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Read Job 39

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
    Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
Do you count the months till they bear?
    Do you know the time they give birth?
They crouch down and bring forth their young;
    their labor pains are ended.
Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
    they leave and do not return.

“Who let the wild donkey go free?
    Who untied its ropes?
I gave it the wasteland as its home,
    the salt flats as its habitat.
It laughs at the commotion in the town;
    it does not hear a driver’s shout.
It ranges the hills for its pasture
    and searches for any green thing.

“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
    Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
    Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
    Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
    and bring it to your threshing floor?

13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
    though they cannot compare
    with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
    and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
    that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
    she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
    or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
    she laughs at horse and rider.

19 “Do you give the horse its strength
    or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
    striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
    and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
    it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
    along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
    it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
    It catches the scent of battle from afar,
    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
    and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
    and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
    a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
    its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
    and where the slain are, there it is.”

Go Deeper

Job 39 is a continuation of what began the chapter before. God is on the scene and is asking Job question after question, showing more and more just how intricately God is involved in every detail of creation. It can be easy to forget God’s supremacy and the wonders of His creation when we constantly surround ourselves with nothing but our own creations such as houses, buildings, appliances, cars, and technology. Even though we are always surrounded by God‘s creation, sometimes it takes us stepping away from our own creations to be able to see and appreciate what our Creator has done. Sometimes this can be a retreat into the wilderness, a walk around the block, or simply slowing down and purposefully focusing on parts of God’s creation that we miss going through life at normal speed.

When we take this retreat, it can be truly humbling. Nature is full of incredible design that leading scientists today still cannot replicate and at best can partially mimic. In comparison, of the stuff we own, we don’t understand how most of it is made or how it functions. Yet, we have a Creator that knows all of His creation; and it is this same Creator that we presume to be able to reason out His thoughts and wisdom. This is one of the points God is making in the passage of Job 39. Instead of challenging and deciphering, we should be humbly trusting and walking steadfastly in His embrace. If we believe that He designed the seasons of the world and the imaginative human brain with its intricacies, He can be trusted to know our purpose and know what’s best for us far greater than any person we know; and if we believe this same Creator led His Son to die on the cross to bring us closer to Him, He is not just a capable and brilliant leader but trustworthy beyond what we deserve!

Let us take the time to encounter the magnificence of our Lord by stepping away from our hubris and the possessions of our design so that we can approach Him the appropriate way, not as equals but as a creation to its Creator. Then, God will be able to appropriately do work in our hearts. Let us find our Savior in that moment and seek Him out this way daily so that we can step-by-step merge our paths with His will.

Questions

  1. What makes you appreciate God’s supremacy and stand in awe of His Creation? Plan a way to have this part of your walk with God whether it be daily, weekly, monthly.
  2. Do you share with other believers what brings you to love God or stand in awe of Him? Consider doing this to encourage other believers in finding ways how they may pursue God.
  3. It can be easy to question aspects of God’s plan in our lives or the world around us. Is there something that you have questioned about God’s plan? Have you discussed this within your closest community of believers?

Watch This

To better appreciate God’s creation, watch this short video.

Help Us Brainstorm

We are trying to figure out what would make the BRP’s Rest Day (Sunday) entries more helpful and engaging. Maybe it’s a video, a podcast, a personal reflection…the options are endless!

Do you have an idea? If so, e-mail us at jgreen@harriscreek.org. Thanks for helping us think!

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3 thoughts on “Job 39”

  1. Job was challenged with questions about the animal kingdom in part to demonstrate how limited his knowledge was of God. As I’ve read the last 2 chapters of Job, I’ve realized how small I am and how GREAT God is! Every last intricate detail of creation points to His power and sovereignty. “Look at the birds of the sky: they don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”(Matthew 6:26) As utterly amazing as creation is, nothing compares with His carefully crafted plan to redeem and sanctify us through the gift of his Son. As the words of this song proclaim, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”

  2. I have been reading about the word YHWH which is a breath sound for God. The entire article is very interesting http://www.abarim-publications/meaning/YHWH. It talks about how God is abstract and is thought about in terms of abstraction Romans 10:17. So the last 2 chapters of Job really put God in my perspective of seeing Him in the GLORY of what He has created and LOVES!!!

  3. Thw video about the universe was awesome. It made me think how incomprehensible it is that God knows and loves us each individually.

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