Job 39:26 - Meaning and Application

The birds of the air, like the beasts of the earth, show God’s wonderful power and care. Here he points especially to two noble birds, the hawk and the eagle. The hawk is a strong and skilled bird of prey, and God draws attention to her swift, sure flight. She heads south in winter, following the sun, especially when she is shedding her feathers and growing new ones. That wisdom is not man’s gift, but God’s.

It is possible the hawk’s skill in chasing prey was not used for human sport in Job’s time, as it has been since. It is a shame if a trained hawk, taught to fly at a man’s command and amuse him, is used in a way that brings dishonor to God. Her skill comes from God, and even her usefulness to people should lead us to praise him.

The eagle is also a royal bird, and yet a bird of prey. Even that may help us understand why God sometimes allows wicked people to prosper for a time. The eagle is known for how high she flies. No bird rises so high, has such strong wings, or can bear the sun so well. God asks Job, “Does she soar up at your command? Is it by your power that she rises so high?” No, she rises by the natural power and instinct God gave her, far beyond Job’s reach.

God also points to the strength of the eagle’s nest. Her home is her fortress, high on a cliff and set among the rocks. That places her and her young beyond easy danger. Sinful people often feel just as safe in their wrongdoing as the eagle in her rocky nest, but the Lord can still bring them down from there (Jeremiah 49:16). The higher the wicked seem to sit above earthly trouble, the nearer they should remember they are to heaven’s judgment.

God also notes the eagle’s sharp sight. Her eyes can see far away, though she looks downward, searching for prey. In that way she is like a hypocrite, someone who pretends to be religious while keeping his heart set on earthly gain, such as some rich reward or even a widow’s house that he plans to devour under the cover of devotion. Her outward height hides her real aim, and so does the hypocrite’s false show of faith.

The eagle also shows how she feeds herself and her young. She seizes living creatures, tears them apart, and carries the food to her chicks, which are taught by instinct to drink blood. That is natural for birds, but it is hard to believe that human beings, who have reason and conscience, can thirst after blood, unless history had given us so many sad examples. The eagle also feeds on dead bodies. “Where the slain are, there is she.” These birds of prey can smell battle from far off. So when God judges his enemies, the birds are pictured as being invited to the great feast of God, to eat the flesh of kings and captains (Revelation 19:17-18).

Jesus also uses this same picture: “Wherever the dead body is, there the eagles will gather” (Matthew 24:28). Every creature moves toward the food that belongs to it, because God has placed that desire within it. These and many other examples of instinct and skill in the lower creatures, which we cannot fully explain, should humble us. They remind us of our own weakness and lack of understanding, and they call us to give glory to God, the source of all being, power, wisdom, and perfection.