Job's Grief

To Job it seemed incongruous that people like himself who are physically miserable and inwardly bitter are “given” life (cf. v. 23) when they really don’t want it. The Hebrew word for “misery” is related to the noun for “trouble” (v. 10

Intense suffering negates all the meaning of life, underlining the fact that both suffering and death are horrible effects from the fall (Gen. 3:19). An answer comes only with the meaningful sufferings of Christ (Phil. 3:10) and his resurrection from the dead, which is the beginning of the end to all suffering (Rev. 21:4).

3:23 In his accusation, Satan argued that Job was upright only because God had put a “hedge” of blessing around him (1:10). Here in the opening lament of the dialogues, Job refers to his sustained life amid inscrutable circumstances of suffering as rendering him one whom God has hedged in. Satan’s contention is disproved through Job’s continued faithfulness. Job’s overall lament of his situation is something which God both reproves (see chs. 38–41) and commends (42:7).

3:23 God has fenced him in all around Job feels like God has surrounded him with suffering and turmoil, leaving him with no escape (19:7–12). This phrasing is an ironic twist of the satan figure’s words in 1:10, where he accuses God of putting a wall of protection around Job (compare note on 1:6).

But pain makes us forget the joys of the past; instead, we concentrate on the hopelessness of the future.

The voice of the sufferer (Job 3:1–26). After seven days of silent suffering, Job spoke, not to curse God but to curse the day of his birth. “Why was I ever born?” has been sobbed by more than one hurting child of God, including the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 20:14–18). This is not quite the same as saying, “I wish I were dead”; though Job did express that desire more than once (Job 6:9; 7:15–16; 14:13). At no time did Job speak of ending his own life. Job’s “birthday lament” is not a defense of suicide or so-called “mercy killing.” It is the declaration of a man whose suffering was so intense that he wished he had never been born.

Outline

I. Prologue: Job’s Character and the Circumstances of His Test (1:1–2:13)

A. The integrity of Job (1:1–5)

B. The first test (1:6–22)

1. The challenge in heaven (1:6–12)

2. The loss of family and possessions (1:13–19)

3. Job’s confession and confidence (1:20–22)

C. The second test (2:1–10)

1. The challenge in heaven (2:1–6)

2. Job’s affliction and confession (2:7–10)

3. Job’s comforters (2:11–13)

II. Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God (3:1–42:6)

A. Job: despair for the day of his birth (3:1–26)

1. Introduction (3:1–2)

2. Job curses his birth (3:3–10)

3. Job longs for rest (3:11–19)

4. Job laments his suffering (3:20–26)

B. The friends and Job: can Job be right before God? (4:1–25:6)

1. First cycle (4:1–14:22)

a. Eliphaz: can mortal man be in the right before God? (4:1–5:27)

b. Job: life is futile (6:1–7:21)

c. Bildad: the wisdom of the sages (8:1–22)

d. Job: how can a mortal be just before God? (9:1–10:22)

e. Zophar: repent (11:1–20)

f. Job: a challenge to the “wisdom” of his friends (12:1–14:22)

2. Second cycle (15:1–21:34)

a. Eliphaz: Job’s words condemn him (15:1–35)

b. Job: hope for a sufferer (16:1–17:16)

c. Bildad: punishment for the wicked (18:1–21)

d. Job: my Redeemer lives (19:1–29)

e. Zophar: the wicked will die (20:1–29)

f. Job: the wicked prosper (21:1–34)

3. Third cycle (22:1–25:6)

a. Eliphaz: Job is guilty (22:1–30)

b. Job: God is hidden (23:1–24:25)

c. Bildad: an unanswered question (25:1–6)

C. Job: the power of God, place of wisdom, and path of integrity (26:1–31:40)

1. The mystery and majesty of God’s ways (26:1–14)

2. A claim to integrity and a wish for vindication (27:1–23)

3. Where is wisdom found? (28:1–28)

4. The path of Job’s life (29:1–31:40)

D. Elihu: suffering as a discipline (32:1–37:24)

1. Introduction: Elihu and his anger (32:1–5)

2. The voice of youth (32:6–22)

3. An arbiter for Job (33:1–33)

4. An appeal to the wise (34:1–37)

5. What right does Job have before God? (35:1–16)

6. The mercy and majesty of God (36:1–37:24)

E. Challenge: the Lord answers Job (38:1–42:6)

1. The first challenge: understanding the universe (38:1–40:2)

2. Job’s response: silence (40:3–5)

3. The second challenge: understanding justice and power (40:6–41:34)

4. Job’s response: submission (42:1–6)

III. Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job (42:7–17)

A. The Lord rebukes the three friends (42:7–9)

B. The Lord restores Job (42:10–17)