KING CATFISH AND ANCIENT WRITING
Exodus 17:14a
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua..."
One of the mysteries of ancient Egypt is that it appears to have begun as a high civilization. The very first pharaoh of Egypt is known as Narmer, and his name simply means "Catfish." From what we can tell, King Catfish, who lived around five hundred years after the Great Flood, is helping to prove the truth of the Bible's history.
It was long thought that writing had not yet been invented at the time of King Catfish, or even at the time of Moses, 400 years later. But recent discoveries of writing on both carved stone slabs and papyrus-like paper from the time of King Catfish have shown that even at this early date, writing had been around for a long time. Even more amazing has been the discovery, from Catfish's time, of a well-organized industrial complex that had many production facilities, each specializing in the production of certain types of fired clay pots. The ruins clearly show that this industrial complex shipped its product all over the ancient Egyptian empire.
One thing is clear. Those who argue that Moses could not have written the early books of the Bible because they believe that writing had not at that time been invented have been clearly proven wrong by old King Catfish!
Heavenly Father, in this ever-changing world, where so many think that truth changes, I thank You that You have given me Your sure and true Word in Holy Scripture. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Close-up view of Narmer on the Narmer Palette. Courtesy of Keith Schengili-Roberts. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Exodus 17:14a
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua..."
One of the mysteries of ancient Egypt is that it appears to have begun as a high civilization. The very first pharaoh of Egypt is known as Narmer, and his name simply means "Catfish." From what we can tell, King Catfish, who lived around five hundred years after the Great Flood, is helping to prove the truth of the Bible's history.
It was long thought that writing had not yet been invented at the time of King Catfish, or even at the time of Moses, 400 years later. But recent discoveries of writing on both carved stone slabs and papyrus-like paper from the time of King Catfish have shown that even at this early date, writing had been around for a long time. Even more amazing has been the discovery, from Catfish's time, of a well-organized industrial complex that had many production facilities, each specializing in the production of certain types of fired clay pots. The ruins clearly show that this industrial complex shipped its product all over the ancient Egyptian empire.
One thing is clear. Those who argue that Moses could not have written the early books of the Bible because they believe that writing had not at that time been invented have been clearly proven wrong by old King Catfish!
Heavenly Father, in this ever-changing world, where so many think that truth changes, I thank You that You have given me Your sure and true Word in Holy Scripture. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Close-up view of Narmer on the Narmer Palette. Courtesy of Keith Schengili-Roberts. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
GLACIER RACES
Psalm 148:4-5
"Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that [be] above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created."
Life depends on what chemists call one of the most complex substances in the universe. This stuff refuses to act like other materials – and because it does, we are alive.
This odd material flows when it is solid, and its solid state is less dense than its liquid state. It can become a gas directly from a solid. Based on the expected behavior of matter, it should boil and freeze at much higher temperatures than it does. In addition, this substance conducts electricity in a very unusual manner – the usual method would not support life.
This mystery substance is ordinary water. If it didn't float when it became a solid, most of the life in every lake in a cold climate would be wiped out every winter. Water's unusual method for conducting electricity makes the processes of life possible within your cells. And water's strange behavior as ice under high pressure causes glaciers to flow down hill. While many glaciers move at a rate of only one or two feet per day, one glacier was once clocked at 250 feet per day!
Every substance that God has created was made with special abilities and features to make life possible. This is yet another testimony that our Creator God's attentions are focused upon us.
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that all of the creation has been made by You with us in mind. Help me never to take Your love and care for me for granted. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Holgate Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Courtesy of Beeblebrox. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Psalm 148:4-5
"Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that [be] above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created."
Life depends on what chemists call one of the most complex substances in the universe. This stuff refuses to act like other materials – and because it does, we are alive.
This odd material flows when it is solid, and its solid state is less dense than its liquid state. It can become a gas directly from a solid. Based on the expected behavior of matter, it should boil and freeze at much higher temperatures than it does. In addition, this substance conducts electricity in a very unusual manner – the usual method would not support life.
