LIVE: "Him That Reproves God, Let Him Answer" (Job 39), Part 1/4

God doesn’t answer Job’s pain with a spreadsheet of reasons. He answers with questions and the questions land like thunder. Job 39 takes us into the wild where goats give birth on cliffs, deer calve unseen, and creatures thrive far from human control. We follow God’s line of argument and feel the weight of it: if we cannot even track the basics of life in the animal kingdom, what makes us think we are qualified to put God’s providence on trial?

We dig into the passage section by section, highlighting God’s sovereignty over creation and his constant care for what we overlook. The wild donkey becomes a turning point as we talk about human dominion in Genesis, what humanity was entrusted with, and how sin and self-rule shattered our ability to govern even ourselves. That thread brings Job’s suffering into sharper focus: sometimes our strongest demand is for an explanation, but our greatest need is a corrected view of God and of our limits.

You’ll also hear the panel’s candid reactions: how this chapter exposes the fantasy of independence from God, why humility is not humiliation, and how the animal world can rebuke our pride while strengthening our trust. If you’re searching for biblical teaching on suffering, God’s sovereignty, and Christian humility, this conversation will give you language and clarity. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

Transcript

The Point Of God’s Questions

SPEAKER_06 0:00

We're in Job chapter 39. And as I said, God has already been speaking in chapter 38, which was the first time that he began to engage in his response toward Job. So, but in chapter 39, this chapter continues the lesson that was begun in chapter 38, which was God showing his wisdom and his power in the animal kingdom, in the animal world, where creatures live and move, where creatures reproduce, where these animals survive by instincts and by abilities that God has given them. That God has given them. And so this is important for us to understand. Because a big point I intend to make on this is going to make itself manifest, I hope, in your minds. So now, what we also see here in these chapters is that man does not control these things and often doesn't even understand them in terms of how God deals with the animal kingdom in these aspects. And so it's important for us to get a really good understanding exactly of how God is dealing with man. But the lesson here is going to be that if God wisely governs the animal world, then he can certainly be trusted to govern human life and the human world, even when his ways by men are not fully understood. And this is all this the book of Job, starting from the time that God breaks in with Job, is really about God making Job to understand that his ignorance has caused him to misunderstand exactly how it is that God deals with his creation. And he shows Job, the Lord, that is, he shows Job that how are you, if you can't control the animal kingdom, the irrational animal kingdom, how can you control the kingdom in the realm of those who have been given the ability to rationalize mankind, humanity? And Job is saying, or God is saying, if you can't figure it out with yourself, how are you going to figure out figure it out with anyone else? And if you can't figure it out with yourself or with the animal kingdom, how are you going to figure out and understand how it is I should be doing things? God, that is. And this is what we are dealing with. So now, in Job chapter 39, verse 1, I'm going to read verses 1 through 4. And God says to Job, He says, Do you not know? Or do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or can you mark when the hinds do calve? Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or knoweth the time when they bring forth. They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, their young ones. They cast out their sorrows. Their young ones are in good liking. They grow up with corn. They go forth and return not unto them. So what we're seeing here is that God continues to show Job his wisdom through his care over the animal kingdom, especially those that live far from human observation. And God is pointing out that to Job that he deals with his creation that goes beyond the sight and observation of the common man, the average man. He cares for things that even we do not see, that he is caring for. Man does not control or even fully or is fully able to understand and to observe the birth and growth of the animal kingdom. Yet God oversees their lives from beginning to their full maturity. God sees this. And Christians, I want you to understand something. If you remember back in Genesis, in the beginning, that man was entrusted by God to the overseeing and governing of the animal kingdom. And now God is pointing out to Job how it is impossible for man to do and to conduct the office that was given to him by God to conduct. In other words, God is showing to Job, he says, Listen, you think you understand how I manage the providence of my creation? I gave you governance over the animal kingdom and all the earth. I gave it to you, man, to control, to manage, to oversee, to name the animals, to govern them, to guide them in a way that is useful to you and the earth. And that you would have had, and that you would have maintained. However, Job, your problem is that you can't manage yourself. You can't manage yourself. It was given to man to oversee and to manage creation, to manage the animal world, the animal kingdom, to be lord over the animal kingdom. It was given to man to be the Lord over the animal kingdom. And here you have God showing Job, you can't do this. It was given to you to do, it was given to man to do. But man has abdicated. Man has abdicated, given up his ability