March 6, 2024

Have you ever felt like you can't catch a break?

Job 3

Merrill Pollard
Wednesday's Devo

March 6, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 6, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 6, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 6, 2024

Big Book Idea

God is at work even when we can't see it.

Key Verse | Job 3:26

"I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes."

Job 3

Job Laments His Birth

1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:

3  “Let the day perish on which I was born,
    and the night that said,
    ‘A man is conceived.’
4  Let that day be darkness!
    May God above not seek it,
    nor light shine upon it.
5  Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
    Let clouds dwell upon it;
    let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6  That night—let thick darkness seize it!
    Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
    let it not come into the number of the months.
7  Behold, let that night be barren;
    let no joyful cry enter it.
8  Let those curse it who curse the day,
    who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
9  Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
    let it hope for light, but have none,
    nor see the eyelids of the morning,
10  because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
    nor hide trouble from my eyes.

11  Why did I not die at birth,
    come out from the womb and expire?
12  Why did the knees receive me?
    Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13  For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
    I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14  with kings and counselors of the earth
    who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15  or with princes who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.
16  Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
    as infants who never see the light?
17  There the wicked cease from troubling,
    and there the weary are at rest.
18  There the prisoners are at ease together;
    they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
19  The small and the great are there,
    and the slave is free from his master.

20  Why is light given to him who is in misery,
    and life to the bitter in soul,
21  who long for death, but it comes not,
    and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22  who rejoice exceedingly
    and are glad when they find the grave?
23  Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
    whom God has hedged in?
24  For my sighing comes instead of 1 3:24 Or like; Hebrew before my bread,
    and my groanings are poured out like water.
25  For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
    and what I dread befalls me.
26  I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
    I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

Footnotes

[1] 3:24 Or like; Hebrew before
Table of Contents
Introduction to Job

Introduction to Job

Timeline

Author and Date

The unknown Israelite author of this book presents Job as a person living in Uz (see note on 1:1). Job’s godliness (1:1) matches the ideals of Israelite wisdom literature. He clearly knows Yahweh (1:21). The events of the book seem to be set in the times of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

Theological Themes

The book of Job concerns itself with the question of faith in a sovereign God. Can God be trusted? Is he good and just in his rule of the world? The book shows that the reasons for human suffering often remain a secret to human beings.

In the book of Job, God seems both too close and too far away. On the one hand, Job complains that God is watching him every moment so that he cannot even swallow his spit (7:19). On the other hand, Job finds God elusive (9:11). Though God is greatly concerned about humans, he does not always answer their most agonizing questions.

At the same time, Job’s friends offer no real help. They come to “comfort” him (2:11), but Job ends up declaring them “miserable comforters” who would console him “with empty nothings” (21:34). These friends represent an oversimplified view of faith. They think that all human troubles are divine punishments for wrongdoing. Their “comfort” consists largely of urging Job to identify his sin and repent of it. These friends are negative examples of how to comfort those who are suffering.

The book illustrates that one does not need to fully understand God’s will in order to be faithful while suffering. Those who suffer need not be afraid to express to God their confusion and questions.

Purpose

The book of Job was written to those who struggle with the question of how God can be good when the world is filled with suffering.

The author does not provide a formal defense of God’s justice. Rather, as Job’s friends offer their inadequate answers, the author shows how their reasoning fails. Then, in chs. 38–41, the Lord speaks in his own defense, bringing Job to fuller understanding (ch. 42).

Even during his suffering and confusion, before God finally speaks, Job can triumphantly declare, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25).

Outline

  1. Prologue: Job’s Character and the Circumstances of His Test (1:1–2:13)
  2. Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God (3:1–42:6)
    1. Job: despair for the day of his birth (3:1–26)
    2. The friends and Job: can Job be right before God? (4:1–25:6)
      1. First cycle (4:1–14:22)
      2. Second cycle (15:1–21:34)
      3. Third cycle (22:1–25:6)
    3. Job: the power of God, place of wisdom, and path of integrity (26:1–31:40)
    4. Elihu: suffering as a discipline (32:1–37:24)
    5. Challenge: the Lord answers Job (38:1–42:6)
  3. Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job (42:7–17)
The Global Message of Job

The Global Message of Job

Universal Questions

With its story of one man’s life and suffering, the book of Job raises universal questions. Why do people suffer, especially godly people? Where is God in suffering? Can God be trusted amid suffering? Job’s friends try to answer such questions with superficial and simplistic solutions, eventually earning God’s rebuke (Job 42:7–9).

Ultimately we learn from Job that we can hope steadfastly in our sovereign God. Instead of providing easy answers to hard questions, this incomparably glorious, all-knowing, and almighty God presents to people in all places and in all times the simplest, most powerful, and most universal answer to these questions. God’s answer to human suffering has everything to do with his own infinite goodness and care for his creation.

Suffering in a Fallen World

In the life of Job we see the breadth and depth of human suffering. We see suffering in health (Job 2:7), suffering in the loss of property (1:14–17), and suffering in the tragic death of family members (1:18–19). In Job we also listen in on a discussion in the heavenly courtroom between God and Satan (1:6–12; 2:1–7), in which God delights in the upright life of Job. There we are given a window into the normally invisible reasons for our trials and suffering.

Sin and suffering. Suffering is universal, though the kind of suffering differs from circumstance to circumstance. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sin. There is no such thing as sin without consequences. Sometimes God himself directly chastises his people for their sins. However, Job’s friends are wrong to assume that his suffering is a direct result of disobedience (Job 8:4), and it would likewise be wrong to conclude that all or even most suffering in the world today is divine punishment for specific sins. The speeches of Eliphaz (chs. 4; 5; 15; 22), Bildad (chs. 8; 18; 25), and Zophar (chs. 11; 20) reflect such wrong assumptions.

Common suffering. Another type of suffering is what we might call “common suffering.” This is suffering that affects all people without distinction. It is simply the result of living in a fallen world. It includes health problems from colds to cancer. It includes bad weather, earthquakes, and typhoons. It includes financial struggles, and even death itself. Each tragic incident in Job’s life includes an element of this common suffering.

Godliness and suffering. Not only are godly people afflicted with suffering just as others are, but the godly experience some kinds of suffering due specifically to their godliness (Matt. 10:24–33; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12). Faithfulness to Christ will bring insult and at times persecution—suffering that could be avoided if we were not disciples of Christ. We see this principle in Job, for it was precisely Job’s uprightness that prompted God to single him out to Satan and then led Satan to seek to afflict him (Job 1:8–12).

Devastating suffering. Job’s suffering is uniquely profound and painful. Some suffering, we learn, defies any category. We discover in Job that Satan has a hand in some of the suffering of God’s people (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–7; compare 2 Cor. 12:1–10). But even such demonically instigated suffering is not outside of God’s sovereignty. Nor should our focus be on Satan when we suffer but rather on persisting in steadfast faith amid such God-ordained pain. At the very least a lesson to be learned from Job is that our vision and insight into suffering is severely limited. What is not limited, however, is God’s perfect understanding and sovereign control over every event in our lives. In the “Yahweh speeches” of Job (chs. 38–41), God does not engage Job in the details of his questions and complaints. Rather, God reminds Job that God is God and Job is not. God laid the foundation of the earth (38:4); he is God over the seas (38:8, 16), over the stars (38:31–33), and over every creature (39:1–30; 40:15–41:34).

A Global Message of Comfort and Hope

The almighty, all-good God. Despite its focus on challenges and sufferings, the book of Job speaks a message of great hope to the world. We live in a world longing for comfort and hope, and such hope is found in the sovereign God who sees, who is good, and who is faithful. We are not victims of random fate or uncontrolled circumstances. We are loved faithfully and passionately by a sovereign God who works all things for our good (Rom. 8:28). The suffering global church can take comfort amid suffering, knowing that God is pleased with our faithfulness to him, even as God expressed delight in “my servant Job” (Job 1:6–8; 2:3). James 5:11 reminds us that God will fulfill his good purposes and is indeed compassionate and merciful toward his people.

