Let’s turn now in our Bibles to the book of Job, chapter thirty eight. We don’t always know the answers to things, that we sometimes think we know. We often are wrong in our evaluations and judgements. The book of Job is interesting in that, it begins with God giving to us, an insight to the background of the story. “Living in the land of Uz, there was a man by the name of Job.” According to God’s evaluation, “He was a perfect man, and upright, one who loved good, and hated evil”.
Because of his goodness, not only did he have the attention of God, but he had the attention of Satan. “When the sons of God, the angels, were coming to present themselves to God, Satan also came with them, God said, “Where have you been?”, he said, “I’ve been going to and fro throughout the earth, up and down in it”. God said, “Have you studied, considered my servant Job? Good man. He loves good, he hates evil”.
Satan said, in essence that, Job was a mercenary, that he served God for the material benefits that God had blessed him with. For, Job was the richest man in the east. A great man, as far as substance. Many cattle, sheep, servants. Satan said, “Let me strip him of all of these material possessions, the crutches, and he’ll curse you to your face”.
So God allowed Satan to strip Job, and at the end of that stripping, when Job received word that his ten children, finally, were killed in an unfortunate accident, having had, after having received word that he had lost all of his possessions, he fell on his face, he worshiped God. He said, “I came into the world naked, I will leave the world naked. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” “And, in all of these things, Job did not curse God, nor charge God foolishly.”
So the second appearance of Satan before God, and again the question, “Have you considered my servant Job? Good man, upright. He loves good, hates evil. In spite of all that you’ve done, he’s maintained his integrity”. Satan offered his second evaluation, he said, “Skin for his skin. All a man has will he give for his life. Let me touch his health, let me take away his health. He’ll curse you to your face. So God allowed Satan to take away Job’s health. He was afflicted with, as some feel, this loathsome, oriental disease known as elephantitus.
There were three friends of Job that came to comfort him in his misery. They sat in silence with Job for seven days, until Job finally just opened up his heart, and gave his complaint. He could not understand the circumstances, the suffering. He could not understand the loss of his children, the loss of his possessions, the loss of his health. He could not understand why God would allow these things to take place.
His friends felt that he was, in some way, charging God foolishly, blaspheming, in a sense, as he was challenging the integrity of God, the fairness of God. So they began to speak, they felt, on God’s part. They had a philosophy that, if you live a good life, only good will happen to you. If evil happens to you it is because of some sin that you perhaps are seeking to cover. Their assumption was that Job was very clever in covering his sin, because they couldn’t see it just observing the man. “But surely you wouldn’t have these kind of problems unless you were some kind of a horrible sinner.”
That philosophy is not dead. There are many people today, who seem to harbor that same kind of a philosophy. That any problems or difficulties that you experience in life, are somehow the result of God punishing you, or judging you. They began this discussion with Job that became rather heated. It turned into an argument. It turned into a series of accusations against Job. His denial of those accusations, and his further questioning of God. Why God allowed these things. He cursed the day he was born. He hated life, he longed for death, where he might be at ease, and peace, and all of this is over. All of the misery and trouble of life is past. Finally after an interchange with his friends, the calling of names, and a tension that developed. They had no more to say, Job had no more to say.
So a young man sitting by, listening to the whole thing, not talking because he felt that the respect for the older men. But he was upset that they weren’t able to really answer Job adequately, to satisfy him. He offered a new suggestion, that the calamities that come into our lives are not always punishment, but are sometimes corrective. That God allows things to happen to us, to correct us when we are going astray. That God sometimes use things to stop us. He dealt more with the chastening aspects of God, in a person’s life, and in that, he was closer to the truth.
While this young man Elihu, was making his speech, it would seem that there was a storm that was approaching, and in the latter portion of Elihu’s speech, in the latter portion of chapter thirty seven, he begins to talk about the lightnings and the thunders, as this storm was no doubt approaching them. Then, we read in chapter thirty eight…
The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (38:1),
His friends had been seeking to answer him, and Job had been saying over and over, “Oh that I could just plead my cause with God. If I could just take my cause before Him!” So, God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. His first question is…
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge (38:2)?
Good question! It is interesting how much people can discuss a subject that they really know nothing about, or know very little about. A lot of counsel is with words without knowledge. Theories, ideas, suppositions. But so much of the words even words with counsel, are without knowledge. So God first asked the question, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” Then He said…
Gird up now your loins like a man; [The girding up of the loins. They wore these long robes, rather cumbersome to get around in, if you’re wanting to run, or to work. These long robes, they inhibit your running, and they inhibit your working. So, when a person was getting ready to work, or run, wearing these long robes, they had this sash, they would pull the robes up to knee length, or so. They would tie the sash around, so that you have the bulky top, but your legs are free to run or to move, or to serve. So that is the idea, and you read often in the scripture, “Gird up your loins”. That’s what it means, just tie the skirt on up, so you have room to move.] and I will demand of thee, and answer me (38:3).
God is saying, “Okay, you wanted to plead your case before me, first of all I will start with a series of interrogatives. You answer these”.
Now, the first thing that God asked Job about, is the creation of the world. To me this is fascinating in that it follows the statement of God, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel with words without knowledge?”
Where were you [God said] when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding (38: 4).
The interesting thing to me is this theory of evolution, in which we find the case of men, giving counsel with words without knowledge. It is all theory. It is not truly science. Science is something that can be postulated, experimented. The theories can be proved by experimentation over a period of time, repetition and all, and you can take and develop the facts of science. God is saying to Job, “Hey you weren’t there when I created the world. What do you know about it?” It’s all words without knowledge, it’s all guesswork. All of the theories that man has of the origin of the universe, are nothing but guesswork. Words without knowledge.
It used to be that they thought that the world rested upon a turtle, and that you know, there was this turtle. That the whole earth just sat on this turtle. They taught that in school. Now, I am certain that as time goes on, and as we come to a fuller, richer understanding of our universe, that they will look back at some of the teachings of science today, and chuckle at what science taught, even as we chuckle today, at what they one time taught, concerning the earth. You’d say, “Ho, ho, ho! They really believed the whole thing started with a big bang! Oh man! My, my!”. You know, they even gave a couple of scientists a Nobel prize in science a few years ago because they “heard the echo”, they said, “of the bang”. That’s pretty good.
God said, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Man has developed his theories, his ideas, his concepts, and he talks with great pompousness of the origins of the universe, of which he knows absolutely nothing.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched a line upon it (38:5)?
When they would build, of course they would lay out the measurements of the buildings. They would use the line, the string, to make the straight wall, and all. So, God is saying, “When I, when I laid the foundation of the earth, when I created this thing, who was it that laid the lines? Who was it that constructed it?”
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? [“What does the world rest upon?”] or who laid the corner stone thereof (38:6);
In the earlier portion of the book of Job, it speaks about the world hanging on nothing. God is saying, “You know, upon which or, upon what is, are the foundations of the earth fastened?” In speaking of the creation of the earth, He says something interesting.
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy (38:7)?
“The sons of God”, here would be the angels. It goes back to chapter one of the book of Job, “And there came a time when the sons of God were presenting themselves to God, and Satan also came with them”. “At the creation of the earth, the stars”, it said, “sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy.” The angels were created before the earth was ever created. How long ago angels were created, we do not know. How many millennia, or whatever, we have no idea. But they were around when God laid the foundations of the earth. When God created the world, the angels were in existence, and they shouted for joy at the creation of the world. Then God talks about the oceans, the seas.
Who shut up the sea with the doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and the thick darkness a swaddling band for it, And I broke up for it my decreed place, and I set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed (38:8-11)?
The earth is covered about two thirds with water, one third land surface. There is sufficient water in the oceans, if there were no mountains, the entire surface of the earth would be covered with six thousand feet of water.
Now the Lord is saying to Job, “You know who put the boundaries on the ocean? Who put the shorelines, and said to the ocean, ‘Look you can come so far, but no further’? Who created this whole water cycle of the world that we see?”
Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? Is it turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment (38:12-14).
Questions that God is asking Job, concerning the natural universe, the natural, physical world around him. The idea is, “Job if you don’t even know about the things that you can observe, how can you know about the moral government of God, if you don’t even understand the physical government, the physical laws that govern your universe? How can you challenge the moral laws of God?”
Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Have you walked in search of the depth? [Then the question…] Have the gates of death been opened unto you? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death (38:16-17)?
Job had been talking about death. His desire to be dead, where he said, “There is no more thought, or no more problems, where the soul is at ease and all. The mind is at rest”. And, he’s talking about death, and God is saying, “Hey Job! Who are you who talks about things that you really know nothing about! Have the gates of death been opened to you?”
