Lenten Study of Job Ch 39
God expands on the things Job doesn’t understand. He points out many categories of things God knows that human beings do not. His point? God is reminding Job how little he knows about the world. We would do well to think not in terms of what Job didn’t know but what modern man still doesn’t know.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Caption
1 “Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
2 “Can you count the months they fulfill Or do you know the time they give birth?
3 “They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains.
4 “Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.
Job 39:1-4 (NASB)
The animals are all wild in this instance. God asks Job if he knows what the wild animals do out in the wilderness? Obviously, Job does not.
5 “Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place?
7 “He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.
8 “He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing.
Job 39:5-8 (NASB)
“The swift donkey” is one that escaped its pen and became a feral donkey out in the wild. God is the one who decreed where those donkeys would roam. The same can be said of the wild donkey. It is God’s decision where they can go or not go.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger?
10 “Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you?
11 “Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him?
12 “Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain And gather it from your threshing floor?
Job 39:9-12 (NASB)
Wild animals verse domesticated animals are very different. The wild animal has instincts that must be bred out of them. The domesticated animal is simply docile.
13 “The ostriches’ wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love,
14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust,
15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them.
16 “She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned;
17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding.
Job 39:13-17 (NASB)
The ostrich implies that this is how the wicked are with their disdain for God’s ways. I’m not sure how ostriches mate or what they do with their eggs, but God states that they are very unwise there.
18 “When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.
19 “Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
20 “Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible.
21 “He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons.
22 “He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword.
23 “The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin.
24 “With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.
Job 39:18-24 (NASB)
For centuries the horse was the most dangerous weapon of war on the field of battle. A heavily armored knight mounted on a horse armored with heavy barding was nearly unstoppable. Until William Wallace’s day and a while beyond, no army ever stopped a charge of mounted heavy cavalry. Owning a horse was a symbol of stature and position. The horse itself symbolized power, prowess in battle, and success. For these reasons, God uses the horse to describe how His children behave when they are walking in His ways under His protection because they are doing what is right.
25 “As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.
Job 39:25 (NASB)
Trumpets and bugles, brass wind instruments, have long been used as signaling tools to call soldiers to battle. The horse and rider were confident when called to war because they were well trained, knew what they were about, and experienced success on the battlefield. The message that they were needed to go to war was not news to be dismayed about because they knew the one who called them did not call them to a fruitless enterprise.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
27 “Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high?
28 “On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.
29 “From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar.
30 “His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.”
Job 39:26-30 (NASB)
Until the Wright Brothers, human beings believed manned flight was impossible. Impossible. Not difficult, hard, or unknown, impossible as in not achievable. At Kittyhawk on December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville proved that what was previously thought to be the prevue of the birds became open to mankind as well. Within seventy years, a man walked on the moon—another impossible event. Yet even with our advances in science, there is still a lot we aren’t capable of that still remains as the prevue reserved only for God. What impossible thing will God teach mankind to do next?