Job: Tragedy, Repentance & Restoration – Part III

In the last post, we looked at Satan’s second round of calamity against Job. We saw how Satan even used Job’s wife to come against him and yet, Job held fast and “did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).

We then were introduced to his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.

Today, let’s see what Job finally says after he and his friends mourned for seven days, without any of them speaking a word to Job.

The Book of Job – Part III: Job Wishes He’d Never Been Born

Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said, “Let the day perish on which I was to be born, and the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; let not God above care for it, nor light shine on it. Let darkness and black gloom claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.” –Job 3:1-5.

For seven days, Job kept his anger and dismay in check. Seven days his friends sat and stared at him. Now, Job–merely being human–is crying out from his emotional and physical pain, from the very depths of his soul. How many times have we felt this way: “Why was I ever born?”

“As for that night, let darkness seize it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months. Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful shout enter it. Let those curse it who curse the day, who are prepared to rouse Leviathan. Let the stars of its twilight be darkened; let it wait for light but have none, neither let it see the breaking dawn; because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, or hide trouble from my eyes. Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me, and why the breasts, that I should suck?” –Job 3:6-12.

Here again, Job asks why he was even born. He wishes that he had never been born. Think for a moment. If you’ve ever said that to yourself–and more than likely, every teenager has at some point in their life–did that ever solve anything? Quite frankly, just the opposite would happen. You were created for a purpose, each and every one of us. And the bottom line is, God loves you and He knows you. How do I know that? Because He created each one of us. As the psalmist said:

For You formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works; and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. –Psalm 139:13-15.

Unfortunately, these words were penned after Job was long dead. Perhaps he would have felt differently had he been able to read them.

“For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest, with kings and with counselors of the earth, who rebuilt ruins for themselves; or with princes who had gold, who were filling their houses with silver.” –Job 3:13-15.

Job is saying that had he died at birth (Job 3:11), he would have been buried with kings and other royalty who–he presumes–have died at peace being wealthy in this life. You can understand his sentiment, however it’s bad theology.

“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, as infants that never saw light.” –Job 3:16.

Job is repeatedly saying in these past several verses that he wishes he had never been conceived. If conceived, he wishes he would have been a miscarriage. If not a miscarriage, then he wishes he would have been stillborn. If not stillborn, then he wishes he would have died at birth!

“There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary are at rest. The prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but there is none, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice greatly, and exult when they find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in? For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, and my cries pour out like water.” –Job 3:17-24.

He wishes he were dead. For him, death is better than life. And could we really blame him for feeling this way?

“For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, and I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.” –Job 3:25-26.

Provocative way to close out chapter three. Job is saying that even in his days of plenty, he was worried about maintaining it all. Yes, God had high praise for Job, but the threads are starting to unwind now. We are starting to see where Job’s security really lay: his wealth, position, and self-righteousness.

The words of Jesus come rushing to mind:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:19, 21.

The riches of this world are fleeting. Everything in this world is vanity. Our security can only come from the One who created all: Almighty God. We need to cling to Him and His Word and treasure them.

In the next post, we’ll study his friend Eliphaz’s first response to Job’s bewilderment and current predicament.

May He Increase!