Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? – Job 39:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 18, 2024): Job 39

The ibex, a kind of wild goat, inhabited the Middle East in antiquity. We know this because the area is filled with paintings of this goat. It was a familiar scene. Yet, little was really known about this mountain goat. The ibex gives birth to its young in the wilderness. Unlike domesticated animals, it needs no help. And unlike human children, the ibex offspring can stand within minutes and is ready to go and romp and play.

None of this Job knew. He had seen the ibex. His community used the mountain goat as a symbol and used the image as art in his society, and yet the ibex remained a mystery. God keeps on bringing Job to a simpler and simpler situation. However, Job is still left with a mystery that he can't solve but that God can.

Not long ago, I read a social media post that proclaimed that man had left behind the simple realities like God uses here with Job. We know what Job doesn't know. And maybe there is a feeling in our culture that, given enough time, we can come to understand everything that we might not understand now. Just as we have advanced beyond the simple knowledge of Job, future humanity will go beyond the knowledge that we possess today. If that is true, then why do we need a God?

It is a good question. However, increased knowledge has not resulted in increased happiness or satisfaction. And even though we know more than Job did, a mystery still remains. I believe a God-sized mystery will always remain regardless of how our knowledge increases. The failure of knowledge to heal the problems of the human condition is a failure of the Modern era. One of the strengths of the Post-Modern era is that we have come to realize that knowledge will never save us. Regardless of whether we call what we don't know the mystery or chaos or whatever name we might want to attach to it, it is the God-sized hole that only he can fill. We still need God to fill that mystery despite our increased knowledge. For Job, it was the ibex; for us, maybe it is the ever-expanding universe or something else for which we can't find answers. Either way, it still reveals humankind's need for God to bridge the gap from where we are to where God needs us to be.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 40