Can Your Oversee My Creation

12/6/2011 6:08:11 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Can you oversee my creation?

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                  Reference:  Job 38:39-39:30

            Message of the verses:  In this section the Lord will bring before Job a parade of six different beats and five birds.  As Job looked upon these creatures he was to answer the question:  “Do you understand how they live and how to take care of them?”  Job did not know the answer to this question.

            Let’s begin this section with a quote from Dr. Warren Wiersbe:  “The providence of God is certainly remarkable (see Ps. 104).  In His wisdom and power, God supervises the whole universe and makes sure that His creatures are cared for.  ‘You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing’ (Ps. 145:16 NKJV).  We humans have a difficult time keeping the machinery of life operating successfully, but God runs the whole universe with such precision that we build our scientific laws on His creation.”

            Let us take a look at the lion and her cubs and the young ravens to see if Job knows how to feed them.  “39  "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40  When they crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair? 41  "Who prepares for the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?”  (NASB)

            “39  “Can you stalk prey for a lioness  and satisfy the young lions’ appetites 40  as they lie in their dens  or crouch in the thicket? 41  Who provides food for the ravens  when their young cry out to God  and wander about in hunger?”  (NLT)

            Job would not know how to feed the lions or the ravens, but God programmed into them how to get their food and the raven will eat what the lion has left because that is how God planed it and how God programmed this into the creatures that He made.

            Last night, after a hard day’s work around the house, my wife and I sat down to watch a movie about a turtle that was born in the sands on a Florida beach.  We like to watch nature films, but have a problem with how the movie makers insert evolution into all of these types of movies.  The first thing you hear is the earth is 100 million years old.  This greatly upsets me because it is a lie from the evil one.  Evolution has been hatched by the devil in order to steer people away from God, for after all if the earth was a big accident and no one can explain how it got here then people will not have to be accountable to the God who created it.  This little turtle swam out into the Atlantic Ocean and went all the way to Europe finding food as she went and growing bigger.  It takes her a long to get over to the warm waters about Africa where she stays for a while, a long while.  After twenty-one years she returns to the warm waters of the Caribbean and then back to the same place where she was born.  She is now pregnant and goes on shore to lay her eggs and then goes back into the ocean and back to the Caribbean where she will live out the rest of her long life, coming back to lay eggs every three years or so.  The commentator said that it took her this long to return because she would not have been big enough or strong enough to live in the Caribbean because of the other wild life in the sea, and of course this stuff was programmed into her by her ancestors. WRONG!  God was the One who designed her and the One who caused her to live this life where she would travel some 9000 miles around the oceans before returning to give birth to her young where she was born. 

            We not go back to Job and look at chapter 30:1-4.  “1 ¶  "Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? 2  "Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3  "They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4  "Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.”  (NASB)

            “1 ¶  “Do you know when the wild goats give birth?  Have you watched as deer are born in the wild? 2  Do you know how many months they carry their young?  Are you aware of the time of their delivery? 3  They crouch down to give birth to their young  and deliver their offspring. 4  Their young grow up in the open fields,  then leave home and never return.”

            God now asks Job about the birth of the wild goats and the deer.  He asks Job if he knows the gestation period of these two animals, but Job would not know that.  When a domestic animal like a sheep gives birth they can be helped by the shepherd, but not the wild goat or the deer.  When it is time for the young to leave then they know when to leave the care of the mother.

            Next is the wild donkey in verses 39:5-8:  “5  "Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 6  To whom I gave the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place? 7  "He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear. 8  "He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing.”  (NASB)

            “5  “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom?  Who untied its ropes? 6  I have placed it in the wilderness;  its home is the wasteland. 7  It hates the noise of the city  and has no driver to shout at it. 8  The mountains are its pastureland,  where it searches for every blade of grass.”  (NLT)   

            The wild donkey will not be tamed but live out in the wilderness where God has placed it to live. It is a loner like the wild ox which is next described in verses 9-12:  “9  "Will the wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger? 10  "Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11  "Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him? 12  "Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain And gather it from your threshing floor?”  (NASB)  “9  “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed?  Will it spend the night in your stall? 10  Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow?  Will it plow a field for you? 11  Given its strength, can you trust it?  Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work? 12  Can you rely on it to bring home your grain  and deliver it to your threshing floor?”  (NLT)

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Now Job, asked the Lord, ‘If you can’t succeed with these animals, how do you expect to succeed when you meet Me in court?  How strong do you think you are?’”

            In verses 13-18 God will give Job a description about two birds in the KJV, but it is only translated as an ostrich in the NASB and other translations:  “13 ¶  "The ostriches’ wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love, 14  For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, 15  And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them. 16  "She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; 17  Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18  "When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.”  (NASB)

            “13 ¶  "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s? 14  For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; 15  She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. 16  She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, 17  Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding. 18  When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider.”  (NKJV)

            In the MacArthur Study Bible I looked up the note that is on verses 13-18 and this is what it says, “The silly ostrich that leaves her eggs on the ground lacks sense, God has not given her wisdom, She is almost a picture of Job, who is a mixture of foolishness and strength (V-18).”

            I can’t answer why the ostrich is compared to the stork in some version and not in others.

            We can see in these verses that describe some of the animals that God has created that they are different and do different things showing the verity of God’s creation, and also the wisdom and power, and also the strength of God.

            Let’s move on to the horse:  “19 ¶  "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20  "Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. 21  "He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons. 22  "He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword. 23  "The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin. 24  "With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet. 25  "As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ’Aha!’ And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.”  Job 39:19-25 (NASB)

            “¶  “Have you given the horse its strength  or clothed its neck with a flowing mane? 20  Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust?  Its majestic snorting is terrifying! 21  It paws the earth and rejoices in its strength  when it charges out to battle. 22  It laughs at fear and is unafraid.  It does not run from the sword. 23  The arrows rattle against it,  and the spear and javelin flash. 24  It paws the ground fiercely  and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows. 25  It snorts at the sound of the horn.  It senses the battle in the distance.  It quivers at the captain’s commands and the noise of battle.”  (NLT) 

            When you look at how God designed the horse you see a big body supported by such small legs, but the horse can run at speeds of 40mph.  It will go into battle when it needs to go and not be afraid.  The horse is a magnificent creature.

           

            We will not look at the last two creatures, the hawk and the eagle described in verses 26-30:  “26 ¶  "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27  "Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28  "On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29  "From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30  "His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he.’”  (NASB)

            “26 ¶  “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar  and spread its wings toward the south? 27  Is it at your command that the eagle rises  to the heights to make its nest? 28  It lives on the cliffs,  making its home on a distant, rocky crag. 29  From there it hunts its prey,  keeping watch with piercing eyes. 30  Its young gulp down blood.  Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.’’”

            God asks Job is because of your wisdom that the hawk migrates to the south, or that gives the eagles such great eye sight?  Job will speak in chapter forty, but will not answer any of the questions that God has asked him.

            A hawk can fly at speeds over 100 MPH, and the eagle cans see it pray from very high in the air as their eyesight is six times better than that of a human.  This is another example of the creativity of our wonderful Creator.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t help but see the same thing in these verses as I have been seeing in the verse before that are spoken by the Lord and that is humility.  I feel so very small after reading these verses, and I also feel very blessed to be a part of the family of God, knowing that one day I will see Him face to face.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

           

1.      Humility and contentment go hand in hand.

12/6/2011 7:38:07 AM