Audio Links

Video Links

Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
Job 39:14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
Job 39:15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
Job 39:16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
Job 39:17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
Job 39:18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
Job 39:19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Job 39:20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
Job 39:23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
Job 39:24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Job 39:26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
Job 39:28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
Job 39:29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
Job 39:30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

Introduction

God is in the process of demonstrating to us through Job that we are not in a position to be questioning His thoughts and His ways, much less contending with, reproving and condemning Him. God wants us to know that He is the designer and the Potter and that we as the clay have no right to so much as question the Potter, or to ask, ‘Why have you made me thus?’

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

This is the section of the Old Testament Paul references in Rom 9:19:

2Ch 20:6 And [ Jehoshaphat] said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

If God is ruling in the kingdoms of men, it is no challenge for Him to give and control our every thought as individuals.

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Isa 19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.

God’s point which He is driving home to us through Job, is that nothing that happens, takes place because by our will, but rather it is all being done “after the counsel of His own will”:

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Because the flesh cannot see that the realm of the spirit is actually directing the physical realm, God, through Job, tells us:

Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

I said ‘God tells us’, because all the commentaries agree that this is all a statement of fact, and it is not a question. The word ‘goodly’ is the Hebrew word ‘alas’, and it should be translated as ‘rejoice’, ‘wave joyously’, solace, or ‘leap for joy’. Here are the only two other entries for this word in the Old Testament:

Job 20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice [ H5965, alas, rejoice, wave joyously, or solace] therein.
Pro 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace [ H5965, rejoice or solace] ourselves with loves.

Here is how Strong’s defines this Hebrew word ‘alas’.

H5965 a las aw- las’ A primitive root; to leap for joy, that is, exult, wave joyously: – X peacock, rejoice, solace self.

The words “gavest thou the” are not in the Hebrew, and the word translated ‘goodly’ means “to leap for joy, wave joyously, rejoice [ or] solace self”. But this verse is grievously mistranslated from beginning to end. The word Hebrew word translated ‘peacock’ is ‘renen’, and should be translated ‘ostrich’ according to Strong’s and all the literal translations and according to secular history, which tells us that peacocks had never been seen in the Middle East until after Alexander the great, who had never seen a peacock until he got to India. Alexander came along long after Job.
Here is Strong’s definition for this Hebrew word:

H7443
renen
reh’- nen
From H7442; an ostrich (from its wail): – X goodly.

The first word translated ‘wing’ is ‘kanaph’, Strong’s number 3671, and it is translated correctly. We can say this with certainty because of how it is used in this verse:

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings [ Hebrew – kanaph, H3671]; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

You would never say ‘Each had six feathers’, or ‘With twain feathers he covered his face…’
But the second word translated as ‘wing’ is an entirely different Hebrew word. It is the word ‘ebrah’.
Here is Strong’s definition of this word:

H84
‘ebra
heb- raw’
Feminine of H83: – feather, wing.

‘Ebrah’ is not ‘kanaph’; Strong’s number 3671, which we have demonstrated is properly translated as ‘wing’. So in checking on how this word ‘ebrah’ is translated elsewhere in the Old Testament, we find that it should be translated as ‘feathers’.
Here are all the other entries in the Old Testament for this Hebrew word ‘ebrah’:

Total KJV Occurrences: 4
feathers, 2
Psa_68:13, Psa_91:4
wings, 2
Deu_32:11, Job_39:13

While the translators have chosen to translate this word as ‘wings’ twice, and as ‘feathers’ twice, we have demonstranted that the Hebrew word ‘kanaph’, Strong’s 3671, cannot mean ‘feathers’ and must mean ‘wing’, whereas the only other place ‘ebrah’ is translated as wing is in Deu 32:11.
Here is that verse with its Strong’s numbers:

Deu 32:11 As an eagleH5404 stirreth upH5782 her nest, H7064 flutterethH7363 overH5921 her young, H1469 spreadeth abroadH6566 her wings, H3671 takethH3947 them, bearethH5375 them onH5921 her wings: H84

