Priest Daniel Sysoev - Job 3

 Three friends came to him. They were, according to the Greek text, kings. They came and recognized him from afar. And lifting up their eyes from afar, they did not recognize him; and lifted up their voice and wept; And each one tore his outer garments, and cast the dust over their heads to heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights; and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. 

1After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2And this is what he said:

3“May the day of my birth perish,

and the night it was said,

‘A boy is conceived.’

4If only that day had turned to darkness!

May God above disregard it;

may no light shine upon it.

5May darkness and gloom reclaim it,

and a cloud settle over it;

may the blackness of the day overwhelm it.

6If only darkness had taken that night away!

May it not appear among the days of the year;

may it never be entered in any of the months.

7Behold, may that night be barren;

may no joyful voice come into it.

8May it be cursed by those who curse the daya —

those prepared to rouse Leviathan.

9May its morning stars grow dark;

may it wait in vain for daylight;

may it not see the breaking of dawn.

10For that night did not shut the doors of the womb

to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

Job curses his birthday. Because he sees that a person is born in death. This is not just some kind of despondency, but in a sense a negative experience. Often a person lives without noticing reality, he lives and does not see the world as it really is. The world is much scarier than you see. This is commonly seen. Especially if he is without God. This is a pure truth. One of our contemporaries in 1993 told a story that when he was in his youth, he felt the terrible types of darkness that are in this world. The world is permeated with a terrible depth of black evil, which is hidden at this time. Man only in God can find a way out of this impasse.

I bought and read a book by a modern Muslim who was baptized five years ago. Also a story about a similar experience. Experience the contemplation of fear of the depths of the world, because huge layers of darkness are hidden in them. This is not an illusion, not the result of despair, but on the contrary, an objective understanding of reality. When a person has fallen away from God, terrible depths are revealed. Why? Because a person is a blood, homeless creature. In this terrible state, a person sees that his birthday is a day of unhappiness. Even in ancient religions, birthday is not celebrated. For example, among Christians, we know when he died, but we do not know when he was born. We don't know the birthday, why? This is not some kind of accident. It is no coincidence that there is no birthday of Christ in the Holy Scriptures. Why? Because the joy that is at birth is real. The Lord said that a woman rejoices when a man is born. But this joy is deeply mixed with the deepest darkness in which one enters. After a person is born, he screams and cries. He is not a stupid person in fact, far from stupid. He enters the area of ​​the accursed world, a person feels it, and moreover, the Lord gives many such an experience in adolescence, when a person goes through the sensation of immense blackness. Foolish people begin to turn this experience into an experience of self-pity - poor, unhappy, no one loves me, no one appreciates me, no one respects me. This is actually a perversion of the good experience. Why good? Because a person, having felt the darkness in this world, is a reality, a real evil, monstrous. While a person turns into self-pity, he closes himself off to God.

11Why did I not perish at birth;

why did I not die as I came from the womb?

12Why were there knees to receive me,

and breasts that I should be nursed?

13For now I would be lying down in peace;

I would be asleep and at rest

14with kings and counselors of the earth,

who built for themselves cities now in ruins,

15or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,

like an infant who never sees daylight?

17There the wicked cease from raging,

and there the weary find rest.

18The captives enjoy their ease;

they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

19Both small and great are there,

and the slave is freed from his master.

This feeling of monstrous meaninglessness that exists in this world is accurate and fair. It was only stupid Soviet hymns that said that everything is fine, wonderful, life is good and beautiful. In fact, life without God is monstrous and terrible! She is an evil mockery. The person who felt this, he touched the first of his reality.

Job says that there are days that are not actually days. Do you know? There are empty years, empty centuries, there are damned generations. Do you know about this ?! There is a whole path of the damned. Scary. Those ages in which they departed from God are not. We recently studied the prophecies of the Prophet Daniel, there is an amazing paradox, it is said that half of the families will be offered sacrifices, and for the other half they will make an alliance, open a covenant. 

