GOD GAVE THE ANIMALS THEIR INSTINCTS ACCORDING TO HIS SOVEREIGN PURPOSES

I hope you are enjoying meditating on the thoughts prompted by God’s continued questioning of Job. I love thoughts that remind me of just how awesome my God is. We take so much for granted! It only makes my faith stronger as I navigate through this life and look forward to my future in His presence. Continuing our meditation with Job…

Job 39:13–18 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding. When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider.”

The ostrich is certainly an interesting creature. It seems that God is taking delight in sharing with Job how the ostrich reflects His sovereignty over each creature. The ostrich has wings like a bird, but cannot fly. Unlike most birds, she is not careful with her eggs; in fact, they travel in herds and put all their eggs in one nest; the eggs are then basically left primarily to the care of the dominant male and female of the herd. Brian Bertram, author of The Ostrich Communal Nesting System (1992), reported that only 5 of 57 nests that he studied produced surviving hatchlings and that most eggs fell prey to predators.

Adam Clarke’s Commentary includes a couple of interesting quotes: 1) “Mr. Jackson, in his Account of Morocco, observes: "The ostrich, having laid her eggs, goes away, forgetting or forsaking them: and if some other ostrich discover them, she hatches them as if they were her own, forgetting probably whether they are or are not; so deficient is the recollection of this bird." 2) "Xenophon says, Cyrus had horses that could overtake the goat and the wild ass; but none that could reach this creature. A thousand golden ducats, or a hundred camels, was the stated price of a horse that could equal their speed."

God explains these actions to Job as unique to how He created them; God chose to deprive her of wisdom and understanding according to His purposes. On the other hand, He chose to enable ostriches to run so fast that they can outrun a horse. They can sprint up to 43 mph and run for distance at 31 mph (per National Geographic). The point seems to be that this creature again emphasizes the sovereignty of God over His creation and man’s limited ability to understand God’s reasoning through His actions.

Having described the horse’s speed as unequal to the ostrich, God turns Job's focus to the strengths of the horse.

Job 39:19–25 “Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded. At the blast of the trumpet he says, “Aha!’ He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting.”

The Lord resumes a questioning format in reference to an animal with which Job should be familiar. Could Job take credit for giving the horse its strength and courage? Some translations are worded so as to compare the leaping ability of the horse to that of the locust. The horse is unafraid as he carries his rider into battle though he is confronted with sword, spear and javelin. The horse responds to the commands of his master without being frightened by the sound of trumpets or the shouting of men. That same courage would prove to hold true even when confronted with the invention of guns and cannons. It would seem to any observer that the horse relished the battle.

I am sure Job was feeling smaller and smaller as he considered his thoughts regarding his circumstances in light of the sovereignty and power of Almighty God, His Creator. From the horse God directs Job’s attention to the hawk and eagle, the great birds of prey.

Job 39:26–30 “Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your command, And make its nest on high? On the rock it dwells and resides, On the crag of the rock and the stronghold. From there it spies out the prey; Its eyes observe from afar. Its young ones suck up blood; And where the slain are, there it is.”

Could Job take credit for designing the hawk or the eagle to fly at such height and such speeds? Did he give them the inner compass to control their migration senses and patterns? Could he direct these birds with the command of his voice? Did he give them the ability to make their nests at such heights in the mountains? Obviously, Job could not—but God can and did.

Hawks are slightly smaller than eagles. These birds have amazing vision with a range of 1 to 1.5 miles; eagles can spot fish from hundreds of feet in the air. Pound for pound the eagle’s wings are stronger than an airplane’s according to www.answers.com.

Obviously, the Creator of such a creature has power and authority far beyond human understanding. At this point the Lord stops His questioning and to allows Job to respond.

Job 40:1–5 “Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said: “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” Then Job answered the LORD and said: “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

After reeling off so many questions that reflect His power and man’s feebleness, YHWH, the self-existent, eternal God, our Creator, basically asks Job how he would correct or rebuke God for His actions. Frankly, I am surprised that Job could speak at all. I think I would have been a cowering blob of jello. Job admits that he is vile—of no estimation, completely insignificant, totally contemptible. He admits that he has no answer—in fact, he has already said way too much! Though he still did not understand the why of his circumstances, Job now understood that he had no right to question God concerning those circumstances.

But God is not quite finished instructing Job. In the next post we will begin the next round of questioning.