This mystery substance is ordinary water. If it didn't float when it became a solid, most of the life in every lake in a cold climate would be wiped out every winter. Water's unusual method for conducting electricity makes the processes of life possible within your cells. And water's strange behavior as ice under high pressure causes glaciers to flow down hill. While many glaciers move at a rate of only one or two feet per day, one glacier was once clocked at 250 feet per day!
Every substance that God has created was made with special abilities and features to make life possible. This is yet another testimony that our Creator God's attentions are focused upon us.
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that all of the creation has been made by You with us in mind. Help me never to take Your love and care for me for granted. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Holgate Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. Courtesy of Beeblebrox. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
THE DORMANT TOAD
Isaiah 43:20
"The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen."
Few deserts are more inhospitable than the Sonoran Desert of North America. Life is so hard there that even the Couch's Spadefoot toad must lie dormant for 11 out of 12 months.
Normally, the Spadefoot has only one month out of twelve to carry out the normal business of life. The Spadefoot has an internal clock that tells it when the violent desert rainstorms are near and when to begin to near the surface of the ground. The toads, extremely sensitive to ground vibrations, can hear the pounding rains miles away. The distant rains bring the toads out of the sand so that as soon as pools have formed, the male toads are in them, calling for the females.
Mating and egg-laying are completed by morning, and dawn finds the toads safely protected from the sun's heat beneath the sand. But the desert pools reach 100 degrees and will not last long before they dry up, killing the eggs. Under ideal conditions it takes only nine days for the eggs to hatch. However, even in a good year, the young toads have only a few weeks at most to eat the food necessary to keep them alive for the next eleven months until the next rain.
Our Creator God not only creates life which can survive under the most extreme circumstances, but He is also the source of eternal life.
Father, even though life itself can at times seem like an empty desert, help me to remember that Your care for me is much greater than for any of Your other creatures, and that only You are the Source of true life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Couch's Spadefoot toad. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Isaiah 43:20
"The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, [and] rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen."
Few deserts are more inhospitable than the Sonoran Desert of North America. Life is so hard there that even the Couch's Spadefoot toad must lie dormant for 11 out of 12 months.
Normally, the Spadefoot has only one month out of twelve to carry out the normal business of life. The Spadefoot has an internal clock that tells it when the violent desert rainstorms are near and when to begin to near the surface of the ground. The toads, extremely sensitive to ground vibrations, can hear the pounding rains miles away. The distant rains bring the toads out of the sand so that as soon as pools have formed, the male toads are in them, calling for the females.
Mating and egg-laying are completed by morning, and dawn finds the toads safely protected from the sun's heat beneath the sand. But the desert pools reach 100 degrees and will not last long before they dry up, killing the eggs. Under ideal conditions it takes only nine days for the eggs to hatch. However, even in a good year, the young toads have only a few weeks at most to eat the food necessary to keep them alive for the next eleven months until the next rain.
Our Creator God not only creates life which can survive under the most extreme circumstances, but He is also the source of eternal life.
Father, even though life itself can at times seem like an empty desert, help me to remember that Your care for me is much greater than for any of Your other creatures, and that only You are the Source of true life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Couch's Spadefoot toad. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
WHEN IS AN ANSWER NOT AN ANSWER?
Acts 17:25
"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things..."
As modern science has learned more about molecular biology, it has also learned that life could not have arisen on Earth from non-life. This fact is so clear that even many evolutionists now admit this truth and are now looking to space for an answer to their problem.
Dr. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule, calls the origin of life "almost a miracle." He believes that although life could not have developed on Earth, maybe it could have developed somewhere else. His theory – called "directed panspermia" – says that life could have been seeded on Earth by beings who developed elsewhere in the universe. But this is not really an answer. It simply places the origin of life beyond man's reach for inquiry. The important point is this – many evolutionists are now admitting that life could not have started here on Earth without the action of some intelligent agent, unknown to science.
This is exactly what the Bible teaches, for it clearly says that life was created through the Word of God. The source of life, and all creation, is found in that creating Word, made flesh for our salvation. This is a much higher answer than saying that little green men from outer space made us. Read the details for yourself in the first chapter of John's gospel.
Dear Father, I thank You that You have not only given me biological life, but that You have prepared life eternal for me through Jesus Christ, