September 19, 2018: Day 39 – Job 39

While the last chapter was primarily an account of God’s ability to create the earth and all the inanimate objects and plants, this next chapter is God’s providence over all of the wildlife of the earth.  We hear about goats, wild donkeys, wild oxen, ostriches, horses, and the hawk.  That is quite a selection of strong and powerful animals.  I love the verses about the oxen (vs.9) which talk  about the confidence we might have to leave it by the crib.  I know I shouldn’t, because the author did not intend this, but I can’t help but think of the ox and the cattle around the crib of our savior.  We can assume from these verses that they were gentle and that Mary and Joseph had no reason to fear them.

God continues to lay out his credentials to Job as if to show him that he really has not right to question or bring God to trial.  We often want to bring God to trial, especially when we feel that we are being unfairly treated.  I hope and pray that in the end we remember that it is God who has created, it is God who makes decisions based upon grace, and not judgment, it is God who loves us and does all things for our good.