Esther 3
Job Chapter 3 is an important turning point in the story of Job. It depicts Job breaking his silence amid suffering and, for the first time, expressing his feelings. In the first half (verses 1–10), Job curses the day he was born and laments, “If only that day had not come.” In the following section (verses 11–26), he continues with the anguish of wishing he had never been born, and with deep despair about why such pain was given to his life.
1verseAfter these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2verseAll the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.
3verseThen the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”
4verseNow it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5verseWhen Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.
6verseBut he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.
7verseIn the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
8verseHaman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain.
9verseIf it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”
10verseThe king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.
11verseThe king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”
12verseThen the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring.
13verseLetters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions.
14verseA copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day.
15verseThe couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.
Explanation of the Main Flow
Job’s confession can be divided into three parts. First, by cursing his birth date, Job expresses intense pain that seems to deny his very existence (verses 1–10). Second, a longing for death comes to the surface; he emphasizes that accepting death brings peace—the end of suffering (verses 11–19). Third, he asks why life is given to the one who suffers, and pours out, honestly, his despair of not finding meaning in his suffering (verses 20–26). Job’s outpouring shows that even people of faith can experience deep despair in the reality of extreme hardship.
The Overall Meaning of the Passage
This chapter shows well how great the sadness and suffering people can feel when they are caught in suffering that cannot be explained—not because Job has committed sin. Rather than protesting or complaining directly to God, Job’s confession is filled with sadness about his life and questions about the meaning of his existence. Job Chapter 3 makes us think that human limits and weakness, and the honest expression of one’s feelings before God, are by no means wrong in faith.
Meditation Points
- Do you acknowledge that even during your life of faith, you can come to genuinely express lamentations and ask questions in the face of suffering you cannot understand?
- Have you ever experienced the act of honestly bringing your feelings and pain before God, rather than hiding them like Job?
- How can you accept that Job’s lamentation may not be a break in trust, but rather a process of coming before God?
Try Applying It to Me
- If I have any pain or difficulties in my life right now that cannot be explained, can I, like Job, open my heart honestly to God
- and, instead of trying to force myself to find meaning in suffering, can I have the courage to bring even my sadness and weakness into the place of prayer
- or, without judging or deciding too quickly based on the pain of people around me, can I build a heart that can grieve together and encourage them
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