Is it so hard to imagine that God would speak to man in his own language? And is it so hard to imagine God would use a man’s own cultural images? Some cultures and languages do lend themselves much better to the way God has always communicated to mankind in the fallen context, and here is the quintessence, the pinnacle of how God wants man to understand His revelation.
The images here are wild animals Job might have encountered in his place in history and geography. Each is cast in terms of Job’s cultural norms. Domestic goats are dependent and know it; wild goats owe no such allegiance to people. The latter probably does not eat so well and has to guard its own safety, but few can even catch sight of them at at the best of times. It was a common saying that no one had ever seen a wild goat give birth, a figure of speech indicating that some totally natural things were out of human reach. One might say similar things of wild deer. And catching sight of their young is a rare treat.
The term “wild donkey” refers to onagers, an uncommon term in the West. Before horses were domesticated in human history, onagers could be harnessed to primitive wagons, just barely. Riding them was considered impossible. By Job’s time, harnessing them had become quite rare, a dim memory of legend. They were among the fastest animals alive in that land, free and extremely troublesome to handle. Could Job, or any other man, change their habits and choice of habitat? God made them for that. Did anyone imagine onagers would prefer pulling under some driver’s command?
Perhaps more dangerous were wild oxen. Getting one of them to tolerate human presence was hard to imagine. God suggested that He could get anything He wanted from a wild ox. Could Job even get near one, much less make it do his work?
An ostrich was too stupid to care for its own eggs and hatchlings, yet it outran a horse and rider easily. And that horse — could Job craft anything so beautiful as a mane? Do war horses fear humans? A trained chariot team actually looked forward to charging into battle formations. If only human soldiers could be made so eager for battle, but against cavalry most conscripts would scatter. Rare was the infantry army trained and able to face chariots.
Yet above them all soars the birds of prey and carrion eaters. They wait their turn to clean up the battle field. Yet when men lived, they could hardly chase those birds down. Far lesser creatures, they were a frequent image of what happens when too many people are slaughtered in battle. A favorite taunt was to say how your enemy would be bird food. God made those birds that way. What did Job make?
