One of my earliest memories as a child is that my grandfather raised chickens in his yard, and so did one of his neighbors, who lived up the street, or about 50 yards away. As I think of that scene, I remember that the cock bird had a habit of flapping its wings just before he crowed in the morning. I am told, but I’ve never seen the sight, that if two cock birds fight, the victor will flap its wings. It seems as though the act of a bird flapping its wings, but not in flight seems to have a proud or glorious connotation. I don’t wish to go too far here and attribute human feelings to birds, but I do suggest that God often uses the habits of his creatures to point to one of man’s attributes, whether for good or for evil.[1]
In Job 39:13 the Lord calls Job’s attention to the ostrich, and in particular to its wings which are like that of a stork or a hawk (depending upon the translation, but usually the stork). The point is that the ostrich has wings like a stork and flaps them continuously, as she runs over the land, but she never leaves the ground. What a contradiction! She has great wings, but she can’t fly! What use are they to her? Nevertheless, she proudly flaps them as she goes, because that’s the way the Lord has made her!
Why is that? Why would the Lord give wings to a bird but not for flight? Did he err in creating some of his creatures? No, but rather the anomaly points to a peculiarity in men. We tend to glory in our shame (Philippians 3:19). The ostrich can’t fly, but this doesn’t stop her from glorying in her wings! God has revealed himself to men, showing himself in the things he created (Romans 1:19-20). Yet, men love to change the truth into something they prefer (Romans 1:21), which really means pushing God out of their knowledge (Romans 1:28). Job and the friends remembered that the Lord rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, but what they didn’t remember is that there are a lot of anomalies in God’s creation, meaning there are exceptions to the general rule. When men would love to preach the prosperity gospel as the truth, they are unable to prove it is so, because God doesn’t always act according to men’s desires or according to the rules, which they want to be true in nature. In other words, God has created birds that don’t fly!
Notice that, not only can’t the ostrich fly, but she does really stupid things like laying her eggs on the ground, and doesn’t protect them (Job 39:14-15). Which begs the question: how has this stupid creature survived as a species? Whether through accident or the hunt for food, other creatures or men could destroy or eat her entire brood (Job 39:16). Nevertheless, this also is a design of the Lord. The text says, “For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her” (Job 39:17). Therefore, if this is so, then the ostrich has survived as a species, even to our day, because the Lord has protected her and not because of her own strength or wisdom.
Thus, once again, this points to the Lord’s care for Job. Surely, God had been responsible for Job’s prosperity prior to his present calamities, and the fact that events turned against him doesn’t mean the Lord had turned his face away. The Lord knows what has occurred, and Job knows he has done nothing to warrant his calamities being interpreted to mean he dwells under the wrath of God. So, if God isn’t punishing him now, and had greatly blessed and protected him prior to his calamities, what has really changed? Is Job so unwise as to believe the Lord has changed his mind about him? Is God as fickle as that? If not, why not trust him to bring his present undesirable work (from Job’s perspective) to a conclusion, and, although Job doesn’t understand what the Lord is doing, he should be able to predict the Lord will bless him in due course.
To conclude, the Lord says that, when the ostrich does rise up to flee, even the horse can’t catch her. In other words, although her wings won’t give her flight, and although her stupid disposition toward her young puts her survival in danger, the Lord has provided her with an ability that greatly exceeds the ability of one of the most remarkable creatures God has created. Men praise the speed of the horse, and engage in contests to prove which ones are the fastest etc. However, none of the horses are able to match the speed of the ostrich over the landscape. While men could endlessly speculate as to why the Lord has done such a thing, the facts make the Lord’s point that he is able to bring a great blessing out of seemingly hopeless situations. Although the survival of the ostrich seems hopeless, the Lord predicts her survival by blessing her with and ability that far exceeds that of one of the most celebrated creatures God has ever created (Job 39:18).
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[1] For example, the Lord uses the horns of unicorns to point to the strength of Joseph, and the horns represent his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Deuteronomy 33:17). David uses the horn of the unicorn to point to his own strength, which would be blessed by God (Psalm 92:10). However, in a negative sense the viper is used to illustrate the subtlety of folks who work against the Lord’s purpose (Genesis 3:1; Matthew 3:7; 23:29, 33).
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