and the salt flats his dwelling
Salt flats, or salt lands, are areas characterized by high salinity and minimal vegetation, often inhospitable to human life. In the ancient Near East, such regions were considered barren and unproductive, yet God assigns them as the dwelling place for the wild donkey. This underscores the theme of divine wisdom and purpose in creation, where even seemingly desolate places have their role and inhabitants. The mention of salt flats can also evoke the imagery of judgment and purification, as seen in the story of Lot's wife in Genesis 19 and the use of salt in sacrifices in Leviticus. This phrase emphasizes God's control over all aspects of the natural world, providing for creatures in environments that humans might overlook or deem worthless.

• Job 39:6 opens with God Himself speaking: “I made…”

• These two words ground the whole verse in divine authorship. The same Creator who declared, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) is reminding Job that His hand fashioned every corner of the world, including the least hospitable places.

• Colossians 1:16 confirms, “For in Him all things were created… all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

• The Lord’s creative initiative extends not only to beautiful gardens but also to harsh landscapes. Psalm 95:5 echoes, “The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.” God alone determines where every creature belongs.

• The “wilderness” evokes images of untamed, lonely expanses. Deuteronomy 32:10 describes a “desert land, a barren, howling wasteland,” yet God still watches over it.

• Psalm 107:4 notes people wandering “in desert wastelands,” highlighting its emptiness. God fashions even these remote regions, displaying power unconfined by human civilization.

• By referencing the wilderness, the Lord underscores that He rules places Job cannot reach or manage—an answer to Job’s implied doubts about divine oversight.

• “His” refers to the wild donkey introduced in Job 39:5. God designed that animal to thrive where people seldom venture.

• Psalm 104:10-12 illustrates how God “provides water for the beasts of the field,” while Matthew 6:26 reminds us that the Father feeds every bird.

• In setting the wild donkey’s residence, God shows His meticulous providence: He equips each creature with instincts and physiology suited to its habitat. Job may own flocks, but only God allocates territory for beasts beyond human control.

• Salt flats (or salt land) are even more inhospitable than typical deserts. Jeremiah 17:6 pictures one dwelling “in parched places of the wilderness, in a salt land where no one lives.”

• Deuteronomy 29:23 describes cursed terrain “like Sodom and Gomorrah, which the LORD overthrew… a land of salt and burning sulfur.”

• By selecting such an extreme environment, God highlights His ability to sustain life in conditions we deem impossible, underscoring that limits we see are not limits to Him.

• God not only places the wild donkey in the salt flats; He calls it that animal’s “dwelling.”

• Psalm 50:10-11 reminds us, “Every beast of the forest is Mine… I know every bird of the mountains.” Nothing lives outside God’s purview.

• Job 38:41 asks, “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”—a parallel to this verse, stressing divine care in unlikely settings.

• The Lord’s declaration confronts Job with the truth that creatures flourish apart from human intervention, proving God’s ceaseless governance.

Job 39:6 communicates God’s sovereignty, creativity, and caretaking in realms beyond human reach. By crafting the wild donkey’s life in barren deserts and salty wastelands, the Lord demonstrates that He not only made every environment but also purposefully assigns each creature a fitting home. The verse reassures us that God’s wise, sustaining hand operates even where human eyes seldom see, inviting confidence in His comprehensive rule over all creation.