It is interesting that the Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, when they wish to give you scriptures, to prove their theories of soul-sleep, they will give you scriptures out of Job, where he in his calamities, and in his sorrows, and desires to escape, speaks about, “Oh I wish I were dead, where there is no thought, where there is no consciousness or anything else”. And when God begins to talk to him, He thoroughly discounts Job’s declarations of death, by saying, “Have the gates of death been opened to you? You’ve been talking about, ‘Oh I wish I were dead’, and things that would transpire when you were dead”, He said, “But you don’t know what you were talking about Job”. Thus it is wrong to use the scriptures of Job as proof-text for a doctrine concerning death.
Better to take the words of Jesus. The gates of death were open to Him. He knows much more about it than Job ever thought! Jesus talks about a certain rich man, who fared sumptuously every day, a poor man was laid daily at his gate, who was full of sores, in miserable condition. The dogs would come and lick his sores. He survived off of the crumbs that were thrown to him from the master’s table. The rich man died, the poor man died, carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man died, and in hell, Sheol, Hades, he lifted up his eyes being in torment, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus being comforted, said, “Father Abraham, send Lazarus”. Jesus talked about a conscious state, not some soul-sleep. “Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?”
Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? declare it if you know it all (38:18).
Now of course, in those days, they, they knew very little about the breadth of the earth. They did not have the same kind of travel advantages that we have, the way to measure the earth as we have. They had no way of knowing in those days, that the earth was approximately twenty five thousand miles in circumference, eight thousand miles in diameter. So Job had no answer to the question.
Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof (38:19),
God is asking an interesting question here. You might think about it. Where does the darkness go when you turn on the light? Where does the light go when you turn it off? “Where is the place of light? Declare if you know it”, God said. “Where does darkness go?”
That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof? Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail (38:20-22),
Just what is referred to as the treasures of the snow, is not fully known. But, we do know now, that there is a tremendous treasury of beauty in the snow. Every snowflake is a perfect geometrical design, and every one of them is different. No two snowflakes alike! If you’ve seen pictures of snowflakes, gorgeous geometrical designs! It could be that God was hinting to Job the fact that, in snowflakes, there are these gorgeous geometrical designs. “Have you entered into the treasures of the snow, or the treasures of the hail?” But then the Lord went on to say…
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war (38:23)?
In WWI, as we had discovered the explosive force of the nitroglycerine, and TNT, there was a tremendous problem in the transport of these explosives, because they were quite volatile. After having lost a ship that was blown up because of the movement of the TNT, and the whole, the thing just blew to pieces. There was a problem of getting the powerful explosives over to Europe. A Jewish scientist discovered that by refrigerating, and freezing these explosives, they could be transported safely. He, of course as a result of that, Weisman received as a return for this favor, the British government of course, signed the Belflor??? treaty, and so forth, in which the Jews were allowed a certain amount of immigration back into the land. That was really the thing that brought out the birth, ultimately of the Jewish state.
Interesting that the Lord asked Job the question, “Have you discovered the treasures of the hail, or the ice, that”, He said, “I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war”. It is interesting that it became a very valuable thing in the transport of these explosives during WWI.
By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth? [The parting, or the dividing of light.] Who has divided the water course for the overflowing waters, [That is, who has carved out all of the ditches and the barrancas, and all for the rain, the canyons. So that when it rains, the water gathers and flows, you know in these canyons, rather than just floods over everything. “Who carved out all these canyons? Who carved out the grand canyon? Who divided the water course for the overflowing of the waters?”] or the way for the lightening and the thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; or the wilderness, wherein there is no man (38:24-26);
God said to Job, “Job, who waters the wildflowers, the forest, the wilderness?” The problems of maintaining a garden were always that of irrigation. From the beginning of man, the, in seeking to cultivate, there was always that problem of irrigating. So, early they developed the various forms of irrigation, the canal, sluices, and so forth, for irrigation. But God said, “Hey Job, who waters the wilderness, the grasses in the, in the wilderness and all?”
To satisfy the desolate and wast ground; to cause the bud of the tender plant to spring forth? Hath the rain a father? who hath begotten these drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion (38:27-31)?
