The Book of Job

Word Study

"wild ass," Hebrew pere (פֶּרֶא), the wild donkey of the desert. God points to an animal of no use to man, untamable, roaming the wilderness, "whose house I have made the wilderness" (v6), and living beyond the reach of human control, scorning "the multitude of the city" (v7). The point is significant: God cares for and delights in creatures that serve no human purpose.

"free," chofshi (חָפְשִׁי), free, at liberty. The word is used of a slave released from service, and God is the one who released this creature. Man tends to value things by their usefulness to himself, but God values His creatures for their own sake and for His glory. The wild ass, useless to Job, is precious to God, who made it free and provides its pasture.

"bands," mosroth (מוֹסְרוֹת), bonds, harness. The harness that would have made the animal serviceable to man is precisely what God loosed. This corrects a narrow, man-centered view of the world. The universe does not exist merely for human utility; it exists for the glory of God, who fills even the trackless wilderness with life He sustains and enjoys. "The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD" (Psalm 33:5). If God so tends a wild donkey that no man owns, giving it freedom and food in the desert, how much more does He care for His own children? The God who loosed the bands of the wild ass is a God of lavish, generous providence over all He has made.

Explanation

God points to the wild ass, untamable and useless to man, roaming the wilderness: "Who hath sent out the wild ass free?" God gave it its wild freedom and provides its pasture. The point is significant: God cares for creatures that serve no human purpose. Man values things by their usefulness to himself, but God values His creatures for their own sake and His glory (Psalm 33:5). The universe does not exist merely for human utility but for the glory of God. If God so tends a wild donkey no man owns, how much more does He care for His own children?

Gospel Focus

"Who hath sent out the wild ass free?", the God who provides for the wild creatures man neither owns nor uses is the God who teaches us not to be anxious, for He surely provides for His children. Jesus drew this very lesson from creation: "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:26); "consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap... and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?" (Luke 12:24). The God who feeds the wild ass in the desert and the raven's crying young (Job 38:41) will not fail to provide for those He has redeemed at the cost of His Son. This is the logic of the Gospel: "he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). If God cares for the useless wild ass, how much more for you, for whom Christ died. So the wild creatures of Job 39 preach a sermon against anxiety and for trust: your heavenly Father, who tends the whole untamed world, knows your needs and cares for you. "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). The God of the wilderness is your Father in Christ, and His providence, lavish over sparrows and wild asses, is tender and certain over His own children.

Word Study

"strength," Hebrew gevurah (גְּבוּרָה), might, power. God turns to the war horse, one of the most magnificent creatures known to the ancient world: "Hast thou given the horse strength?" The vivid poetry that follows is unmatched: the horse "paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength" (v21); "he mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted" (v22); "he swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage" (v24); "he saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off" (v25).

"clothed," halbashta (הִלְבַּשְׁתָּ). The verb pictures the horse's magnificence as a garment put on it by someone else, and God's question is pointed: did you dress this animal in its glory? Of course not. Man may ride the horse and use its strength, but he did not create that strength.

"thunder," ra'mah (רַעְמָה), a quivering mane, or the sense of thunderous power. Job did not put the thunder in the horse's neck or the courage in its heart. Every quality we admire and harness in the creatures is a gift of the Creator. This humbles human pride, which so easily takes credit for what it merely uses. The strength of the horse, the swiftness of the deer, the soaring of the eagle, all are God's handiwork and God's gift. And it lifts our eyes to marvel at the God who designed such wonders, clothing a horse's neck with thunder for the sheer glory and delight of it.

Explanation

God turns to the magnificent war horse: "Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?" The vivid poetry portrays its raw power, fearless courage, and battle-eagerness, and God's question is pointed: did you give the horse these qualities? Man may ride and use the horse, but he did not create its strength or courage. Every quality we admire and harness in the creatures is a gift of the Creator. This humbles human pride, which takes credit for what it merely uses, and lifts our eyes to marvel at the God who clothes a horse's neck with thunder.

Gospel Focus

"Hast thou given the horse strength?", all strength is God's gift, and this truth guards us from the pride that trusts in its own power and points us to trust in God alone. Scripture repeatedly warns against trusting the strength of the horse: "An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength" (Psalm 33:17); "some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God" (Psalm 20:7). If God gave the horse its strength, then the horse's strength is no ground of confidence over against God. And the same is true of every human power we might trust, our intellect, our wealth, our abilities, all are God's gifts, and none can save us. The Gospel calls us to stop trusting in created strength and to rest in the Creator and Redeemer: "my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Lord Jesus is our strength, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13), and He often shows His power precisely where we are weakest. Job, stripped of all his own strength, was being taught to find his strength in God. So marvel at the strength God gives His creatures, but do not trust in it; trust in the God who gives it, and whose strength, made perfect in our weakness, is an everlasting refuge. The One who clothed the horse's neck with thunder is the strength and song of all who trust in Him.

Word Study

"eagle," Hebrew nesher (נֶשֶׁר), eagle or great vulture. God ends the parade of creatures with the hawk and the eagle, masters of the sky. "Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom?" (v26), He has just asked, and now the greatest of the birds is set before Job.

"mount up," yagbiah (יַגְבִּיהַּ), soar high. The eagle soars to dizzying heights and spies its prey from afar. The instincts, the soaring, the keen sight, all are given and governed by God, not man.

"command," pikha (פִּיךָ), literally "thy mouth". The question is whether any of it happens at Job's word, and the answer is no. The whole chapter has driven home one truth from many angles: the world is full of wonders man did not make, cannot tame, and does not sustain, yet all are known, provided for, and governed by God.

"on high," marom (מָרוֹם), the heights. The eagle nests on inaccessible crags, and its mastery of the heights is a fitting climax, for it shows God's dominion reaching even into the highest sky, over creatures man can never follow or control. This is meant to bring Job, and us, to a place of humble trust. If God so masterfully rules the wild goat and the wild ass, the horse and the ostrich, the hawk and the eagle, giving each its nature and meeting each its need, then surely He is wise and good enough to be trusted with the mysteries of a suffering man's life. The God who commands the eagle's flight holds Job's life in His hand.

Explanation

God ends with the hawk and eagle, masters of the sky: "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?" The soaring, the keen sight, the inaccessible nest, all are given and governed by God, not man. The eagle's mastery of the heights shows God's dominion reaching into the highest sky. The whole chapter drives home one truth: the world is full of wonders man did not make, cannot tame, and does not sustain, yet all are governed by God. If God so rules the wild creatures, He is wise and good enough to be trusted with a suffering man's life.

Gospel Focus

"Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?", the God who commands the eagle's flight and lifts it to the heights is the God who lifts and sustains His people, and the eagle became one of Scripture's great emblems of that grace. "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). God said of His people, "I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself" (Exodus 19:4); He is like an eagle that "stirreth up her nest... beareth them on her wings" (Deuteronomy 32:11). The God who gives the eagle its soaring power gives His waiting people strength to rise above their trials. And in Christ, the weary and heavy-laden are given rest and lifted up, "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). The believer, who cannot command the eagle nor sustain his own soul, is carried on the wings of a faithful God through every storm. So the eagle at the chapter's height points us upward: to the God whose dominion reaches to the highest heaven, who bears His people on eagles' wings, and who will one day lift them wholly out of this vale of tears into glory. Wait upon the LORD, and He who commands the eagle's flight will renew your strength and make you mount up, run, and walk, sustained by His hand to the end.