Single lesson
Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response
Job 39:1–30
In Job 39, the LORD speaks by asking Job about animals people cannot fully watch, direct or understand. The chapter points to the limits of human control within God’s creation.
Before you teach
This passage is part of the LORD’s speech in wisdom and dialogue. The speaker asks Job about the timing, habits, strength and movement of several creatures, staying focused on what they do and whether a person can manage them.
Explain the central teaching of Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response, using two details from the reading. Job 39 shows that many parts of creation lie beyond human command, calling for humility before the LORD.
Welcome: Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response
5 minIntroduce “The LORD Speaks of His Creation” and locate Job 39:1–30. Job 39 shows that many parts of creation lie beyond human command, calling for humility before the LORD. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Job 39:1, Job 39:16, Job 39:30
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe LORD starts with mountain goats and does. Job is asked whether he knows their time of birth or counts the months. Their young are born, grow strong in the open field, and go away. The point is that life unfolds where people do not oversee it.
The ostrich waves her wings proudly, yet leaves her eggs on the earth and is described as harsh with her young. The passage says God has not given her wisdom or understanding. Even so, when she lifts herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
The horse’s might, snorting and readiness for battle are set before Job with the question, “Have you given” these things? Then the hawk’s soaring and the eagle’s high nesting place are linked to wisdom and command that do not belong to Job.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The LORD Speaks of His Creation”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Job 39:1, Job 39:2, Job 39:3, Job 39:4, Job 39:13, Job 39:14, Job 39:15, Job 39:16, Job 39:17, Job 39:18, Job 39:19, Job 39:20, Job 39:21, Job 39:22, Job 39:23, Job 39:24, Job 39:25, Job 39:26, Job 39:27, Job 39:28, Job 39:29, Job 39:30
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What pattern do you notice in the LORD’s questions to Job?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. Job 39 shows that many parts of creation lie beyond human command, calling for humility before the LORD. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Job 39:1, Job 39:2, Job 39:19, Job 39:26, Job 39:27, Job 39:6, Job 39:9, Job 39:10, Job 39:28, Job 39:17, Job 39:18
Make and respond: Wisdom comparison cards
12 minWork on “Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response: Wisdom comparison cards”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The LORD Speaks of His Creation” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Job 39:1, Job 39:16, Job 39:30
Closing: return to The LORD Speaks of His Creation
3 minRevisit Job 39:1–30. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The LORD Speaks of His Creation and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Job 39:1, Job 39:16, Job 39:30
Questions to explore
What pattern do you notice in the LORD’s questions to Job?
Look for repeated questions about knowing, giving, making or commanding, and notice how they underline Job’s limits.
Job 39:1, Job 39:2, Job 39:19, Job 39:26, Job 39:27
Which details show animals acting outside human control?
Notice creatures living in wilderness, not serving at a trough, not ploughing, and nesting on high cliffs beyond human command.
Job 39:6, Job 39:9, Job 39:10, Job 39:27, Job 39:28
What is striking about the ostrich in this passage?
Compare the statements that she lacks wisdom and yet, when lifted high, scorns the horse and his rider.
Job 39:17, Job 39:18
Make, think or respond
Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response: Wisdom comparison cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage commends”, “What it warns against”, “The reason or outcome stated”.
- Read Job 39:1–30. Use “The LORD Speaks of His Creation” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Write a proposed everyday example beside one teaching. Label it as your example and explain which words in the text guided it.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Job 39: God's Answer and Job's Response connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The LORD Speaks of His Creation” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Job 39:1–30. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Job 39:1–30. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Job 39
1 “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2 Can you count the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow themselves. They bear their young. They end their labor pains.
4 Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.
5 “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture. He searches after every green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
11 Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
12 Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
15 and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.
16 She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18 When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
19 “Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20 Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
24 He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?
28 On the cliff he dwells and makes his home, on the point of the cliff and the stronghold.
29 From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
30 His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.