No doubt we’ve all heard and used the expression/truism that none are so deaf as those who will not hear. Moreover, this expression, if known and used in Job’s day, could, no doubt, have been applied by the friends, against Job, and by Job against the friends. Obviously, whenever folks disagree and argue a point in an effort to make known the truth, but the parties never come to an agreement, someone, if not everyone, is usually being obstinate. The Lord, in fact, often accused his people of being obstinate, refusing to listen to his servants, or refusing to obey what he had revealed to them in the Law (Isaiah 30:9; Jeremiah 22:5; Malachi 2:2).
In Job 39:5 the Lord mentions the wild ass, which was renowned for its stubbornness. In fact, Zophar mentioned the wild ass in his first reply against Job. He claimed: “A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born free like a wild ass’s colt” (DRB; Job 11:12). The CEV paraphrases: “it’s easier to tame a wild donkey than to make a fool wise.” The Lord asks Job. “Who sent out the wild ass free?” In other words, who gave it his freedom? Its stubbornness was not an accident or an attitude developed due to ill treatment. Rather, it was given him by God as part of its nature. Job spoke of the oppressor in Job 3:18, implying that weaker men have yielded to the oppressor’s will, with only death as an escape. Yet, the wild ass won’t yield at all! Some have even compared its stubbornness to man’s own free will, given him by God. However, this isn’t a true picture of the dilemma, because a man could also use his free will to submit. The wild ass, on the other hand, would not. He is considered by many to be useless, because he is, in fact, untameable (see: The Asiatic wild ass – Equus hemionus), so some hunt him for his meat.
The Lord told Job that he made the wild ass so that he preferred the wilderness and barren lands over the well-watered and fruitful places, usually found near cities in Job’s day (Job 39:6-7). Why would a beast make its home in a place where food is so scarce? When food supplies become scarce, many animals migrate from place to place and rest in areas where sources of food and water are in ready supply. Nevertheless, the wild ass scorns the easy life, preferring the more rugged environment, which is out of the ready reach of mankind, who simply want to use him for their purposes.
Some people are like this! They can’t or won’t be tied down to a regular job like most other folks. They shun society, moving from place to place, without regard to how they’ll survive. They balk at being driven by other men, and prefer rugged individualism, embracing their freedom with a mean existence, instead of serving other men and their goals (fat pastures), the normal things valued by most other men. In fact, Job may have had some of these folks in mind, when he claimed he helped the stranger (Job 31:32).
The Lord says he cared for all those who make their abode in the barren wilderness (literal or metaphorical). While Job’s compassion was limited to strangers, whom he saw where he lived, the Lord’s compassion extends to all rugged individuals, including animals like the wild ass, wherever they may be found, and he feeds them, as they live out their mean existence, as free creatures[1] in the barren wilderness, away from normal societal behavior (Job 39:8). The point is, if God cares for such seemingly useless creatures (from man’s perspective) like the wild ass, why wouldn’t he notice and care for Job, who has been rejected by his friends, his family and society at large?
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[1] Interestingly, although the wild ass is considered to be a weak and harmless creature, it remains untameable. On the other hand, the most ferocious and savage of beasts, like the lion mentioned in Job 38:39-40, are tameable and will submit to the will of man.
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