Job 38 and 39
Job had thought that God did not care for him in his troubles; He believed God’s great power in all He had created, and should have trusted that such a One cared for people. Yet Job did not truly learn God’s goodness until he heard what was more wonderful than the wonders of the earth: that was the voice of the Lord speaking directly to him from a whirlwind. Surely God showed His care to Job, to speak Himself to him! We too now may reverently read those words written in our language.
The Lord spoke to Job mostly in questions, which even so wise and good a man as Job that instead of being great, he was helpless without the Lord. Those questions were about the earth, the clouds, the sea, light, of death, of rain, snow, frost, and ice, and about the groups of the stars, which are still called by that same names. Was Job, or is any person now wise enough to explain or change those things? No, surely not. The Lord asked,
“Canst thou send lightnings, the they may go, and say unto thee, “Here we are?” “Who hath given understanding to the heart?” Chapter 38:35,36.
Even Job’s ability to know was from God. The next questions were if Job could give care and food to all the hungry wild animals and birds, as the young lions or the young ravens, which seem always so eager for food. If Job would try to answer these questions, he could only say it was God who had given the wild animals and the birds their instinct to take care of themselves and to hunt their food, with He had made grow.
The Lord spoke of one animal, the spoke of one animal, the unicorn, which is not now known, but which seems to have been a strong fierce wild ox, with great horns. It could not be tamed to eat a grain crib, or to plow a field. It is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, so we know it once lived in Asia, (Psa. 29:66He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. (Psalm 29:6); Deut. 33:1717His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh. (Deuteronomy 33:17)).
The Lord spoke of the largest of birds, the ostrich, and its beautiful plumes. These still live wild in desert lands, and also are kept on farms in warm. countries. They have the same habits now as those God told Job. A grown ostrich may weigh as much as 100 pounds, yet, it is a timid bird, and runs in fear at any noise, leaving its eggs in the sand to be carried off by animals or men, and not watching over its young ones, because God has not given it the instinct to care for its young as He has to other birds. The ostrich cannot fly but raises its short wings which help it to move swiftly, and its legs are so strong that it can outrun a fast horse. So the Lord said, “It scorneth the horse and its rider.”
The Lord spoke much about the horse, which seems at that time to have been used mostly in battle, because of its strength and swiftness, and because it can be so well trained to do as its rider wishes, without fear. Horses are still trained for the dreadful cause of war. Who gave the horse its intelligence and strength?
ML 06/09/1940