The questions God asks in chapter 39 are about the animal kingdom. A lot of these things, man knows about on the surface. But I am reminded here that man isn't God's sole creation. Specifically, God speaks about mountain goats and deer, the wild donkey, the wild ox, the ostrich, the horse, and the hawk. God demonstrates his knowledge and his care and attentiveness to each species in front of Job with this line of questions.
When it comes to the goats and deer, God knows that each is pregnant, and how far along they are...knowing when each offspring is born. The wild donkey, a nomad, is described as wandering, glad to not be bound in the city by men. God always provides for him.
I'm not familiar with how wild oxen were used back a million years ago, but these were described as beasts of burden. They do man's heavy lifting. Do we forget that God created them, and even so, not merely to serve man?
The ostrich kind of has a weird story, about how it lays its eggs in the sand, oblivious to the fact that something or someone could trample them. The ostrich doesn't appear to have a very motherly attitude toward its young as described in Job 39.
I just love the various personality traits God calls out in reference to each animal. The donkey's laughter, the ox's trustworthiness, the ostrich's joy, a horse's pride, ferocity and strength. Snorting, "Aha!" Very cool.
Hawks and eagles fly and soar so far above our heads, its impossible to believe we have any sort of control or say in where they go or what they do. I think that's the sense God wanted to give Job, as a sort of metaphor for God's comparative wisdom and power.
But what I was reminded of here is that God not only knows each person intimately, he even knows each animal. He has given them these traits, and I gotta believe enough heart and soul to realize they are his creations.
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