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 his ropes?
I gave him the wasteland as his home,
the salt flats as his habitat.
He laughs at the commotion in the town;
he does not hear a driver's shout.
He ranges the hills for his pasture
and searches for any green thing.
Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will he stay by your manger at night?
Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?
Will he till the valleys behind you?
Will you rely on him for his great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to him?
Can you trust him to bring in your grain
and gather it to your threshing floor?
God continues to give Job a tour of the natural world.
Check this page out and this one for some of the creatures that live in modern Israel.
Am guessing this Yael is some kind of goat?
image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YaelEilat_ST_07.JPG
The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork.
She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
image source: http://www.spectacularplanet.com/tag/ostrich
Do you give the horse his strength
or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?
Do you make him leap like a locust,
striking terror with his proud snorting?
He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,
and charges into the fray.
He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
he does not shy away from the sword.
The quiver rattles against his side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;
he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, 'Aha!'
He catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
Image source: http://www.freedesktopwallpapers.ru/desktop.php?pid=1878
Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread his wings toward the south?
Does the eagle soar at your command
and build his nest on high?
He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is his stronghold.
From there he seeks out his food;
his eyes detect it from afar.
His young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there is he.
image source: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/wallpaper/red-tailed-hawk-flying_image.html
And so Job was sitting there with his friends, amidst the ashes of his life in pain and sorrow ...
image source: http://www.biblicaltheology.com/job/job_01_01.html
... gets a zoology tour from God ... ?
A couple of months ago, I heard a sermon at church and the speaker mentioned the children's story, The Runaway Bunny.
Amazon.com summarized the story:
Since its publication in 1942, The Runaway Bunny has never been out of print. Generations of sleepy children and grateful parents have loved the classics of Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, including Goodnight Moon. The Runaway Bunny begins with a young bunny who decides to run away: "'If you run away,' said his mother, 'I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.'" And so begins a delightful, imaginary game of chase. No matter how many forms the little bunny takes--a fish in a stream, a crocus in a hidden garden, a rock on a mountain--his steadfast, adoring, protective mother finds a way of retrieving him. The soothing rhythm of the bunny banter--along with the surreal, dream-like pictures--never fail to infuse young readers with a complete sense of security and peace. For any small child who has toyed with the idea of running away or testing the strength of Mom's love, this old favorite will comfort and reassure.
We all face hardship in a cold hard world. Job was not the first nor the last to feel the weight of crushed dreams, wealth disappeared, death of loved ones, lost health and sorrows which doesn't not sleep.
And so where is comfort found?
Is it in theological answers? Is it in any intellectual answer?
I suspect the only comfort is knowing that God is greater than all the great creatures of this world and that he stoops to meet us.
Job didn't get an answer, he got a visit. First, from his friends and then from God.
Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to this world. Thanks for visiting Job. Thanks for revealing yourself to Moses and to other people of faith over the generations. I don't have answers to every question but I have You. And that is enough. Amen.
1 comment:
Actually, I think that Job did get an answer. By asking Job the questions that He did, he revealed that Job's "Righteousness" or his lack, thereof, was not the reason for hardship and sorrow in his life. In hard times, in good times, God knows what He is doing. God's questions to job seem to me to be the same question that Jesus asked His disciples. "Where is your faith?" We don't need to know God's reasons for the things that happen in our lives, good and bad. He uses the hail in our lives as much as the sunshine to shape us, mold us, and teach us. It isn't always necessary for us to understand His reasons (although He sometimes shows us). It is enough that we know that He knows, and that He knows what He is about, even if we don't. I think Job got more than a visit.
Thanks for a lovely website!
NORA MAYERS
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