No neat formulas. Living an upright life of faith in God does not exempt us from suffering. This was the fundamental misunderstanding of Job’s friends (Job 8:6) and the reason that their “comfort” was so “miserable” (16:2). Indeed, in Job and in all of Scripture we see that suffering is a part of the experience of godly people, and that suffering is also a means for our sanctification. Suffering is a blessing as through it we learn that God’s ways and purposes are much greater than we can know (chs. 40–41). His purposes and faithfulness are much greater than the achievement of ease and a comfortable life; the global church must not make an idol out of worldly comfort and earthly abundance.

The sufferings of the Savior. Job confessed faith in the living Redeemer (Job 19:25). That Redeemer would one day come and suffer for us on a cross. Here we have yet another kind of suffering, the atoning sufferings of Christ. He suffered for our salvation, bearing the penalty for our sin. It is also our great privilege to share in his suffering (2 Cor. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:8; 2:3; 1 Pet. 4:13). These are not the sufferings of health problems or bad weather or the consequences of our own folly. These are sufferings that flow from our union with and loyalty to Christ. There is a global attack on the righteous, but God will continue to provide sufficient grace to his people (2 Cor. 12:9).He will grow both his people and his kingdom through such suffering as it is endured in faith.

Our Intercession and Mission of Hope

Though God’s righteous anger burned against the three friends of Job, their folly was forgiven in response to the righteous intervention of Job’s prayers (Job 42:7–9). What then is the Christian response to those who suffer—and to those who cause suffering?

We are to intercede for the world, both in prayer and in life. We are to “comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:4). This comfort must find expression in our ministry and service to those in need both where we live as well as around the world—to orphans, widows, and all those who suffer.

This comfort is most gloriously and eternally known as the church ministers the gospel of new hope in Christ to the world—to the lost, to the downtrodden, and even to our enemies (Matt. 5:44). For the greatest suffering in this world is not the loss of property or even family; it is to be lost in sin, without the living Redeemer.

Proverbs Fact #1: Wisdom

Fact: Wisdom

Wisdom is a key term in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The word can mean “skilled at making sound decisions in life.” Proverbs 9:10 states that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

Job Fact #1: Comfort

Fact: Comfort

Comfort is a key word in the book of Job. When faced with personal tragedies, Job receives no comfort from his friends (16:2). But when God answers him (see chs. 38–41), he finds the comfort he needs.

Job Fact #7: Three cycles of conversations

Fact: Three cycles of conversations

The book of Job includes three cycles of conversations in which the friends of Job offer their comfort and advice, and then listen as Job responds. The first cycle covers chs. 4–14.

Job Fact #15: Elihu

Fact: Elihu

Elihu is the only character in the book of Job with a Hebrew name.

Job Fact #3: Was Job a real person?

Fact: Was Job a real person?

Was Job a real person? It is not known exactly when Job lived, but he was a real person. Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 refer to him as a historical figure.

Study Notes

Job 3:1–2 Job cursed the day of his birth because it began the path of his life, which had led to his present distress.

Study Notes

Job 3:8 Elements of ancient myth are sometimes used metaphorically in Scripture, often in images of God’s power or authority (see 26:12). Leviathan. An ancient symbol of chaos (see note on Ps. 74:14).

Study Notes

Job 3:3–10 In skillfully crafted poetry, Job says he wishes that he had never been born.

Study Notes
Job Fact #3: Was Job a real person?

Fact: Was Job a real person?

Was Job a real person? It is not known exactly when Job lived, but he was a real person. Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and James 5:11 refer to him as a historical figure.

