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The Wisdom and Providence of the LORD in Animate Creation

Chapter 38:39-40:5

God continued His series of questions, exposing the limited knowledge of Job about wild animals and how they live and survive without the interference of man, only by divine providence.

God gave examples of animals which, at that time, were known in the part of the world where Job lived. In the course of the millennia since this was written, some are no longer found in the Middle East, like lions and ostriches, but all have survived in Africa and some in the Far East.

Survival of the young:

• Young lions: lion cubs are unable to defend themselves against larger predators, and after weaning they have to be fed meat. The lioness instinctively hides them away when she goes hunting in order to bring them their meals.

• The young of the ravens: their nest is crudely made of coarse sticks, usually lined with hair or shredded bark, and is a bulky structure up to 1.5 m (5 feet) in diameter that may be built on a cliff or the top of a large tree. The chicks depend entirely on their parents for instinctively feeding them. If they move out of their nest they will certainly die from the fall or from being eaten by other animals.

• The young of wild goats and deer: these animals depend on speed and rock climbing skills to escape from their predators. They give birth to their young in herds, all in the herd virtually at the same time for better protection, and the young ones are quickly able to stand up, climb and run away with their parents.

Survival of domestic animals in the wild:

• The wild donkey: called the onager, it was in ancient times tamed and trained for work. It now often inhabits very arid regions that cannot support other large mammals.

• The wild ox: some still exist in the wild state in Asia and Africa, and will resist any attempts at domestication.

• Survival of a stupid bird: the ostrich is a flightless species of bird which became extinct in the Middle East in 1941 but is still found in Africa and is bred for its meat in other places. It is not well suited for training and tires easily. It relies on its strong legs to escape its enemies, achieving a speed of 65 km per hour (40 miles per hour). Its nest is scraped in the ground, and the chicks hatch in about 40 days, being able to keep up with running adults when a month old. To escape detection, chicks as well as adults may lie on the ground with neck outstretched, a habit that may have given rise to the legend that the ostrich buries its head in the sand when danger threatens.

• The strength and fearlessness of the horse: before the advent of mechanised vehicles, the horse was widely used as a draft animal and riding on horseback was one of the chief means of transportation. It was also used to great advantage in battle, because of its speed, power and fearlessness, bringing terror to troops on foot. Yet it is a herbivore, a class of usually timid animals who run away to protect themselves.

• The wisdom of birds of prey: hawks and eagles are similar in most ways, but they hunt differently. Hawks are fast, low-flying birds of great manoeuvrability and they usually hunt their prey by raking, or swiftly following the animal's efforts to escape. Eagles are too ponderous for effective aerial pursuit but try to surprise and overwhelm their prey on the ground. Because of their strength, eagles have been a symbol of war and of imperial power since Babylonian times. Contrary to the stupid ostrich, birds of prey make their nests high up on cliffs, where their young are protected and from where the parents can use their exceptionally sharp eyes to look for prey, which they pursue and kill, and bring over for the young to eat.

The LORD had proved to Job, by means of all these questions, that He is the wise Creator, He determined the laws of nature, and He makes them work so as to sustain His creation. Without the LORD, nature would not exist, nothing would happen, there would be chaos at best. If there were no Sustainer, all would come to a dead standstill.

God now stopped to ask Job if he was up to answering these questions, which had been asked because Job presumed to contend, rebuke or correct Him. In his earlier discourses Job had said that he would maintain his integrity regardless of what happened. He had declared that he was a righteous man and that therefore there must be something wrong with God's judgement to let this happen to him.

We should also ask ourselves if we presume to contend with or to accuse our Almighty God. Do we demand answers when things don't go our way, when we meet with adversity, when someone close to us is ill or dies, or finances are tight, or we fail, or unexpected changes occur?

The next time we are tempted to complain of God, let us consider how immensely wiser, more knowledgeable and righteous He is. And, above all, how much He has already proved that He loves us, by freely providing us a means of being justified for our sins simply by faith in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Job was wise and humble enough to admit that he ought to have kept quiet, because he now realised that he was nothing, a nobody. Job's inability answer made him see how short he was in wisdom and understanding.

This appearance of the LORD to Job had a threefold effect upon him:

1. his relationship with God: he must submit to God's infinite wisdom and knowledge, before which he was nothing.

2. his relationship with himself: he had a very high opinion of his own righteousness and wisdom, and considered he had been treated unjustly and deserved something much better. He now realised that from God's perspective he was a nobody.

3. his relationship with his friends: he had spoken to them in a superior manner, boasting of his good works and qualities. He now realised that he and they were all equally ignorant of the great works of God.

He now acknowledged to the LORD that he had spoken without knowledge. His words were without wisdom. Now he wished that he had kept his mouth shut. He became suddenly silent: he laid his hand over his mouth.

Let us remember Job's reaction when he had his chance to speak. Are we worse off than Job or more righteous than he? We must give God the opportunity to reveal his greater purposes for us, remembering that they will unfold over the course of our life and not necessarily when we expect them or at the time we think it most convenient.

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 38

39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they crouch in their dens, or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?
41 Who provides food for the raven, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

Chapter 39
1 "Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfil? Or do you know the time when they bear young?
3 They bow down, they bring forth their young, they deliver their offspring.
4 Their young ones are healthy, they grow strong with grain; they depart and do not return to them.
5 "Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager,
Whose home I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwelling?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city; he does not heed the shouts of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing.
9 "Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger?
10 Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you?
11 Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labour to him?
12 Will you trust him to bring home your grain, and gather it to your threshing floor?
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork's?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and warms them in the dust;
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or that a wild beast may break them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without concern,
17 Because God deprived her of wisdom, and did not endow her with understanding.
18 When she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and its rider.
19 "Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror.
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; he gallops into the clash of arms.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; nor does he turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him, the glittering spear and javelin.
24 He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
25 At the blast of the trumpet he says, 'Ha!' he smells the battle from afar, the thunder of captains and shouting.
26 "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, snd spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command, snd make its nest on high?
28 On the rocks it dwells and resides, on the crag of the rock and the stronghold.
29 From there it spies out the prey; its eyes observe from afar.
30 Its young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there it is."

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