The Pleiades is a winter constellation that’s just about straight overhead. Also known as the seven sisters, it is a cluster of seven stars, often mistakenly called the little dipper. Probably very few of you have actually seen the little dipper. Most generally, people who do not know much about astronomy, looking up into the winter sky, see the Pleiades, and say, “Oh there’s the little dipper!”. No, that’s the Pleiades. It’s just about straight overhead at the present time, in the winter skies. The little dipper is actually to the north, and the north star does form a part of the little dipper. Thus most people, amateurs, make the mistake of calling the Pleiades, the little dipper.
What is intended by the, “can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades”, is something that we don’t know as yet, of what the Lord was referring to here. “Loose the bands of Orion.” Orion is another winter constellation, it is more in the southern sky, moves from the west to the east every night, as Orion chases Taurus the Bull, through the sky, with his bow ready to draw down and shoot Taurus. It’s the winter constellation towards the southern sky.
Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in his season? [The various constellations of the Zodiac.] can you guide Arcturus with his sons (38:32)?
Arcturus is about the fourth brightest star in the sky. It is relatively close to the earth, as far as stars go. Arcturus is just thirty six light years away. Which is quite close, as far as stars. Arcturus is about eighty times as bright as our sun, and it is thirty times the size of the sun, thirty times larger than the sun. Now the sun is one million, two hundred thousand times larger than the earth. It’s eight hundred and sixty five thousand miles in diameter. You could hollow out the sun, leaving a crust a hundred thousand miles thick, put the earth in the center, let the moon rotate around the earth, and you’d have a hundred thousand miles to spare.
Arcturus is thirty times larger than the sun. However, Arcturus travels at a speed of seventy miles a second. Or, four thousand two hundred miles an hour. God is in essence, saying to Job, “How would you like to drive this big monster through the sky?” A star thirty times larger than the sun, moving at forty two hundred miles an hour. “You know, (how would you) like the job of guiding that thing so you wouldn’t collide with some of those other heavenly bodies?”
But how did Job know that Arcturus was to be known as the runaway star? That it travels faster than most of the stars in the sky? See, this is long before we ever discovered this. It was, it was by comparing the ancient charts, the astronomical charts, by comparing them with the position of the, of the stars today, we came to, especially the position of Arcturus, we came to learn that the stars are not fixed, that they also are in orbit, and it was able then to fix the speed of Arcturus, known as the runaway star. But Job couldn’t know that! But God’s questioning him about this. “Can you guide Arcturus? Would you like that job Job? Want to take over for me?”
Do you know the ordinances of heaven? can you set the dominion of the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that the abundance of waters may cover thee? Can you send the lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? [“Can you order these things?” God is in control of the universe.] Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? who has given understanding to the heart (38:33-36)?
God is now talking about His creating of us, and, and the ability for us to think, the ability for us to know, to comprehend, to gather and accumulate knowledge, and to maintain, or retain that knowledge. Who is it that created the DNA, and made the RNA, and these storage units, so that I have the capacity of storing this, this knowledge? God said, “You know Job you haven’t even scratched the surface man! There’s a lot of problems that you don’t know anything about!”
Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? [The parched ground.] Will you hunt the prey for the lion ? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, and abide in the coverts [or their dens] to lie in wait? Who provides for the raven his food? when the young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat (38:37-41).
So God is, is indicating here, not only is He the creator, but He oversees His creation. He is close to His creation. There are those who say, “Close to nature, close to God”. That is so true, so true. The closer you get to nature, the closer you get to God, because God does oversee His creation. Jesus said, “Consider the birds of the air, how your Father watches over them”. Here, God is essentially saying the same thing. He watches over the lions, He watches over the ravens, He watches over His creation. He watches over the water cycle of the earth, gives rain in its season.

Chapter 39
Then God turns more to the things of nature, to the various animals and all.
Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? [Probably a reference to the ibex, which is a common animal over in that part, where the book of Job was written.] can you mark when their hinds do calve? [They live out in the wilds. “Do you know, do you watch over them as they bring forth their young?”] Can you number the months that they fulfil? [“Do you know what the gestation period is?”] or do you know the time they bring forth? They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows. And their young ones are in good health, [“They’re strong when they’re born.”] they grow up with the corn; and they go forth, and return not unto them (39:1-4).
