We begin at verse 39 of chapter 38, where this chapter should properly begin, taking up the ° subject of things that have life, as in chapter 38, God spoke of things without life that He had made,—a part of His creation.
Had Job anything to do with hunting the lioness's food, or satisfying the hunger of the young lions? Or was he looking after the ravens? Did he know the lives of those timid creatures, the mountain goats, or the wild ass?
The "unicorn," verses 9 and 10 is properly the buffalo or wild ox, and this is so wherever the word is used in Scripture.
In verse 13 read, "The wing of the ostrich beats (or waves) joyously. But is it the stork's pinion and plumage?" Tile point here (verses 13 to 18) is that the ostrich leaves her eggs, cares little or nothing for her young ones, while the stork is just the opposite, as God has made these creatures. The stork is one of the most affectionate of the creatures we know.
Another of God's creatures, well known to us all, is the horse, and horses trained for use in war are spoken of in verses 19 to 25. Had Job given strength to the horse, or clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
In these days of automobiles, we see few horses, but older ones will remember the horses of the fire departments of our cities, how they ran from their stalls at the sound of the fire-alarm, and seemed to enter into the purpose of the brave firemen as they dashed down the streets to a blazing house; the war horses of other days must have been like these as they galloped into battle.
Then Job is told to consider the hawk and the eagle, both very different from the horse, for they have not been tamed, so they avoid man.
How wonderful and bow various is God's handiwork! Each of these creatures we have read of forms a part of the creation which God has formed by His word.
Genesis 1:20-2520And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:20‑25) tells of these creatures being made, and here their habits are spoken of by Him who made them, and gave to each kind of His creatures its own ways, all of them fitted for the life they were to live.
Men who reject the Bible, do not believe that God made everything, and many of those who owe their life and breath and all things to Him, deny that there is any God; they try to make themselves, and those who listen to them believe that everything happened without anyone, without a God to create the universe, and to design the birds, beasts and fishes, and above all, man.
The Christian sees the folly of such thoughts, knowing from God's Word that He was the Author of what we see in nature (not the author of sin, however).
God fitted each creature to the life it was to live, designed its body, and provided for its food and shelter, too.