Job 3

And now, the silence breaks...

"At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said:

3 “Let the day of my birth be erased,
and the night I was conceived.
4 Let that day be turned to darkness.
Let it be lost even to God on high,
and let no light shine on it.
5 Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own.
Let a black cloud overshadow it,
and let the darkness terrify it.
6 Let 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.
7 Let that night be childless.
Let it have no joy.
8 Let those who are experts at cursing—
whose cursing could rouse Leviathan—
curse that day.
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."

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It's easy to see that Job lamented the day of his birth. He wished that that day never existed, but even if it did, that nothing good happened to anyone so that no one even liked the day! Obviously Job is in a lot of pain and emotional anguish right now, and who could blame him with everything that's happened to him?

Job 3.11-19:

11 “Why wasn’t I born dead?
Why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?
12 Why was I laid on my mother’s lap?
Why did she nurse me at her breasts?
13 Had I died at birth, I would now be at peace.
I would be asleep and at rest.
14 I would rest with the world’s kings and prime ministers,
whose great buildings now lie in ruins.
15 I would rest with princes, rich in gold,
whose palaces were filled with silver.
16 Why wasn’t I buried like a stillborn child,
like a baby who never lives to see the light?
17 For in death the wicked cause no trouble,
and the weary are at rest.
18 Even captives are at ease in death,
with no guards to curse them.
19 Rich and poor are both there,
and the slave is free from his master."

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Now if Job were alive today and were sharing this with us, I'm sure we probably would have been very concerned for Job's safety right around now. Not only is he cursing the day of his birth, but now he's talking pretty favorable and highly about death. You might be thinking, "how in the world are we going to get anything out of this?" My answer and advice to you would be to not read these solely as 'chapters' but build off each chapter, and remember what you read as we continue through the rest of the book. The one time that I understood Job the most, was when I read it all really close together (I averaged about 14 chapters a day, so I was done in 3 days). Now obviously, such an undertaking would be a little too ambitious for this type of devotional study, but I would encourage you to do something like that on your own if you're want to understand Job a little better and get more out of it. =)

Job 3.20-26:

20 “Oh, why give light to those in misery,
and life to those who are bitter?
21 They long for death, and it won’t come.
They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.
22 They’re filled with joy when they finally die,
and rejoice when they find the grave.
23 Why is life given to those with no future,
those God has surrounded with difficulties?
24 I cannot eat for sighing;
my groans pour out like water.
25 What I always feared has happened to me.
What I dreaded has come true.
26 I have no peace, no quietness.
I have no rest; only trouble comes.”

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Here Job wraps up his packaged 'first speech' with a nice little bow. If it was ambiguous before, his thoughts and transparent and obvious now. My heart hurts for Job in this situation. He's been faithful and loyal to God all this time, so much so that God even brags about him. Then all of a sudden all this trouble and turmoil hits and he has no idea why. We as the readers do, but when this was happening, Job didn't know why. I would imagine that if he did, the test wouldn't be as genuine. Thinking through this, I try to put myself in Job's shoes. While I've never been tested in this way (and to be honest I'm thankful for that), I have been tested at times in my life. During these tests I've often thought, what did I do wrong? The lesson that I'm reminded of thus far in Job is that it's not always that you or I did something 'wrong'. It could just be the threshold that you and I are to pass through if we are going to experience a greater joy and a greater opportunity from the very hand of God. All we have to do is remain faithful and be patient! Aside from the depressing nature of this chapter, what are you guys thinking? =)

"Father may we prove ourselves genuine through the tests of in this life. I pray that we would remain faithful and loyal to You regardless of our situations. I pray that You would provide us with strength when we need it most, and that You would be glorified through our actions and thoughts. Father we love You so much! It's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen!"