They leave their parents very early, and begin to forage on their own. It’s interesting that the, the human being is probably one of the most helpless of all, newborn creatures. You know, think of how helpless and totally dependant we are upon our parents. Some animals survive without ever seeing their parents. They’re, they’re hatched, and they go about, and instinctively they are able to survive. But with a, with a child, there is that total dependency upon the parents, for a long period of time. Not just for a few weeks. It stretches into sometimes, twenty, thirty, forty years! But, the baby, so dependant upon the parents for such a long period of time. God speaks about the goats, “They leave very early, they don’t return”. There isn’t that family kind of a, of a feeling. “The range of the mountains is his pasture.” Oh, no, I’ve jumped, because He’s talking about the wild donkey here, the wild ass. Verse five.
And who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? [And of course, in those areas, like we used to have a lot of wild horses on the plains here, in the west. The mustangs and so forth, they had the wild donkeys. There are still wild donkeys over in that area. They are just a wild creature.] Whose house have I made the wilderness, [That is, God has made their house the wilderness, they roam in the wilderness.] the barren land his dwellings. He scorns the multitude of the city, and neither regards he the crying of the driver. [That is, he can’t be harnessed and, and, and trained.] The range of the mountains is his pasture, he searches after every green thing. Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib (39:5-9)?
The crib being the stalls, where they keep the corn. Now the unicorn, and this is a translation of the Hebrew word, “raeym”, it probably is a reference to an extinct wild ox, that used to roam in that area, was extremely large, and extremely fierce. Caesar, in writing about this wild ox, said, “It’s just a little smaller than an elephant. Has these huge horns, and attacks anything that comes near it”. They were totally unsuccessful in trying to capture one. They, they sought to capture one, but were totally unsuccessful. But he described these huge, huge wild ox, which, and again, and we said, are now extinct. But they translated it, “unicorn”, here in this scripture, but it’s probably a reference to these wild ox. “Can you bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow?” That is, “Can you harness him, and make him plow the furrow for you? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?”
Will you trust him, because his strength is great? or will you leave thy labor to him? [“Can you use him like you do the regular oxen, to pull your plows and so forth?”] Will you believe him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather it into the barn? [“Will you trust him to pull the wagon full of seed back home into the barn?” No, you can’t.] Who gave the beautiful wings to the peacock? [Have you ever seen these beautiful peacock feathers, the beautiful colors? Who colored them? Who put the color in them? I love it, I love it!] or the wings and the feathers unto the ostrich? Which leaves her eggs in the earth, and warms them in the dust (39:11-14),
Now there in the wilderness, these ostriches of the wilderness area, they will usually dig a hole, almost a foot deep, and there they bury their eggs. I have an ostrich egg in the office. I intended to bring it out, I forgot to tonight. It’s about so big. They bury them in, in the sand, and cover them, and the warmth of the earth, forms the incubation for them. So they lay their eggs, and then they just leave em. Don’t think about them anymore! The Arabs used to have a proverb, “As stupid as an ostrich”. The ostriches were considered stupid because of the fact that they just lay their eggs, and don’t you know, pay any more attention to them after that. Just leave them. They can be trampled on, they can be broken or whatever. You know, has no thought for them. The ostrich was considered stupid, because if he would be pursued, he would just hide his head in bushes or whatever, and think that he couldn’t be seen. So you hear the phrase, “Hiding your head in the sand”, and thus the ostrich used to do that. Just thought that he could hide by just putting his head in the sand, or in the bushes, where he couldn’t see you, and thus he figured you couldn’t see him. “Stupid as an ostrich.” So, “He leaves his eggs in the earth, warms them in the dust”…
And forgets that the foot [Of some other animal coming along, or a person.] could crush them, and that a wild beast might break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear; [So she has no fear for her little ones, she’s hardened against them. Just lays the eggs, and forgets them.] Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, [So God says, “Hey I’ve deprived that animal of wisdom.” “You’re stupid as an ostrich.” You might remember that one, it’s a pretty good proverb.] neither hath he imparted to her understanding. What time she lifted up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider (39:15-18).
Now, an ostrich will first try to hide, as I say, by putting its head in the bushes. Then when it realizes that it’s not hidden, that you’re getting close, the ostrich will put its head up high, and begin to run, and can out run a horse. Extremely fast! So, the reference here to, “What time she lifteth herself up on high, puts her head up, she scorns the horse and his rider”. I mean, they can really run!
