God’s Answer to Job Continued

INTRODUCTION: God goes to the animal kingdom to find more examples of the ignorance of Job. The purpose of this passage is to show Job the greatness of God in caring for all the beasts and the inability of Job to begin to grasp the required knowledge and wisdom for this care. Actually, God is just taking Job at his word. Job had stated that the beasts could teach the wisdom of God (Job 12:7-9). Job 12:7 states, “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.”

1. THE GOATS AND THE HINDS (Job 39:1-4)
1. The Time of Conception (Job 39:1)
1. Knowest thou when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?
2. Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2. The Period of Gestation (Job 39:2)
1. Canst thou number the months that they fulfill?
2. Knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3. The Time of Delivery (Job 39:3)
1. They bow themselves.
2. They bring forth their young ones.
3. They cast out their sorrows. Note: Perhaps the use of sorrow here is the same as in Genesis 3:16.
4. The Time of Maturation (Job 39:4)
1. They are in good liking; meaning they are plump or of good appearance (see Daniel 1:10).
2. They grow up with corn.
3. They grow up and return not unto the mothers.
2. THE WILD ASS (Job 39:5-8)
1. His Freedom (Job 39:5); technically, donkeys and burros are domesticated asses.
1. Who hath sent him out free?
2. Who hath loosed his bands?
2. His Dwelling (Job 39:6-7)
1. The wilderness is his house (Job 39:6).
2. The barren land is his dwellings (Job 39:6).
3. He scorneth the multitude of the city (Job 39:7).
4. He regardeth not the crying of the driver (Job 39:7).
3. His Food (Job 39:8)
1. The range of the mountains is his pasture.
2. He searcheth after every green thing.
3. THE UNICORN (Job 39:9-12)
1. His Independence (Job 39:9)
1. Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee?
2. Will he abide by thy crib?
2. His Lack of Service to Man (Job 39:10-12)
1. He will not be hooked to a plow (Job 39:10).
2. He cannot be trusted to bring home a harvest (Job 39:11-12).
4. THE PEACOCK AND THE OSTRICH (Job 39:13-18)
1. Their Appearance (Job 39:13)
1. Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?
2. Gavest thou the wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
2. The Negligence of the Ostrich (Job 39:14-17)
1. Her nesting in the earth (Job 39:14-15)
1. She leaveth her eggs in the earth (Job 39:14).
2. She warmeth the eggs in the dust (Job 39:14).
3. She causes them to be a prey to destruction (Job 39:15).
1. She forgetteth that the foot may crush them.
2. She forgetteth that the wild beast may break them.
2. Her hardness to her young (Job 39:16)
1. As though they were not hers
2. Labouring in vain without fear
3. Her lack of wisdom (Job 39:17)
1. God hath deprived her of wisdom.
2. God hath not imparted to her understanding.
3. The Speed of the Ostrich (Job 39:18)
1. What time she lifteth up herself on high
2. She scorneth the horse and his rider.
5. THE HORSE (Job 39:19-25)
1. His Strength (Job 39:19)
1. Hast thou given the horse strength?
2. Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
2. His Courage (Job 39:20-25)
1. He does not fear as much as some other animals (Job 39:20).
2. He does not fear war (Job 39:21-25).
1. He goeth on to meet the armed men (Job 39:21).
2. He does not retreat from weapons (Job 39:22-23).
3. He welcomes the war (Job 39:24-25).
6. THE HAWK AND THE EAGLE (Job 39:26-30)
1. The Hawk (Job 39:26)
1. Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom?
2. Does she stretch her wings toward the south by thy wisdom?
2. The Eagle (Job 39:27-30)
1. The nest of the eagle (Job 39:27-28)
1. The command of her nesting given by God (Job 39:27)
2. The place of her nesting (Job 39:28)
2. The hunting of the eagle (Job 39:29-30; Matthew 24:28)
1. Her vision of prey (Job 39:29)
2. Her desire for flesh and blood (Job 39:30)

CONCLUSION: These animals are considered as proof of the wisdom and providence of God. They do not survive or find their purpose by their own wisdom. God is the one who works in them to fulfill His purpose for them.

These illustrations also have practical and typical applications. The ostrich is a type of one who brings forth to birth but then ignores the young ones. The horse and the eagle have connections to prophecy. In a way, the beauty and wisdom of this chapter, like the beauty and wisdom of creation, show forth the wisdom of the God who made it all.