Job Curses the Day of His Birth (Job 3:1–26)

 

Job Curses the Day of His Birth (Job 3:1–26)

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

Scripture was written for people, and especially given as the truth that saves those who are in suffering. Job lost all his possessions, his children, and his health, yet he did not blame God (Job 1:22; 2:10). He confessed that God gives blessings and He also allows trouble. Job 3 expresses, in poetic language, the thoughts and emotions of his heart in unbearable pain. He cursed the day he was born and wished he could die.

Job Curses the Day of His Birth

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.” (Job 3:1–6)

Job, in his suffering, cursed his own birthday. He thought that if he had never been born, he would not have had to endure such grief and devastation. He went even further and said that he wished he had never been conceived. Job did not accuse God. Instead, he cried out because he could no longer bear his situation. Is this wrong? No. Many Psalms pour out deep anguish and distress:

“My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” (Psalm 22:2)

“My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:3)

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalm 13:1–2)

“Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.” (Psalm 38:3)

Of course, these are all from the beginning portions of the Psalms. Later in each psalm we see the writers turning to praise God’s help and His unfailing love.

We respond to pain and suffering. We cry, groan, and hurt. We lament and even express our struggles with our bodies and our words. Language is the way our thoughts and feelings come out. God made people in His image and His likeness, and one aspect of His image is communication through language.

Jesus also expressed His emotions. When He saw people trapped under the power of death and unaware of the power of the resurrection, He was moved and wept (John 11:34–35). Most of all, Jesus proclaimed truth with a gracious voice, rebuked when necessary, and even showed righteous anger. He did this to rescue people trapped in ignorance and darkness. Whoever hears His words and believes receives the gift of salvation.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24)

However, Job’s words contain an error. Conception, birth, and death are not in human control. They belong entirely to God’s sovereign rule. God created all things and said that it was good. This means everything He made was accomplished according to His will and plan. God never regrets what He has done.

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29)

Salvation also does not depend on the hands of people. By God’s sovereign grace we come into the salvation He gives. God desires all people—regardless of race, culture, or circumstance—to come to salvation. For this purpose He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world and placed on Him the sins of all. God sacrificed His Son, offered the grace of Christ’s blood, and draws people to come to Him. Anyone who responds to God’s love receives forgiveness through the blood of Christ and receives eternal life as a gift (John 3:16).

My Eyes Have Seen Trouble

“May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that night, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.” (Job 3:7-10)

Those who “curse days” refer to sailors in ancient myths. Leviathan means a sea monster or dragon, and it represents Satan (Job 41:1; Isaiah 27:1; Psalm 74:13–14). In myths, sailors believed Leviathan stirred up storms, so they cursed him with all their strength. In the same way, Job wished the day of his birth would be cursed.

Job said that if he had never been born, he would never have seen all this suffering. Is that true? It is true that a person who never exists has no pain. But we do not have the power to decide our own existence or death. So Job’s thought cannot stand. This simply shows how unbearable his pain was.

Job’s mistake is often ours. When facing unbearable suffering, we also think, “It would have been better if I had never been born.” Or we look at others who seem to live comfortably and wonder why we alone suffer.

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:2–3)

If I Had Died, I Would Be at Rest

 “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?” (Job 3:11-16)

Job lamented that he did not die at birth. If he had died, he believed he would be lying in peace, resting with kings and rulers, and would be like a stillborn child who never saw the light and did not exist. There is much we do not know about what happens right after death—especially for infants who die at birth. But one thing is clear: human existence does not end with death.

We do not remain asleep after death. All people will rise again. Those redeemed by Christ will be changed “in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:51), receiving a resurrection body that never decays (2 Corinthians 5:1–4). But those who do not believe will rise to face God’s eternal judgment (John 5:29).

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)

Why Give Light to Those Who Suffer?

“There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners. Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (Job 3:17-26)

Job said that because of his suffering, he sighed even in front of food. He had no peace, no quietness, no rest—only trouble. He wanted to die but could not. Yet he believed that if he died, he would rejoice when reaching the grave. When people face deep suffering, they often feel exactly as Job did.

But death is not the solution that ends everything. “People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). God judges each one according to what they have done. For the wicked, there is trouble, distress, and the punishment of hell. But those who do good may suffer briefly in this world, yet they will receive rest, peace, and the glorious reward of heaven (Romans 2:6–8).

Today is Thanksgiving. The life, peace, and rest we enjoy come entirely from God’s grace. So we offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, because through Christ’s blood all our sins are forgiven, and we now share in the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.

With this hope, we daily receive the life God gives as we “eat his flesh and drink his blood” (John 6:53)—meaning we follow the way of Christ’s cross. The cross of Christ is the only path leading to resurrection life. Remembering and holding to this truth confirms that we now belong to God the Father and to Jesus Christ as His children.

Amen!

November 23, 2025

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