Here the translators have made the same mistake they made in Job 39:13 when they also translated two very different Hebrew words, ‘kanaph’ and ‘ebrah’, with the same English word ‘wings’. It is obvious that an eagle does not spread its feathers without spreading its wings. It is entirely possible, however, for the eagle to bear its young on its feathers. Indeed it would be impossible to bear them on anything else, since an eagle is covered with feathers.
We recognize that this is all a parable, but even a parable has no power without clearly understanding what are the various types within the parable. If God is talking about a ‘wing’ and we are thinking ‘feather’, we will not get the message of the parable.
Likewise, if he is speaking of a stork and we are thinking of feathers, we will not get the message He is attempting to give to us, and that is exactly what the translators have done with the next word we will consider. That word is the Hebrew word, ‘chasiydah’, Strong’s number H2524, which they have translated as ‘feathers’ in this verse.
Here is the King James Version of this verse with the corresponding Strong’s numbers:

Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodlyH5965 wingsH3671 unto the peacocks? H7443 orH518 wingsH84 and feathersH2624 unto the ostrich? H5133

There you see it. The word with the number H2624 has been translated as ‘feathers’ here in Job 29:13. Yet this very same Hebrew word ‘chasiydah’ is translated as ‘stork’ in all of the other five times it appears in the Old Testament.
Here is every entry in the Old Testament for this word ‘chasiydah’:

H2624
cha s yda h
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
stork, 5
Lev_11:19, Deu_14:18, Psa_104:17, Jer_8:7, Zec_5:9 feathers, 1Job_39:13

Here are a couple of the verses where this word is correctly translated as ‘storke’:

Jer 8:7 Yea, the stork [ H2624, chasiydah] in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
Zec 5:9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork [ H2624, chasiydah]: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

Here in this verse, Job 39:13, is the only time in all of the Old Testament where the translators chose to translate this word ‘chasiydah’ as anything other than stork.
Finally, the word which has been translated as ‘ostrich’ is the word which should properly be translated as ‘feathers’. It is the Hebrew word ‘notsah’, Strong’s number H5133.
Here is how Strong’s defines this Hebrew word:

H5133
no
tsa h no tsa h
no- tsaw’,
no- tsaw’ Feminine active participle of H5327 in the sense of flying; a pinion (or wing feather); often (collectively) plumage: – feather (- s), ostrich.

Here are all the entries for this word in the Old Testament:

H5133
/
no
tsa h
Total KJV Occurrences: 4
feathers, 3
Lev_1:16, Eze_17:3, Eze_17:7 ostrich, 1
Job_39:13

Again, this verse is the only verse in the Old Testament where this word is not translated consistently, and properly as ‘feathers’.
So how should this verse be translated? Here is a much better translation of this verse:

Job 39:13 The wing of the ostriches flap joyously, though not like the stork’s pinions for flight. (LITV)

What God is telling us through Job is that an ostrich, mistranslated as ‘peacock’, has a lesson for us which is contrasted with the lesson of the stork, mistranslated as ‘feathers’. The ostrich is not like the stork inasmuch as the stork is best known for the great care it shows its young, while the ostrich is best known for ignoring its young. This is all very well hidden in this terrible translation of this 13th verse of Job 39.
But the lesson God is giving to us is that one bird is earthbound, proud and without concern for its young. We are even told that her heart is hardened against her young.
As we will see, God tells us that He Himself has deprived her of wisdom or understanding.
So a flightless bird incapable of even getting above this earth and its dust, which shows no care for its own young, is contrasted with another bird which has wings, which can fly in the heavens, and is known for the care it gives its young.
So we will “hearken diligently” (Exo 15:26) to what the Lord points out to us about the ostrich:

Job39:14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
Job 39:15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
Job 39:16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;

The ostrich is a mother fowl who cannot fly in the heavens and who shows no concern for her own children, but God’s words always have a spiritual lesson which reveals us much about ourselves at a certain time in our own “one event… [ which] comes alike to all”.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

So who is it in the “one event” which comes to all men, who has no care for her own young? Is it not “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”? Is it not the bondwoman and her son? Is it not that great harlot who is the first “mother of us all”, against whom the Lord places a desire within the heart of the ten horns of the beast to destroy her?

Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The bondwoman mother is a harlot who cares only for herself, and is typified by God in the book of Job as an uncaring ostrich, who He has deprived of understanding wisdom and love. In time we all come to see that she never has cared for us, and God will put it into our hearts to destroy this harlot:

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The ten horns don’t just naturally turn against their harlot mother; they do so specifically because “God hath put it in their hearts to fulfil his will…”, and it is for that very same reason that this self- centered ‘ostrich- like’ harlot is so uncaring for anyone but herself:

Job 39:17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
Job 39:18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.

Here is this very same spirit in this unfaithful wife:

Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

We never see ourselves as being unfaithful until we look behind us to see what we have done and where we have been. In the mean time this is our attitude while we are the waters on whom that great harlot sits:

Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing [“lifeth up herself on hight”]; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

It is not good to be the first man Adam, but it is essential to becoming “the last Adam”. It is not good to hate the woman, but it is essential to “keep the things written therein”. We must not “add to” or “take away” one word of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Who is it who “lifteth herself up on high, [ and] scorns the horse and his rider”? Is it not he who lifts himself up against all that is called God? It is not the blasphemous beast upon whom the great whore sits?

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin [ the blasphemous beast of Rev 13] be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth [“lifts himself up”] himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Remember the ostrich is what she is because God Himself made her that way:

Job 39:17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

With that in mind, God continues to quiz us through Job.

Job 39:19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Job 39:20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
Job 39:23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
Job 39:24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

As with all of God’s word, these words describe both Christ and His elect, as well as the forces of evil which He has made for the day of evil:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

That is the reason God is asking Job all these questions. He is driving home His sovereign power of all His creation within us. That point cannot be made without letting us know just how little, helpless and useless we are of ourselves.
He asks us the same questions via the prophet Isaiah:

Isa 40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
Isa 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Isa 40:16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isa 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isa 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

When we are given to acknowledge these truths, we are with our Lord, riding on a powerful “white horse”, which fulfills all that is said of the horse in verses 19-25:

Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

And this is the fate of our horses while we are in Egypt:

Exo 14:27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
Exo 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
Hag 2:22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

As ‘the first man Adam’, you and I are first the horse and the horsemen of Egypt, who are “overthr[ own] in the midst of the sea”. But at the appointed time we become the white horse, and the armies of heaven who ride on that white horse with our Savior, who destroys the horses and the horsemen of Egypt.
In Christ we are this fearless horse who courageously goes where his Rider directs him:

Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

As the white horse and his rider, we “rejoice in the Lord” and in “His strength”.

Psa 33:1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Gen 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Psa 68:34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

It is God who gives strength to both horses and horsemen. Those of Egypt first, and then the white horse and his horsemen who are “the armies… in heaven”. We are all both horses and both horsemen at our own predestined time:

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The same principle is to be applied to the fowls of the air. It is God who has made them all. Their abilities are the work of His hands, and you and I are but clay in His hands:

Job 39:26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
Job 39:28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
Job 39:29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
Job 39:30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

It is we who fly “in the heavens” by God’s wisdom. We mount up at His command and we make our dwelling place “on high”. We abide “on the rock… the strong place”, which can withstand any storm:

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

“The prey” and “the slain” is that old… first man Adam within us:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Is any of this by our wisdom? No, the exact opposite is true. The truth is that none of this computes in the mind of our “old… first man Adam”.
This is the answer to “Does the hawk fly by thy wisdom?”

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Next week, if the Lord wills, our Lord will continue to reason with us, and we will continue to “hearken diligently” to these words:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Job 40:9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
Job 40:10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.
Job 40:11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.
Job 40:12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.
Job 40:13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.
Job 40:14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.