to rule and govern over all creation. Why? Because man could not govern himself. He couldn't govern himself. And this was a big problem. And so this chapter continues to show that God's providence extends to places and to creatures that are unknown to man, proving that God is constant in his universal care to all of his creation. To all of his creation. Job thirty-nine, verse five, and I'll read verses five through eight. God continues with Job and he says, Who has sent the wild ass free? Who has loosed the bands of the wild ass? Whose house I have made the wilderness and the barren land his dwellings? He scorns the multitude of the city, neither does he regard the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searches after every green thing. So God out here is laying out that the wild donkey is described as a creature that lives free in the wilderness and is not subject to any human control. But remember, brethren, all of the animal kingdom was supposed to be under the authority of man. And now God is saying that it has become out of control. God has appointed its nature, and God has appointed its dwelling place for the wild donkey. And it shows us that God gives different creatures. Different creatures. And man cannot control them. Man can control them. And keep in the back of your mind that God is showing Job, who believed somehow, that his righteousness stood above God's judgment and how he manages his kingdom. Job was questioning God's management, meaning he was questioning God's providence, his providential control over creation. But Job was mostly speaking about God in terms of his dealings with himself. And so the problem here that we have here is that God is correcting Job. He's correcting Job on the assumptions that he was making about God's judgment as it pertains to Job, who was suffering. And keep in mind, Job knew that he had a proper standing with God. And so to undergo this affliction and this oppression that he's going through is foreign to him and new to him in the sense that he doesn't understand why it was happening. And he spoke to God because I think that to some degree Job had this understanding as well, to some small degree, that if he is going to be afflicted, there must be something involved. But he also understands that when you receive the righteousness of Christ, when you receive God's righteousness that is given and imputed to you, if you still have to undergo suffering and trials and persecution and affliction, this might have seemed a little bit weird to Job. This seemed like a new thing. And to him, it certainly was. But God's wisdom is seen in giving every creature what is suitable for its nature, including mankind. Including mankind. Man was supposed to be the governor of the animal kingdom. Hear me out here. When God created the animal kingdom, and when he created Adam, last, he created man last of all his created beings. But he gave dominion to man to oversee and to govern and to rule over all the other created beings that were inferior to man. He gave authority of these all of all the beastly order of the world. He gave it to man to govern. He gave it to man to govern. And man failed. And now God is saying, if you couldn't do what was given to you to do, because you couldn't manage yourself, how can you be entrusted to understand my judgment over managing the same world that I gave you to manage, and you failed at doing so? This is what is happening. God is saying, I gave you the chance to rule and to govern over the animal creation. And Job, you and mankind, starting from Adam, you failed. And now you want to question how I govern? You want to question how I govern you? If you can't govern the animals, the irrational animal kingdom that was given to you to manage, what makes you think that if you couldn't manage the animal kingdom, you couldn't manage yourself, but now you want to tell me, God Almighty, creator of all, how I should administer providence in all things. This is what God is pointing out to Job. You think you know it all, Job, but you don't. I'm gonna set things in order before your very eyes. This is teaching us that God gives different creatures different ways of life. And as I said, man can control them. God's wisdom is seen in giving every creature what is suitable for them and their nature. And now that our nature, our nature in Adam has fallen, become sinful, become depraved. This is the condition of man. How can a depraved soul exercise any judgment without having the necessary requisite lucidity to be able to determine what is needed to properly manage God's kingdom in a way that glorifies God. This is what we're dealing with. Man was supposed to govern the animal kingdom. He lost that opportunity, he lost that sovereign right that God had given him at one point. And he lost it simply because he was not able to manage himself. Man was not able to manage man. And if you can't manage yourself, how are you going to manage the beast of the field? How are you going to manage other men, other women, children? How are you going to manage your household? You can't. Everything now requires God, the Lord God, to be involved in order to effectually bring about the ends for which his purposes have been established, to which his decree has been established. Man lost dominion over creation. Why? Because he could not control himself. This is what the Lord God Almighty is showing Job, and as we read these things, this is what he is showing us. This is what he's showing us. So that being said, I will start and appeal to those of you who are on the panel to get your opening remarks. Keep it short, no sermons, but I want to give you, get your opening remarks, keep it down to a minute or so at the max. So let me start with you, Sister Candy. Your opening remarks so far.

