THOSE NOISY ANTS
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."
Scientists have long known that some ants communicate with one another using vibrations. They also know that these ants pick up vibrations through ears that are located in their knees. Ants in four subfamilies communicate using these vibrations. These ants tend to build nests with wood or dried pulp, which tend to carry the vibrations. Disturb a carpenter ant nest, and the vibrations will begin. An individual ant will send out as many as seven vibrations in 50 millisecond intervals. Other ants in the nest will hear these vibrations as they travel through the material that makes up the nest.
New research has raised interest among researchers about whether some ants can hear airborne sound. To their surprise, ant researchers discovered that some ants communicate through audible squeaks. If you hold a red desert ant up to your ear, you may hear tiny squeaks. The squeaks are produced by the last segment of the ant's body. The ant rasps two parts of the segment together in a principle similar to that used by crickets. Among the things communicated by squeaks are that dinner is ready or a good nest site has been found. Squeaks are also used to call for help after a cave in.
Communication is a wonderful gift of God, but the ability to communicate is not what makes us human. Rather, we are special in the creation because we were created in God's image and have been redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord, I thank You that You have communicated Your love to me. Amen.
Science News, 2/5/00, pp. 92 94, "When Ants Squeak." Photo: Two workers communicating through touch. Courtesy of Noah Elhardt. (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."
Scientists have long known that some ants communicate with one another using vibrations. They also know that these ants pick up vibrations through ears that are located in their knees. Ants in four subfamilies communicate using these vibrations. These ants tend to build nests with wood or dried pulp, which tend to carry the vibrations. Disturb a carpenter ant nest, and the vibrations will begin. An individual ant will send out as many as seven vibrations in 50 millisecond intervals. Other ants in the nest will hear these vibrations as they travel through the material that makes up the nest.
New research has raised interest among researchers about whether some ants can hear airborne sound. To their surprise, ant researchers discovered that some ants communicate through audible squeaks. If you hold a red desert ant up to your ear, you may hear tiny squeaks. The squeaks are produced by the last segment of the ant's body. The ant rasps two parts of the segment together in a principle similar to that used by crickets. Among the things communicated by squeaks are that dinner is ready or a good nest site has been found. Squeaks are also used to call for help after a cave in.
Communication is a wonderful gift of God, but the ability to communicate is not what makes us human. Rather, we are special in the creation because we were created in God's image and have been redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord, I thank You that You have communicated Your love to me. Amen.
Science News, 2/5/00, pp. 92 94, "When Ants Squeak." Photo: Two workers communicating through touch. Courtesy of Noah Elhardt. (CC-BY-SA 4.0)
DOES THE BIBLE PROVIDE UNNECESSARY, IMPOSSIBLE DETAILS?
Genesis 35:17
"Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, 'Do not fear; you will have this son also.'"
Sometimes the Bible seems to offer unnecessary or even impossible details as it recounts a historical event. Take, for example, the Genesis account of Rachel's death while giving birth to Benjamin.
This account offers a very curious detail. When Rachel's labor is at its peak – with the baby not yet fully born – Rachel's midwife makes a seemingly impossible statement. She announces to Rachel that Rachel should take comfort in the fact that she is having another boy. In a normal birth, the head emerges first, so it's impossible to tell whether the child is a boy or a girl until it is fully born. This detail might be enough for some to dismiss the account as nothing more than a fanciful legend. But a London physician has suggested that this account describes a breech birth. He suggested that Benjamin was born feet first, thus allowing the midwife to identify Benjamin as a boy as the largest part of his body was still emerging from the birth canal. This also explains why he was identified as a boy during the peak of labor. The physician further explains that in Rachel's day breech births commonly resulted in the death of the mother.
Knowledge is lost when we question the accuracy of the Bible's account of history. Details in the Bible that seem unnecessary have often proven to be correct. Details in the Bible that seem impossible are only so because they are beyond our understanding.
Lord, grant me understanding and insight into Your Word. Amen.
Bible Review, 2/98, p. 18, "Did Rachel Have a Breech Birth?" Photo: 1910 postcard showing Rachel's tomb. (PD)
Genesis 35:17
"Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, 'Do not fear; you will have this son also.'"
Sometimes the Bible seems to offer unnecessary or even impossible details as it recounts a historical event. Take, for example, the Genesis account of Rachel's death while giving birth to Benjamin.
