In the Lord’s previous address about the ostrich, the Lord seemed to put the horse in a bad light in order to express his special gift to the ostrich, but, as though he would say: ‘Speaking of the horse…’ God went on and immediately asked Job, if it were he (Job) who had given the horse his strength. However, the Lord wasn’t merely pointing to how strong the horse is, but, rather, to all those things about the horse that is considered his strength: his courage, his ability to serve man in the field, as man’s vehicle of transport, as a special servant on the field of battle, etc. Thus, it has to do with those things one normally remembers about the horse, when one considers his worth. Moreover, the Lord asked Job, if he (Job) was the one who “clothed his neck with thunder” (Job 39:19). Many Biblical critics balk at this, believing it simply doesn’t fit the context, nor does it describe the horse. What in the horse’s neck would remind one of thunder?
The problem in the metaphor is not with the word thunder, but with the word neck. When Israel displeased the Lord, he described them as having stiff necks (Psalm 75:5), and, when they rebelled, God punished them by putting their necks in the yoke of a foreign general or king (Jeremiah 28:14). This, too, was a metaphor, one that expressed the Lord’s displeasure in his people. However, when one wished to honor someone, he also used the neck to describe his feelings metaphorically. For example, the neck was a thing of beauty, around which hung chains of gold (Song of Solomon 1:10). It was also described as a ‘tower of David’ built for a strong defense (Song of Solomon 4:4). Finally, Solomon described the neck of his beloved, as a ‘tower of ivory’ (Song of Solomon 7:4) that ravished his heart for its beauty (Song of Solomon 4:9).
With the above in mind, when the Lord described the horse with a neck of thunder, he wasn’t describing his neck per se. Rather, the ‘thunder’ was like a jeweled chain hung about the horse’s neck. Among horse enthusiasts, who hasn’t listened with awe, as the galloping horse passed by with the sound of thunder in one’s ears? I remember watching the film, Secretariat, arguably the greatest race horse of all time, as he won the Triple Crown, which hadn’t occurred for 25 years (March 30, 1970). I remember the sound of thunder, as he rounded the final turn in the race and finished 31 lengths ahead of the nearest horse behind him. Thunder doesn’t describe the horse’s neck, it is a jewel the Lord hung about the horses neck.
The Lord went on to ask Job, if it were he (Job) who gave the horse his ability to leap like a locust (Job 39:20), or if he had given him the power to snort and cause men to tremble (Jeremiah 8:16). Clearly, at this point we come to realize that the Lord is describing the war horse in these verses, and not just any horse. The war horse is courageous and is excited and paws at the ground, when he realizes the battle approaches. He has full confidence in his strength and charges, fearlessly, at the line of armed men before him (Job 39:21), and the thought of retreat is completely foreign to him (Job 39:22).
The war horse simply cannot be still as it awaits the command to charge the enemy, and it cannot hold back, when the trumpet finally sounds the charge. With seeming glee, it races to the battle with its rider’s weapons and shield hanging and bouncing against its side. It takes in the scent of war and snorts out its joy, when it hears the blast of the trumpet that commands the charge (Job 39:23-25)!
So, the Lord asks Job: was it really you who had done this? Are you the one responsible for this kind of strength and courage? Does the horse embody the character of **your** person? Is it really your power that he takes such joy in illustrating? In other words, it is the Lord who is Almighty in power, men are fearful in his Presence, and he has no regard for opposing forces that stand against him. So, why hasn’t the Almighty God stepped in on Job’s behalf? Why should that matter? Shouldn’t it be enough to know that, if the Lord wished to do so, he could? Does the general need to explain to the soldier why he must charge the enemy? Does the soldier, although he takes his life in his hands, have the right to know the details of the plans of his superiors? Why does Job or any man believe he **must** know the details of the Lord’s plan?
Smoodock's Blog 