Scripture Text: Job 3:1-7:21
Memory Verse: “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.”—Job 3:25-26 (NKJV)
Introduction:
Evidently Job has suffered for a long, though undetermined, time. Now there is a change in Job’s attitude. Though he does not curse God, Job’s previous words of patience and trust are not evident. He clearly expresses his deepest, innermost feelings that it would have been better if he had never been born. He argues that he would not have suffered so much had he not been conceived, had he died at birth, or had he died immediately when his trouble began. Job not only views death as a deliverance from misery, but he also implies that never being born is better than being forsaken by the Lord.
Eliphaz, perhaps the oldest or the most respected of Job’s friends, is evidently shocked by Job’s words. Eliphaz says in effect, that since people suffer for wickedness, it must be that Job has sinned. He challenges Job to summon men or angels to disprove that sin is followed by judgment. Eliphaz observes the unalterable link between wickedness and punishment. Trouble is never causeless. Man, being sinful, is destined to trouble, as sure as the sparks fly upward. By submitting to the chastening of the Almighty, says Eliphaz, people experience divine deliverance from famine, war slander, civil strife, peril, drought, wild beasts, and crop damage. They enjoy domestic peace, security, fruitfulness, and longevity.
Job responds to Eliphaz by admitting his words have been rash, but there is a reason. Job protests that he would not complain so bitterly without cause. He wishes he could die because he has no strength to endure and no hope for the future. Prolonging life is useless.
Now Job addresses the Lord directly. He asks the Lord why He should pay so much attention to an insignificant human being, hemming him in, terrifying him with nightmares, until he would rather be strangled. Is man so great that God should cause him to suffer continually? Even if Job had sinned, is there no pardon, since he is going to die soon anyway?
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- Job began to curse the day of his birth and his miserable existence, but he did not curse God. Explain the difference. (Job 3:1-19; Matthew 27:46; Jeremiah 20:14-18; Lamentations 3:1-18)
- Job asks the question “Why?” seven times in this monologue. “Why?” is an easy question to ask but a very difficult one to answer. Suppose God had told Job the reasons behind his troubles. Would that have solved his problems? (Job 3:20-26)
- Explain what was defective about Eliphaz’s theology and viewpoint. (Job 4:1-21)
- Eliphaz tells Job that he should actually rejoice in this discipline from the Lord, since repentance brings restoration. What was it that Eliphaz considered Job had done? Is there any other purpose in discipline than to bring about repentance? (Hebrews 12:5-11; Proverbs 3:11-12)
Applying the Word
Job recognized that his suffering ultimately came with God’s knowledge and permission. Looking at Job’s experience and what the Bible says, what promises do we have of God bringing us though victorious? (Romans 8:35-39; James 5:11; 1 Peter 5:10)