08 September 2014

Am I Enough – The Animal Kingdom

Greetings Dear Reader,

As God continues to speak it is clear that he wishes for Job and by extension us to learn through the power and beauty of his creation.  He illustrates his point by discussing several animals.  Jesus will later allude to this when he speaks of the Father’s care of the sparrow. 

God is being very clear here that there is nothing in the cosmos that is not under his control.  No minor thing escapes his attention or care.  Everything that lives does so because of his power.  Every habit of every animal is programmed by God.

There has already been allusion to God’s physical presence with Job.  We know that he visited Abraham physically.  Job has been clear that he expects to see God at the resurrection.  There is a moment here that catches my attention. 

Thousands of years before the birth of Christ God asks Job a question; “Will the ox spend the night by your manger?”  In the midst of speaking to Job out of the storm God asks this question which to me seems to be non-sequential to this man in this time.  Down through time that moment will come when one of them, God will be in a manger.

The subtlety of this moment speaks so much of the power of God to me.  In the midst of knowing the courses of everything in the universe he plants a moment of foreshadowing that reaches me thousands of years after Job is dust.    

This kind of power is what draws me down the path.  I do not know what significance the comment had for Job.  For me, however, this powerful subtlety is a prime exemplar of the detail in which God has responded to and planned for all things.  It is this that feeds my faith in the creator who promises to redeem all of creation to himself. 

The God who speaks out of the storm cares for every sparrow.  The one who sets the course of every star will become human and spend the night in a manger.  He will do it to right all things. He will do it to call me back into his light.  He will keep moving every bit of the universe to bring us out of sorrow and pain on an eternal scale.  He will show us that he is enough.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."

Job 39:1-30 
"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the does when they are in labor?  (2)  Can you count the months they are pregnant or know the time when they'll give birth?  (3)  They kneel down to give birth and deliver their young. Then the pain of giving birth is over.  (4)  Their young are healthy and grow up in the wild. They leave and don't come back. 
(5)  "Who lets the wild donkey go free? Who unties the ropes of the wild donkey?  (6)  I gave it the desert to live in and the salt flats as its dwelling place.  (7)  It laughs at the noise of the city and doesn't even listen to the shouting of its master.  (8)  It explores the mountains for its pasture and looks for anything green. 
(9)  "Will the wild ox agree to serve you, or will it stay at night beside your feeding trough?  (10)  Can you guide a wild ox in a furrow, or will it plow the valleys behind you?  (11)  Can you trust it just because it's so strong or leave your labor to it?  (12)  Can you rely on it to bring your grain back and take it to your threshing floor? 
(13)  "Does the ostrich flap its wings in joy, or do its wings lack feathers?  (14)  It lays its eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust.  (15)  It forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild animal may trample them.  (16)  It acts harshly toward its young as if they weren't its own. It is not afraid that its work is for nothing (17) because God has deprived it of wisdom and did not give it any understanding.  (18)  It laughs at the horse and its rider when it gets up to flee. 
(19)  "Can you give strength to a horse or dress its neck with a flowing mane?  (20)  Can you make it leap like a locust, when its snorting causes terror?  (21)  It paws in strength and finds joy in its power. It charges into battle.  (22)  It laughs at fear, is afraid of nothing, and doesn't back away from swords.  (23)  A quiver of arrows rattles on it along with the flashing spear and javelin.  (24)  Anxious and excited, the horse eats up the ground and doesn't trust the sound of the ram's horn.  (25)  As often as the horn sounds, the horse says, 'Aha!' and it smells the battle far away- the thundering orders of the captains and the battle cries. 
(26)  "Does your understanding make a bird of prey fly and spread its wings toward the south?  (27)  Is it by your order that the eagle flies high and makes its nest on the heights?  (28)  It perches for the night on a cliff. Its fortress 

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