This account offers a very curious detail. When Rachel's labor is at its peak – with the baby not yet fully born – Rachel's midwife makes a seemingly impossible statement. She announces to Rachel that Rachel should take comfort in the fact that she is having another boy. In a normal birth, the head emerges first, so it's impossible to tell whether the child is a boy or a girl until it is fully born. This detail might be enough for some to dismiss the account as nothing more than a fanciful legend. But a London physician has suggested that this account describes a breech birth. He suggested that Benjamin was born feet first, thus allowing the midwife to identify Benjamin as a boy as the largest part of his body was still emerging from the birth canal. This also explains why he was identified as a boy during the peak of labor. The physician further explains that in Rachel's day breech births commonly resulted in the death of the mother.
Knowledge is lost when we question the accuracy of the Bible's account of history. Details in the Bible that seem unnecessary have often proven to be correct. Details in the Bible that seem impossible are only so because they are beyond our understanding.
Lord, grant me understanding and insight into Your Word. Amen.
Bible Review, 2/98, p. 18, "Did Rachel Have a Breech Birth?" Photo: 1910 postcard showing Rachel's tomb. (PD)
HONEYBEES TRACKED WITH RADAR
Numbers 13:27
"Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.'"
Honey has always been a popular food. For thousands of years it was a symbol of prosperity. Perhaps honey's continuing appeal is one of the reasons there is so much research on honeybees. A research team has released their findings that explain how honeybees learn how to navigate. Another team has released information showing how bees know how far they have traveled.
Before a honeybee can go out looking for food for the first time, it needs at least one training flight. Researchers cleverly attached tiny wires to bees to keep track of the bees' flight paths. They used radar tracking to make maps of the honeybees' flight paths. They found that after the trainee hovers in front of the hive, it makes a straight line away from the hive for a short distance, then returns. As training progresses, the trainee flies faster and farther, demonstrating progressive learning.
The Israelites had to endure 40 years in the wilderness because they did not faithfully trust God to do what He said. As believers wander through the wilderness that is this life, we need to learn from Israel and trust God's Word, even if we can't understand how God can keep His promises. His Word brings the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, which is sweeter than honey. Believing His promises will bring us to the promised land of heaven.
Dear Father, I thank You for Your Word and the salvation it has brought me through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Science News, 2/5/00, p. 87, "Bees log flight distances, train with maps." Photo: Honeybee carrying pollen back to its hive. Courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim. (GFDL 1.2)
Numbers 13:27
"Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.'"
Honey has always been a popular food. For thousands of years it was a symbol of prosperity. Perhaps honey's continuing appeal is one of the reasons there is so much research on honeybees. A research team has released their findings that explain how honeybees learn how to navigate. Another team has released information showing how bees know how far they have traveled.
Before a honeybee can go out looking for food for the first time, it needs at least one training flight. Researchers cleverly attached tiny wires to bees to keep track of the bees' flight paths. They used radar tracking to make maps of the honeybees' flight paths. They found that after the trainee hovers in front of the hive, it makes a straight line away from the hive for a short distance, then returns. As training progresses, the trainee flies faster and farther, demonstrating progressive learning.
The Israelites had to endure 40 years in the wilderness because they did not faithfully trust God to do what He said. As believers wander through the wilderness that is this life, we need to learn from Israel and trust God's Word, even if we can't understand how God can keep His promises. His Word brings the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, which is sweeter than honey. Believing His promises will bring us to the promised land of heaven.
Dear Father, I thank You for Your Word and the salvation it has brought me through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Science News, 2/5/00, p. 87, "Bees log flight distances, train with maps." Photo: Honeybee carrying pollen back to its hive. Courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim. (GFDL 1.2)
FAMOUS SCIENTISTS REJECT DARWINIAN EVOLUTION
Proverbs 10:14
"Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction."
Modern evolutionists often give us the impression that evolution was accepted by the scientific community of Darwin's day. But the scientists of Darwin's day didn't hear his theory, slap themselves on the forehead, and say, "Of course!" In fact, some of the most influential scientists of the day were hostile to Darwinian evolution.
Take Adam Sedgwick, for example. Although he taught field geology to Charles Darwin, he flatly rejected Darwin's theory. After reading Darwin's book, he wrote to Darwin that parts of it were completely false and filled him with sorrow. Astronomer Sir John Herschel also rejected Darwin's theory. A fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, he called Darwinian evolution, "the law of higgledy piggledy." Evolution claims that life developed spontaneously by time and chance, but Louis Pasteur was motivated to prove that life only comes from life. Science philosopher William Whewell would not allow Darwin's book into the Cambridge University Library. James Clerk Maxwell strongly opposed Darwinian evolution.