SPEAKER_05 17:52

Candy, you there? All right, Brother Rodney, your opening remarks.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Uh just good evening, everybody. I'm just here to catch the words tonight. I was a little late, so I didn't get to you know have anything to say, but I know God is speaking and I'm ready to just get right into it.

SPEAKER_06 18:10

You don't get to give me an explanation, just get right into it.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

I'm just here to continue to hear God speaking.

SPEAKER_05 18:16

So Mr. Meg, your opening remarks.

SPEAKER_07 18:23

Good evening. I I think this is really good, Jonathan, because so many times we think, you know, when this is brought down, even with what you were saying, so many times we think that man, man thinks that they can do something on their own apart from God. And to me, this chapter also shows our depravity, and that the one thing that he did trust us with, it got ruined in chapter two of Genesis. You know, it didn't take long.

SPEAKER_06 18:49

No, it didn't take long at all. You're right. Absolutely right.

SPEAKER_05 18:52

Brother Pat, opening remarks.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

I don't have an opening remark. I'm a little late today, so I will pass.

SPEAKER_06 19:02

No problem. Candy, did you make it in yet? All right, I'll move on.

SPEAKER_05 19:09

Sister Lisa, opening remarks, and good evening.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Good evening. Yeah, you know, this is something I hadn't really considered before. You know, just like, you know, in the last, in our last session, we, you know, God talked about how he provides the meals for for even the lion. And I, you know, hadn't considered the fact that he is really involved in all of it. You know, I just kind of always I don't think I hadn't thought about it except for the fact that God put these animals here and they do what they do. Everything is instinct for them. They hunt to eat. But when you when you read this, it's it it shows so much more than that. And and you're exactly right. Man in his fallen state is so selfish. I mean, we just started thinking about ourselves, and even the animals that we involved, we don't consider you know human, you know, being humane or any of that. It's it's it's really eye-opening. This is an eye-opening chapter, just this far.

SPEAKER_06 20:16

So yeah. I mean, think about this. What what this is what God is showing Job and us. And it and there's much more to it. So if anybody adds, wants to add to it, it's great. But here's what I see. We were expected, mankind was entrusted by God to manage creation. He put us over all creation, he put all of the animals underneath man, and he put the ground of the earth underneath man. And the ground itself and nature itself is all inanimate. Animals are irrational, they are instinctual and they do what their instincts tell them to do. And God put that underneath man to manage. Irrational, inanimate nature. But then man fell short. Man was unable to govern himself. So if he is not able to govern and manage himself, how can he be entrusted to handle any other aspects of God's creation? This is what God is showing Job, because Job made these assessments about how God was dealing with him as he was undergoing his affliction that he is still under at this point. And Job is being humbled by this right now. But so it's such an it's really an important point. To understand because this right here, this book, God speaking, there's no way to listen to what he's saying and not understanding that we should have, not having us not having an understanding that we are to be looking to see God's God's glorification and his sovereignty in all of this. He's saying that listen, I gave man control over the earth. I dressed the earth and made it prepared it, made it beautiful, sorted it all out. Think about all creation. Five days of creation that God laid out this beautiful tapestry that we know we know as the earth and the firmament and the heavens, all this stuff. He made it all. And he did that in five days. On the sixth day, he made man. It was as if God was making everything ready. It's as if man was coming to visit God at his house. And it is as if God prepared the house, made it beautiful and ready and appropriately decorated and made comfortable, and he did everything he could to make it a suitable place for man to enjoy. Brother Joseph, a beautiful garden. Brother Nathan, a beautiful gift God gave to man. It's like he made the earth without man first to prepare it for man. To prepare it, to make it comfortable, to make it habitable, to make it beautiful, to make it glorious, to make it be the place where all of man's needs can be supplied, and that man would have control over all of it. What did man do? He vouchsafed it. He abdicated it all to Satan. Just so he could have this expectation that he will be God like. I'm not saying that. Don't run away with that. What I'm saying is that God gave man a little bit of control by making by pointing him to be over creation. And man failed at managing what God gave him. And he's pointing out to Job, you have a lot of nerve, Job, to judge my judgment over creation. I know what you spoke to me, you spoke to me directly. And that's fine. But I still, nonetheless, I still must correct you, Job. Because your assessments were wrong. You can't handle creation that I was that I gave to you. You couldn't manage yourself. Me having given you the ability to rationalize, to be wiser than creation. You couldn't manage yourself. How can you be entrusted to understand how I then had to step in and govern what you were unable to govern? And see, this is this is this is a big thing. Sister Mariah, what are your thoughts? Opening remarks, and good evening.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

Good evening. Um I can't say anything that has not been said. I'm just looking forward to unraveling this chapter, digging in deeper, and you know, just hearing the wisdom that you and the brothers and sisters are gonna share. Good evening.

SPEAKER_06 26:57

Absolutely. Sister Vanessa, your thoughts. Good evening.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

I feel like God is telling Job, look, buddy, this is my word, look, buddy, you don't know anything. You have no knowledge of nature at all. And I think that Job is feeling less than, which he should. But I you know, because God is over everything, and there's no way that Job has any idea of how to how the animals were made or how God gave them what he gave them. He you know, nature when God gave us nature, including trees and everything else, they all bow to him, whether anybody believes that or not, that's their own problem. But you know, he says the rocks will even cry out. But the thing is, is people don't understand how to treat animals or take care of animals for the fact that God is the one that takes care of them all.

SPEAKER_06 28:07

Right. So that's my Amen. Appreciate that, Sister Goodman. Brother Jeffrey, your thoughts, and good evening.

SPEAKER_04 28:16

And good evening, Jonathan. Good evening, panel. Yeah, I think God is kind of essentially taking Job over his knee and giving him the old spiritual spanking here a little bit in order to get his attention. I think he's using a question about the animal kingdom in order to show Job where or how much his knowledge of things really was, or I should say wasn't. You know, he he's giving Job here some clear indication as to just how limited Joe's Job's thinking is, is what his knowledge of God is. It was great. God says is telling you there's infinitely more of me you don't understand yet. Right. And I think your point about the animal kingdom being taken away from man's being servants to man is absolutely dead off. I've often thought, Jonathan, I'm almost done here. I've often thought that the animals, in one way, have an advantage over us, Jonathan. They never committed sin. They are still what God created them to be. They are still doing what God created them to do. Multiplying, birds are flying, fish are swimming, cattle are moving, all that. They're still doing what God created them to do. What did man do? He chose to sin and turn his back on God. Amen, brother. So let the reconciliation through Christ begin. All right. That's all I gotta say.

The Unicorn And Unstoppable Strength

SPEAKER_06 29:47

Amen. Verse 9. I'll read verses 9 through verse 12. Job 39, 9, verse 9 through 12. God says to Job, Will the unicorn be willing to serve you or abide by thy crib? And by the way, the unicorn isn't the fictional animal that we see in Disney movies. Unicorn is mostly thought of by most interpreters as being a wild ox. That's what is usually being referred to. So, but anyway, it's definitely an animal that we are familiar with. And and like Blazing Rose says, some people say a rhino, some people say wild ox. Either way, the the the understanding is the same. Nobody knows what it really is, what kind of animal it really is. But we know it's a strong animal. We know it's a big animal. We know it's one that