Page 74 - Reading Job to Know God

innermost spirit. His voice did not represent his soul. He was not able to
express the depths of his heart. Their answers never reached the real him.
They did not go down deep enough. His trials went beyond their
philosophies, and chapter 3 shows you the depths from which Job was
really crying out.

You see, it is in this way that man’s answers to the riddles of life are
futile. They are shallow; they are surface; they chop off weeds on the
surface but leave the roots. These friends of Job never got to the deep
wounds of Job. Their answers are good. Their answers are true, and in a
few cases they are right on, but they could not satisfy. Because the real
issue in Job’s heart was bigger than, why do people suffer? That is what
they were answering. But Job was crying for something deeper. He
wanted the answers to life.

When you see chapter 3 and its spiritual significance, then I think you will
see automatically the utter folly of the debates that follow. They were
stupid to the nth degree. Let me give you a simple outline that we will
follow as we look at chapter 3. First of all, I want to look at this chapter
on the level of earth. In this chapter, Job gives two illustrations. Then I
want to go behind the scenes and show you the principles that are
underneath his illustrations, show you the level of heaven and what he is
really saying.

All right, Job chapter 3, on the level of earth. There are two illustrations in
this chapter. The first is Job’s birthday. At the top of my Bible in bold
print (New American Standard) the translator summarized this chapter in
these words: “Job bewails his birth”. The second illustration is in verse
8 “Let those curse it who curse the day, who are prepared to rouse
Leviathan.” It was not enough that Job cursed his birthday. He wanted
professional cursors to help him. Enchanters or magicians. People whose
business it was to curse. “Help me curse my birthday”. Those who are
daring enough to rouse Leviathan. Like those magicians of Egypt who
brought up snakes and frogs. That is what he is talking about. So the two
illustrations are his birthday and Leviathan the crocodile.
Let me discuss these for a moment on the level of earth. Then we will take
it to heaven. There is no question about it that Job is not happy in this
chapter about his birthday. Here is the outline of the chapter. Verses 1
through 10 he said, I wish I was never even conceived. He is very logical
the way he does it. First he curses the night he was conceived and the day
he was born, together, and then he takes them apart and does it separately.
He curses the day, and then he curses the night. He says I am not happy. I
wish I was never conceived, and I wish I was never born. That is the first
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