and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
39 (1) “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “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.”
Job 38:39 - 39
In 38:39–41 God asks who Job thinks provides lions and birds with their food? "Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?" I do, Job—all over the world. Can you do that?
Or consider the birth of the young (39:1–4). "Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth? Do you observe the calving of the hinds?" Think of it, Job! I am on top of all these things. Every wild deer in northern Minnesota that gives birth—I am there. Every mountain goat in Switzerland and Nepal—when they bring forth, I am there; I know their months. I care for the young.
Think of it, Job! When a man sees a work of God, like your suffering, can he see its connection to ten thousand other realities in the world like I can? If not, how will he dare to judge its wisdom!
Consider the wild donkey (39:5–8). "Who has let the wild donkey go free?" Do you think there are wild and unpredictable creatures in the world, Job? Guess what? I set them loose. I give them a wilderness for running and the mountain for pasture. They are the work of my hands. Things are quite in order! And you have nothing to do with it.
And so it goes. The wild ox (39:9–12): you don't know how to bind him or use him. He is mine.
The stupid ostrich (39:13–18): she walks away from her eggs; she treats her young cruelly. Who made her forget wisdom? I did, Job. Even the foolish things are by design. Ostriches and Minnesota mosquitoes and black flies. I govern them all by perfect design.
Of course not all animals are foolish and useless. Take the war horse (39:19–25), for example. "Do you give him his might? Do you clothe his neck with strength?" You don't know how to do it, Job. I am the only one who does.
Finally, Job, (39:26–30) "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?"
No! Whether we consider the prey of lions, the birth of mountain goats, the freedom of the wild donkey, the insubordination of the wild ox, the stupidity of the ostrich, the might of the war horse, or the flight of the hawk and eagle, the upshot is the same: Job is ignorant and impotent. He did not make them. He does not know how to control them. He cannot see what they are doing. And yet this ignorant Job presumed to question the ways of God!
From Pastor John Piper at https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/job-the-revelation-of-god-in-suffering
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