Job Study 4

FML

FORGET MY LIFE

Who can tell me what we talked about last week? Skin for skin/Ice Cream Crime/Correlation vs. Causation—> How we should/shouldn’t treat people when they are going through a tough time

What was the bad way that Job’s wife reacted?

What was the good way that Job’s friends reacted?

Well, today, we are going to see what happens after that seven day period that Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite spend sitting silently with their friend.

But before we do, who can tell me all that our boy Joby has been through already up to this point?

Raided by Sabeans

Farm burnt by lightning

Raided by Chaldeans

Kids killed by great wind

Covered in boils

Wife tells him to curse God and die

Friends come and sit with him

Today, we are finally going to see some cracks open up in Job’s character in response to all of this evil that he’s faced

and it’s not going to be pretty!

He might not have listened when his wife told him to curse God

But we’re about to see that Job isn’t above cursing entirely!

But I want each of you to try and remember what Job has been through to lead him to speak this way

And I want each of you to try and think of a one or two word way to describe Job’s attitude during this speech.

Job 3:1–10 ESV

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.

So, how would you describe Job’s speech? Lament...

What do you think that Job means when he “curses” the day he was born? he wishes he was never born, he wishes he was never conceived

This is an interesting point on the word used for curse here:

The Hebrew word for curse here (qa-hal) can actually mean “treat lightly/view with contempt/spurn”

It’s actually in this sense kind of the opposite of honor, which implies “weight/worth”

Does anyone where have a Bible with a verse 4 that’s different from mine?

New International Version (2011) Chapter 3

4 That day—may it turn to darkness;

may God above not care about it;

may no light shine on it.

The NIV actually brings this into the way they translate it!

What do you think the difference is between “May God above not seek it” and “may God above not care about it”?

Point here: Job is actually sort of saying FML here, isn’t he? He’s saying that he hates his life and he wishes that God would’ve never let him be born.

So what do we think about Job’s response here, considering everything we know? Might seem justified, might not. Maybe some kids have felt this way before themselves...

Well, Job goes on to expand on this thought as his speech continues...

He wishes he would’ve died in birth

And he says this about the afterlife...

Job 3:17–19 ESV

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.

Does this sound like heaven or hell that Job is speaking of? It sounds like neither! Sheol was the ancient Hebrew concept for the afterlife, and it was where everyone went when they died, whether righteous or wicked!

Here Job is deeply lamenting the uneven treatment that he is receiving

Instead of being a good dude receiving horrible treatment, he could just be a dead dude receiving dead dude treatment just like all the other dead dudes...

Do you understand why Job is acting this way?

How do you think his friends might see this response?

Well, Job goes on to finish his speech like this:

Job 3:20–26 ESV

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 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.”

In these last three verses, Job:

says that grief has become like his food and drink

confesses his deepest fear has come true (think about the sacrifices)

traded 3 good things for 1 bad

I want you guys to remember what I asked about Job’s wife last week and apply that question to Job here:

Is Job correct in what he is saying now? why or why not?

Has Job dishonored God? why or why not?

How do you think that Job’s friends should react now?

I’m not going to answer these questions

But I will finish with these big points:

You might be able to relate to Job’s suffering and the sentiment he’s expressing here.

God understands where you are at, and he’s given us works like Job and the Lament Psalms so that you can feel less alone in times of turmoil.

You might really be going through suffering that you don’t deserve right now.

Life might feel like it would be easier if you were dead...

But do not treat your life with contempt.

Do not forget that you were made for a great purpose

Do not curse God for making you, your story is not over yet!