Hast thou given the horse strength? or have you closed his neck with thunder? Can you make him afraid like a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. [Now they’re talking here about the horses that were used in warfare.] He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in strength: [They say that the horse wastes a thousand steps before he takes one. You know, as they’re waiting in battle, they’re pawing the ground and all, before they, they take off.] He mocketh at fear, he’s not frightened; neither does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, and the glittering spear and the shield. He swallows the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that [he is] it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, and the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. [The use of horses in warfare, and how they seem to get into the whole feel of the thing.] Does the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south (39:19-26)?
Here is a reference to the interesting way that God has planted in the minds of the birds, instinctively, the movement towards the south in the wintertime, and back to the north in the summer. The migrations of the birds. Those that have studied the migrations of birds, marvel at that built-in system, by which they fly over thousands of miles, in their migratory habits.
One of my favorites is the golden plover, in Hawaii. In fact, I want to go over and observe them in a few days. I feel it’s my duty. The golden plover likes to mate and raise its young up in the Aleutian Islands. So come springtime, the golden plovers will fly from Hawaii, a couple of thousand miles over the ocean, without any landmarks, and they will fly into the Aleutian Islands, where they will mate, build their nests, hatch their eggs, incubate their young. Come fall, the golden plover isn’t done, he loves to spend his winters in Hawaii.
So, as winter is approaching, the golden plovers will begin to eat a lot, build up the fat and all in their bodies, and then they will begin their flight to Hawaii. Without any navigational charts, and really it is a mystery how they do navigate. It may be that they use the stars for navigation. We don’t know. We do know that they can be in severe storms, and be blown off course, and yet they’ll find their way to Hawaii. You say, “But they’ve been there before!”. Well, I’ll tell you, I’d hate to try and find Hawaii, without navigational charts and all, without a compass. But, for your, “they’ve been there before”, bit, the little newborn plovers are not strong enough yet to leave for Hawaii, when their parents take off. They have to spend a couple of extra weeks, in the Aleutians, building up a little more strength, and a little more fat before they begin their flight. But two weeks after the parents have gone, and are already enjoying the beauty of Hawaii, the babies take off! Never having been there, and they fly to Hawaii.
Explain that to me! God’s saying to Job, “Hey, who put the wisdom there? Who, who placed all of that capacity and all, and the migratory habits of birds, flying south in the winter?”
The hawk fly by his wisdom, stretch out her wings towards the south? Doth the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest on high? [The reference here is to the golden eagle.] She dwells and abides on [all they that had been, ooh! Just a minute I jumped! “Abideth on”,] the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeks the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. [God has given tremendous vision to the eagle. From way up there it can see a small little rabbit, way on down, soars down and grabs that thing.] Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she (39:26-30).
So God is speaking to Job the things of nature, the things that He has created. The wisdom that he has put in the minds of man, and in the minds of the animals, and all. His creative genius. Job, in his response to God, in this next portion, acknowledges, “Hey God, I’m gonna shut my mouth. You know it all!” Then Job answered and said, “Lord, I’m vile. What shall I answer thee?” He really can’t answer these questions of God.
Next week, we will continue on, in fact we’ll finish the book of Job next week. We’ll get to that last part that I like so well. “They lived happily ever after”, one of those good stories that ends up great. Not like a lot of movies that you see today, you know, that uh, the whole thing ends up a total mess, and you go out feeling forlorn. The book of Job will leave you happy.
Father we thank You, as we look at creation around us, the universe, the world, the clouds, the rain, the water cycles. As we look at the constellations, the stars, as we look at the animals, the birds, the larger and the smaller beasts. As we even look at ourselves. Lord, we realize how marvelous is Your wisdom, Your creative genius, in creating all of these life forms, giving them the various capacities. Capacities to fly, the instincts to fly south in the winter, watching over, keeping, guiding, guarding, protecting. We thank You Lord for Your ever constant care over Your creation. Your ever constant care and concern over our lives. You, who watches over your creation, so that not even a sparrow falls Lord, but what You’re conscious. We realize that we are Your children, and that You watch over us with even greater care and concern. We thank You for that. We thank You Lord that You are conscious of our frailties, of our needs, of our limitations. That You are there to help us when we are weak, that we might be strong in Your strength. Teach us Lord, to trust You more, and to rely more and more upon You. Help us Lord, that we might have the insight into the things of nature, that as we observe them, we might become conscious of You. And live Lord, in the consciousness of Your glory, of Your power, of Your majesty. Thank You Lord for loving us, caring about us, redeeming us, through Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Edited & Highlighted from “The Word For Today” Transcription, Pastor Chuck Smith, Tape #7167
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