We have now come through 41 verses of God rebuking Job. God has been very clear and very insistent on having Job stop and answer Him. God has challenged Job with facts that Job was not very well aware of.
Modern day “Christianity” would shudder to think that anyone would challenge someone else with so much information at one time. We are told that we will turn a person away if we are too straight forward with them. This is a lie from the devil, but it seems to be well accepted by far too many professing Christians. If a person is led by the Holy Spirit, he will know what to say and he does not need to be afraid of driving the person away. Many people reject God’s Word. If we use God’s Word faithfully, we are not driving them away. They are choosing to reject the truth.
God continued His challenge to Job in chapter 39. Job had spent much time “pleading” for an answer from God. He demanded that God respond to his request in his time and according to his perception of God. Now God was taking this false footing right out from under Job. Job needed to be brought to the place where he would be standing firmly upon the truth. The Bible often challenges us to build upon the truth. We need to get down to the truth and get rid of the false teaching.
In verse 1, God asked Job if he knew at what time the wild goats have their young. Job might have known the approximate time when the wild goats have their young. However, he was not watching them all year long to know the day they were bred. He did not have the ability to track every wild goat and know when they were going to give birth. Even if Job knew the length of time of gestation for the wild goats, he still could not know the time when the wild goats bring forth. There are people who have studied these things quite carefully and they know the number of days of gestation for the various animals. Even so, an animal does not always go full term. That is also true with people. Only God knows the time of the birth of the wild goats. The same is true of the hinds. The “hind” is a female deer. Job did not know the time of their birthing either. Job lacked knowledge in so many things.
In verses 2-4 God gave more details on the process of the development of their young during gestation. He talked of the difficulty the adult female has in giving birth. He talks of the sorrow these animals experience in the birthing process. After the young are born, they are nourished for a time by the mother and then they feed on crops themselves, and once they are grown, they move on and never come back to their mother again. Is that ingratitude? No, it is the way God designed them.
In verses 5-8 God turned to the wild ass. The wild ass is wild. It is not under the hand of a human master. It is under God’s control, but not man’s. It does what it does without any restriction from man. It roams where it wants to and man does not control it. This creature roams in the wilderness and eats the grass that is there. It does not want to go into the cities. It does not like to be around people. It does not listen to the commands of someone who might want to control it. God says this creature is quite stubborn and self-willed. It does what it wants to do and when it wants to do it.
In verses 9-12 God speaks of another of His creatures. The unicorn. There is debate about this animal. Some believe the unicorn has only one horn. That image is used in the occult. They look at the word unicorn, and the first part “uni” refers to “one”. That is the English word for this creature. According to the Hebrew language, this animal is a wild bull. According to God, this animal is very strong and not trustworthy. God says this animal does not make a good farm animal. He is powerful, but he cannot be trusted. God says this is not an animal that a farmer would trust to bring his crops into the barn. The farmer might have his cart loaded with grain and the unicorn would take off and run through the trees and smash the cart and the grain would be scattered.
God is showing Job that there are creatures that He made that are not designed to be domesticated. They are wild. They do not bow to man’s wishes. Yet, Job assumed that God should bow to his wishes. God is not like a wild animal. He is strong and He is wise. Job demanded an answer from God and he expected God to answer his questions. He needed to understand that he was not nearly as important as he thought he was. He needed to understand that God knew what He was doing and Job needed to submit to His will, not the other way around.
We need to know this as well. God was dealing with Job on a personal level. This was about Job’s life. Job needed to humble himself before God. When Job would be in a right heart relationship with Almighty God, then he would trust God to do His Work for His glory. So too, we need to be in a right heart relationship with God. We cannot expect God to jump to our wishes. He knows what is right at all times. We sometimes know what is right. If we look honestly at ourselves, we would not even want to be under our own authority. We do not always make very wise decisions. We need God to guide us.
This starts with His salvation. Once we are saved, we can begin to hear Him and we can begin to enjoy the blessings of being guided by Him. I remember as a young person, I wanted to be free from authority. I was a young person in the time of the hippy movement. I was not saved at that time, and the influences of that philosophy had a powerful effect on me. I did not even want anything to do with God. However, God was not intimidated by little old me. He kept working on me and showed me that my foolish and wicked way was the way of destruction. If I would continue on that way, it would lead me straight to hell. He kept working on me and by His mercy and grace, I finally surrendered to His authority and I was saved. There were many rough edges to knock off since that time. They are not all gone yet, but there are less of them. It is important to walk humbly with Him and submit to His will. That is the way of blessing.
That is what God was showing Job, and us by extension. Don’t despise the Word of God. Read it, study it and be sure that you know the God of the Bible. He has a plan. His plan is moving forward. It is important to be walking in accordance with His plan, rather than fighting against it. Those who fight against God, never win. Those who submit to His will can know His peace now and into eternity.
Pastor Bartel