me.What I dreaded has come true.

26I have no peace, no quietness.Ihave no rest; only trouble comes.”