His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.”
Job 39 ends God's tour of the animal world with its sharpest-eyed creature: a bird that nests on a crag and finds the dead on a battlefield. Job had been arguing with God about how the world is run, and this last picture asks who designed that chain, from the nest on the rock to the blood in the young birds' beaks.
The Question Behind the Picture
God's questions about the hawk and the eagle are not a nature lesson.
William KellyNow He looks at the hawk, and the eagle more particularly. "Does the hawk fly by your wisdom?" Who was it that gave these special powers to all these animals and birds? "Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest on high?"
The same writer notes that this splendid description has a purpose: it is "all for the purpose of overwhelming Job with the folly of his pretending to talk about God."
Eyesight That Argues for God's Sight
The eagle's penetrating eyes point to something greater. One writer draws the lesson Job was meant to learn.
Leslie M. GrantAll this tells us that God has a means of carrying out His judgments, whether man understands it or not. Job was to learn from this: the One who made the eagle and its penetrating eyes surely has eyes keener than the eagle. His judgments can be fully trusted.
Which Bird Is Meant
The bird here may not be the lone eagle we picture today. A crowd of birds arriving at a dead body fits another bird of that region.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThis is probably the bird known as the Griffon Vulture or Great Vulture... though the word may include other species. Its habits match what Scripture says about the eagle, and these birds are common in Palestine. No sooner does an animal fall than these birds gather in numbers on its carcass... The true eagle is a solitary bird, but vultures are seldom found alone... Its swiftness is proverbial, and it rests on the highest rocks.
Scavengers in the Service of God
The scene is grim: young birds lapping blood. Yet one writer sees the bird still serving God's will, and looks ahead to a final feast.
Samuel RidoutDoes the eagle rise to dizzy heights at man's command, and build its nest on some high crag, from where its eye takes in the far-off prey for its helpless young? It follows that battle into which the horse has rushed, and "where the slain are, there is he." God uses these all to fulfil His will, and He sustains and cares for them. He will call them to one great feast at last, when the angel summons them: "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings... and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great" (Revelation 19:17-18).
Judgment with an Eagle's Speed
The picture did not stay in Job. One writer shows where the Lord used it, and what it meant for Israel.
J. N. DarbyThe Lord makes some allusion to Job 39:30, though it is a proverbial expression, which one need not go far to find the meaning of. Where the carcass of Israel is, there will the judgment of God descend with the sight and speed of an eagle.
Others have read the picture differently. One writer rejects those readings and applies it to Israel.
William KellyThe revolting interpretation that "the carcass" means Christ, and "the eagles" the transfigured saints, or the reverse, deserves rebuke rather than discussion... Applied to Israel, all is simple. The carcass represents the apostate part of that nation; the eagles, or vultures, are the figure of the judgments that fall upon it.
Where the Argument Lands
Verse 30 ends the animal survey. One writer states where the whole parade leaves Job.
William KellySo it is Jehovah-God who alone orders and alone knows. His kind wisdom takes in every creature, not least the creatures that are clearly outside all the care, or even the notice, of man. Is Job then to contend with God? Or, if he is so bold, can he pretend to instruct God?
Summary
- Creator — The question is not how the eagle behaves. It asks who gave the bird its powers, its nest on high, and its far-seeing eyes.
- Eyes — Job must reason upward from the bird's eyesight. The One who made those eyes sees further still, so His judgments can be trusted.
- Servants — Even birds feeding on the dead serve God's will. He cares for them, and He will summon them to a final feast.
- Echo — The Lord took up this line again. God's judgment falls with an eagle's sight and speed.
- Silence — The bird that sees everything leaves Job with nothing to say. He cannot contend with God, much less instruct Him.