Study Notes

Job 3:13–19 Job describes death as rest from the toil of life. He pictures its effect on people both high and low in society. He wishes he had joined those who were already in this state of rest rather than being born. Job refers to the kings and princes who labored to obtain wealth and build cities but now lay without them in death.

Study Notes

Job 3:23 Satan had argued that Job was upright only because God had put a “hedge” of blessing around him (1:10). Here, Job says that his suffering makes him one whom God has hedged in.

Study Notes

3:1–26 Job: Despair for the Day of His Birth. Job is mystified by his current circumstances. He wonders whether he would have been better off in the darkness of never being born rather than having the light of life result in such suffering and grief. Throughout the dialogue with Job’s friends, darkness and light will refer to death and life. It will also symbolize what is hidden vs. what is revealed.

Job 3:20–26 The final sequence of “why” questions reflects Job’s current miserable state.

S3:048 Job 3

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Job 3

It is easy to set an expectation of how we want to deal with God in the midst of our suffering versus how we actually will when the pain comes pouring down. We want to believe that we will run into the storm of suffering with an armor of abounding trust in the Lord, but we often forget how heavy that armor is to bear. We forget that we are not perfect, and we do not have to be our own savior. Jesus already bore the weight of perfection on our behalf.

We greet Job in chapter 3 at the climax of his suffering; he has lost everything. He is lamenting his birth (Job 3:11-13), and he comes the closest he ever will to cursing God. Job is not at a place of hope; he is at a place of questioning and doubt. Even though Job is cursing the day of his birth, he never curses God for His creation, and he never greets God with a voice of hatred. He instead cries out to the Lord, and he comes to the feet of his Father with his why questions: "Why did I not die at birth?" (Job 3:11) "Why is light given to him who is in misery?" (Job 3:20) "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden?" (Job 3:23) He cries why, Why, WHY, but he never curses his God. Instead, he seeks God to ask his questions.  

Job handles his ordeal of suffering with the most strength he can muster, which still allows him to fall on his knees, crying to the Lord, "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes." (Job 3:26) We do not have to endure suffering with a smile on our faces, but we can seek the Lord with tears streaming down our faces. A friend of mine often tells me, "Bring your ugly to the cross." The Lord does not want us to cover our tears with a face of perfection; He wants us to come to Him with our deepest scars.

This month's memory verse

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

– Romans 5:8

Discussion Questions

1. How do you handle suffering? Do you put on a mask of a smile to hide the pain, do you hide away in your pain and tears, or do you truly run to the Lord with your blood and tears seeking Him through your doubt?

2. What do you turn to when you are in pain instead of seeking God? Which of your sins do you let thrive in the face of your suffering?

3. What ugly part of you are you too scared to take to the foot of the cross? What sin do you think is too ugly for Jesus to bear? Take these to the Lord in prayer today.