Ironically, it was the churchmen of Darwin's time who embraced Darwinian evolution. And when those who grew up in evolutionist churches got their science degrees, all they knew was that "everyone" had always supported evolution. This illustrates how a church's lack of faithfulness can change the worldview of an entire culture for the worse.
Lord, protect and preserve me from ever being led into false belief. Amen.
Creation, 9/11/99, pp. 26 27, "Holy War?" Photo: Adam Sedgwick in 1867.
Proverbs 10:14
"Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction."
Modern evolutionists often give us the impression that evolution was accepted by the scientific community of Darwin's day. But the scientists of Darwin's day didn't hear his theory, slap themselves on the forehead, and say, "Of course!" In fact, some of the most influential scientists of the day were hostile to Darwinian evolution.
Take Adam Sedgwick, for example. Although he taught field geology to Charles Darwin, he flatly rejected Darwin's theory. After reading Darwin's book, he wrote to Darwin that parts of it were completely false and filled him with sorrow. Astronomer Sir John Herschel also rejected Darwin's theory. A fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, he called Darwinian evolution, "the law of higgledy piggledy." Evolution claims that life developed spontaneously by time and chance, but Louis Pasteur was motivated to prove that life only comes from life. Science philosopher William Whewell would not allow Darwin's book into the Cambridge University Library. James Clerk Maxwell strongly opposed Darwinian evolution.
Ironically, it was the churchmen of Darwin's time who embraced Darwinian evolution. And when those who grew up in evolutionist churches got their science degrees, all they knew was that "everyone" had always supported evolution. This illustrates how a church's lack of faithfulness can change the worldview of an entire culture for the worse.
Lord, protect and preserve me from ever being led into false belief. Amen.
Creation, 9/11/99, pp. 26 27, "Holy War?" Photo: Adam Sedgwick in 1867.
THE REAL SIN AT THE TOWER OF BABEL
Genesis 11:6
"And the LORD said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.'"
A misunderstanding of some of the history recorded in Genesis has led some people to conclude that we are repeating the sins committed at the Tower of Babel. After all, we build huge cities and incredibly high skyscrapers. English is now virtually a universal language, and the Internet has led to the international pooling of knowledge.
The truth is that a universal language was not the reason God confused the language at Babel, although it contributed to the problem. Nor was creating a large tower the problem, although it too was a symptom of the people's pride. Pride certainly was a problem, and it led to the core sin committed at Babel. The core sin the people committed was defying God's command to subdue or inhabit the whole Earth. In failing to spread over the globe, they were only inhabiting a small part of it. God's command that people spread over the entire Earth was for our protection. He knew that if we were all one people, a dangerous, dictator-led government could not be kept in check. God also knew that if one nation was infected with dangerous false philosophies there would be no other people who knew the truth.
In confusing their language at the Tower of Babel, God protected us from all of this. While we may not always understand the reason for God's commands, He always has our well being in mind. That's because He is our loving Creator.
Dear Father, I give You thanks and praise because You always have my well-being in mind. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Engraving: "The Confusion of Tongues" by Gustave Doré (1865).
Genesis 11:6
"And the LORD said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.'"
A misunderstanding of some of the history recorded in Genesis has led some people to conclude that we are repeating the sins committed at the Tower of Babel. After all, we build huge cities and incredibly high skyscrapers. English is now virtually a universal language, and the Internet has led to the international pooling of knowledge.
The truth is that a universal language was not the reason God confused the language at Babel, although it contributed to the problem. Nor was creating a large tower the problem, although it too was a symptom of the people's pride. Pride certainly was a problem, and it led to the core sin committed at Babel. The core sin the people committed was defying God's command to subdue or inhabit the whole Earth. In failing to spread over the globe, they were only inhabiting a small part of it. God's command that people spread over the entire Earth was for our protection. He knew that if we were all one people, a dangerous, dictator-led government could not be kept in check. God also knew that if one nation was infected with dangerous false philosophies there would be no other people who knew the truth.
In confusing their language at the Tower of Babel, God protected us from all of this. While we may not always understand the reason for God's commands, He always has our well being in mind. That's because He is our loving Creator.
Dear Father, I give You thanks and praise because You always have my well-being in mind. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Engraving: "The Confusion of Tongues" by Gustave Doré (1865).
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