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Job 39:13-18
13 Gavest thou the goodly [renen] wings [kanaph] unto the peacocks [`alac]? or wings ['ebrah] and feathers [chaciydah] unto the ostrich [nowtsah]?
14 Which leaveth [`azab] her eggs [beytsah] in the earth ['erets], and warmeth [chamam] them in dust [`aphar],
15 And forgetteth [shakach] that the foot [regel] may crush [zuwr] them, or that the wild [sadeh] beast [chay] may break [duwsh] them.
16 She is hardened [qashach] against her young ones [ben], as though they were not [lo'] hers: her labour [yagiya`] is in vain [riyq] without fear [pachad];
17 Because God ['elowahh] hath deprived [nashah] her of wisdom [chokmah], neither hath he imparted [chalaq] to her understanding [biynah].
18 What time [`eth] she lifteth up [mara'] herself on high [marowm], she scorneth [sachaq] the horse [cuwc] and his rider [rakab]. KJV-Interlinear
13 'The ostriches' wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love, 14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth, And warms them in the dust, 15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them. 16 'She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; 17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18 'When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider. NASB
Today we have expressions such as 'dumb as a blonde,' 'dumb as a rock,' 'brainless wonder,' 'clueless,' and so forth.
Back in Jobs day the expression would be, 'dumb as an ostrich,' which would express similar sentiments about someone who was not altogether there.
And so God give us a description of the ostrich.
It does not make a nest in a place of safety, but deposits its eggs in the sand, covered up and basically left there as an accident waiting to happen.
Though the ostrich will come back at night to sit on her eggs, any little noise or distraction will send them into a panic and they run away from the noise, regardless of whether it is a valid danger or not.
The ostrich may go too far and forget where her eggs are buried. She may stumble upon another nest of eggs and simply sit on them, until chased off.
When the little chicks are hatched, the mother will care for them, but again, when danger or distractions occur, she will leave her young to save herself. She can easily lose her young.
And so the ostrich has earned the title, 'dumb.' They are easily distracted, and easily frightened, but often impressed with their own attributes. Thus the comments that they lack wisdom and understanding. Their thinking and their brains are just too shallow to hold anything but simple thoughts. They will even go so far as to bury their own head in the sand, presuming that no one can see them.
They are often clueless about life. They get frightened easily, however they are impressed with their own wings and feathers, flapping them vigorously, and they can run faster than a horse.
The ostrich did not create itself, and did not fall into these attributes by accident of evolution. Here God makes it very clear that the characteristics of the ostrich were by design - Gods design.
And, it is God who provides for, sustains, and perpetuates the ostrich throughout history. On her own, the ostrich could never survive life.
But then, aren't people sort of similar to the ostrich? Could humanity survive history without the help of God?
And the answer to that is clearly, 'No.'
Hummm! Maybe we are beginning to see some similarities between these animals and humanity.