For God, Israel has no time at all. O! that night - let it be deserted; May no joy enter into her! May those who curse the day, who can awaken the Leviathan, curse her! Who will defeat the great monster? Lord. May he curse this birth night. Damnation means to separate from oneself. The Lord will tell sinners in due time. Likewise, Job, may that night when I was born, she will be separated from me, may she go into the abyss. I don't want to live in this world. This world is alien to me. Do you know who is called the prince of the cosmos? The same great whale that needs to be defeated. He is behind this madness of the world. For this monstrous death that corrupts man. This fear and horror that Job sees is revealed to him. Let the stars of her dawn darken: let her wait for the light, and he does not come, and may she not see the eyelashes of the day.

At the very nuclear funnel there is a man, he is closer to this black abyss. Is it clear why? Because she came out of him, he gave birth to this abyss. Job called the great whale into this abyss. The great whale is the devil.

For him, he sees that the whole world is now more terrible for the living than hell. This is totally amazing. But why? here, in this world, injustice and malice reign. In Greek, the text is even brighter. Look, an interesting moment, what is the brightest holiday celebrated in Russia now? Two of these: the new year and May 9 - the day of the praise of weapons. Yes, it's really great to celebrate that we won. But, thanks to what was the victory possible? War. Was it okay to do without it? So that there were no wars at all ?! Why is hell better than earth? Because hell does not breed disasters. Where are the roots of the monstrous death of curses? In the earth, not in hell, but curses are generated here, here is the center of the cyclone, here is just the place from where the stream of death escapes. The problem is not only that Adam sinned, but also that this sin began to grow, evil began to unwind like a hurricane, a whirlwind that covers more and more. His authority is even stronger now than it was in Job's time. Then people were illiterate, stupid and uneducated, but now there is progress. That which gives rise to death, it ends there, a person reaches insignificance. 

20Why is light given to the miserable,

and life to the bitter of soul,

21who long for death that does not come,

and search for it like hidden treasure,

22who rejoice and greatly exult

when they can find the grave?

23Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

24I sigh when food is put before me,

and my groans pour out like water.

25For the thing I feared has overtaken me,

and what I dreaded has befallen me.

26I am not at ease or quiet; I have no rest, for trouble has come.” 

Here Job says that the worst thing is not sickness, not that there is no food. And the fact that he saw himself in this terrible death, the death of a monstrous death that captured the entire planet. And he sees no way out, God has barred himself from him. God punishes, but cannot break through, cannot break through to him, he is at a dead end. He says he would find a coffin to break free. More monstrous than death, when you turn to God, but he does not hear. The essence of the whirlpool remained the same.

The point is not even outwardly, but in the fact that he saw this black hurricane of death. This experience, which is described here, very many are tempted when they read "Well, how does Job say so." And he really speaks the truth. Communion with God begins with the fact that a person finds the core of the world.

A person is cursed if he despairs, this is the reason for the curse. Many saints have passed through this abyss. Remember, the words of King David: "From the depths lead yourself to the Lord ....", And ponder these words.

When we read the book of Job, we just need to remember an interesting thing that God approved of Job, but said that a certain monster spoke to his friends and said the right things about God. It is thought that when Satan speaks, he is saying rude things. Usually Satan is engaged in theology and tells almost the whole truth. Almost all! For example, when he was talking to Eve in the garden, he almost truthfully said, “You will not die - they were a physical soul; your eyes will open - and you will see how the Gods ”. What happened? Almost told the truth. Only, the only thing, the black whirlwind was turned on, launched, an abyss in which a person does not see God.

Therefore, the church says to read the book of Job during Great Lent. She says the world needed salvation. We often do not understand from what God saved the world, but to understand, we need to see this monstrous hurricane. He embraced the material and non-material world. We need to get rid of the misconception that "we are all going to die" - as some say. The Creator comes when he pleases. A person must go through the process of being cut off from the world in order to find God. Because a person is quite confident in himself, who believes that he is normal, decent, and God, they say, let him not come to me. Then such a person will not find God and God destroys the welfare of such a person. It is not for nothing that God's punishments fall on decent people. Do you understand why? They are self-confident, they think that everything is fine with them.