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

GJ

greg jones

Hey Merrill. Great devotional really like how you handle chapter three. I like to ask the question if Job had cursed God after everything that had happened would God have felt differently about Job? (I don’t think so. I think He’s a little bigger than that.) Would he have barach (the Hebrew euphemism used in the first two chapters) Job with some suffering? One thing I notice from chapter is we are told “In all this Job did not sin with his lips” Job 2:10b. Which makes me think did Job sin some other way? IDK Also here in chapter three Job ends his lament that began with him cursing the day he was born with a question that makes the statement, he is “hedged in by God.” Back in chapter one the adversary states: Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Job1:9-10a Job, recognizing the hedge that God has put around him, curses the day he was born. Curses the day he was born but the author uses the regular Hebrew word for curse rather than the euphemism barach. There is still a bit of word play going on though with Job cursing himself rather than God because God has hedged him in. On another note I share a different opinion concerning Satan (as in the devil) being the proper name of the figure in the first two chapters. Ha Satan is a title usually translated as an adversary. You can see it Numbers 22 concerning Balaam and his donkey that speaks the angel of the Lord as Ha Satan. But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way [[as his adversary.]] Numbers 22:22 [[Satan]] Strong’s 8477 https://biblehub.com/hebrewparse.htm The devil shows up later in the Bible. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [2] also came among them. Job 1:6 ESV ESV footnote [2] Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2 ESV study note-Job 1:6 Sons of God refers to heavenly beings gathered before God like a council before a king (compare 15:8; Isa. 6:1–8). Satan. The Hebrew noun satan is commonly used to describe an adversary (e.g., 1 Sam. 29:4; 1 Kings 11:14). Here it refers to a specific individual (“the Adversary,” ESV footnote) who does not appear to be one of the sons of God but who also came among them. The dialogue that follows reveals the character of this figure to be consistent with that of the serpent in Genesis 3, a character who is also referred to by using this noun as a proper name, “Satan” (e.g., 1 Chron. 21:1; see also Rev. 12:9). The opinion of the ESV note is that the character of the figure in Job 1 and 2 is consistent with the serpent in Genesis 3. The alternative opinion would state that the serpent in Genesis 3 isn’t this figure because it was created along with the other “beast of the field” Genesis 3:1. And that there isn’t any evidence of any theology of the devil emerging from any animals that God created in the OT. That theology develops in other ways. Example of other translations of Job 1:6 One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came among them.-NABRE One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser also came among them.-NRSV updated version
MS

Michael Scaman

Title: Not "Happy birthday" but "Happy deathday," cruelly whispers the wind a poem as if by Franz Kafka in the genre of Job 3 In shadows deep, where anguish dwells, A soul ensnared, in desolate cells, With burdened heart and mind confined, A tale of torment entwined. A cry unheard in the vast expanse, Where absurdity reigns in every chance, In futile quests for purpose, we roam, In a world devoid of meaning, a desolate home. Like Job, in his sorrow, we seek release, In the arms of death, we mistakenly yearn for peace, For in this labyrinth of wrong thinking, we're bound, In the confines of our minds, we're tightly wound. Happy deathday," cruelly whispers the wind, As we search for solace, where none's pinned, In hollow verse, the lies resound, Of existential angst, profound and profound. Imprisoned in the web of our own design, In the depths of despair, where shadows entwine, Yet amidst the gloom, a flicker of light, A glimmer of hope, in the darkest night. For in the depths of suffering, we may find, A truth profound, of the human mind, That freedom comes not in death's embrace, But in the acceptance of God's intricate grace. On the other side of gloom's embrace, Where darkness yields to dawn's embrace, A ray of light, a beacon clear, Dispelling shadows, calming fear.
KH

Kathy Hempel Cox

Thank you! Beautiful reminder to be honest with God in all things. He meets us right there. "Bring your ugly to the cross." And...Woo Pig! :)
SB

Sue Bohlin

Thank you, Merrill. "Bring your ugly to the cross"??! LOVE THIS!!! I am struck by how Job's lament goes on and on, which is appropriate given the crazy (read: supernaturally evil) amount of suffering God has allowed to crash down on him. In our culture, we are unfamiliar with lamenting. We just distract ourselves with some shiny thing (or, more likely these days, our phones), or a drink, or a drug, or a hobby, or an addiction. But in ancient times, people took mourning seriously. And I think it was a lot mentally healthier.
AL

Amy Lowther

1. When I suffer, I cry. Then I proceed to seek God’s help and get out of suffering. 2. If I experience pain, I stop and cry. Then I seek God. I DO NOT like pain, meanness, and negativity. 3. I believe there’s nothing too ugly or too much to take to the cross or to Jesus. Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving everyone, in the good times, in the bad times, and in everything. Thank you for your good words and your consistency. Know you are appreciated for all you do. Amen. Merrill - Thank you for sharing your ideas. You make a good point in saying, “It is easy to set an expectation of how we want to deal with God in the midst of our suffering versus how we actually will when the pain comes pouring down”. We should remember God loves us unconditionally as the pain pours out and supports each of us to do our best as we move forward without the pain.