Job 39:1-4

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?

The study of zoology a religious duty

God is here represented as calling the attention of Job to various orders of animal life. Reasons for such study.

I. Because it gives to man a high revelation of God. Next to mental and moral philosophy, there is no subject in nature that gives us so high a view of God. There is more of Him seen in the humblest sentient creature than in the orbs of heaven, the billows of ocean, the flowers of the field, or the trees of the forest. In these creatures we discover sensation, self-motion, choice; and these are not merely Divine productions, but rather Divine emanations. Whilst I would not underrate the study of physics, chemistry, botany, astronomy, I hold that zoology is a grander, more quickening, and a more religious study than either. It brings the soul into contact with much that is akin to itself, the “seeing eye, the hearing ear,” the quivering sensation, and the guiding instinct.

II. Because it tends to promote our spiritual culture.

1. It tends to encourage our faith in the goodness of God. The creatures specified in this chapter are all objects of His kindly regard. Surely the God who takes care of these creatures will not neglect His human children.

2. It tends to destroy our egotism. What are we in the presence of some of these creatures? What is our strength to that of the unicorn or the buffalo, our courage to that of the war horse, our vision to that of the eagle or the hawk, our speed to that of the ostrich and the wild ass? Where is boasting then?

3. It tends to promote a kindly feeling towards all sentient life.

III. They supply illustrations of human life. Let us look for this purpose at the three creatures mentioned here--the “wild ass,” the “ostrich,” and the “war horse.” The “wild ass” may be taken to illustrate--

1. The genius of freedom.

2. The “ostrich” may be taken to illustrate an intensely Selfish character; and she does so in three respects--heartlessness, cowardice, and pride. How heartless she is! She “leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.” “She is hardened against her young ones,” or treateth her young ones harshly. No creature in creation seems so indifferent to its young. To an intensely selfish man, self is everything; neighbours, and even children, are sacrificed to self-gratification. In her cowardice she illustrates a selfish character. Naturalists tell us that when danger appears, she puts her head into the sand, so as not to hear or see the approaching perils. She will not look danger in the face and grapple with it. A selfish man is always cowardly, and that in proportion to his selfishness. In fact, there can be no bravery and intrepidity where there is not a generous love; it is love alone that makes the hero. How proud is the ostrich! “She lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.” This creature seems to be remarkably proud of its wings, although it cannot fly, and of its power of speed. When the fleetest horse with its rider approaches, she flaps her wings as if in proud scorn, conscious that she can leave the swiftest horseman behind. So in truth she can; it is said, with the help of her wings, she can run at the rate of sixty miles an hour. In this she seems to glory. The more selfish a man is, the more he prides himself in a something that he has which others do not possess. The “war horse” here presented in such majestic poetry as bounding and quivering with the spirit of the campaign, may be taken to illustrate--

3. Those noble workers in the cause of human progress who are found fixed and filled with the spirit of their mission. Difficulties to them are nothing. They laugh at impossibilities; for dangers they care not; opposition they defy. Such were Paul, Luther, Garibaldi. No man can fulfil his mission whose whole nature does not glow with his spirit. (Homilist.)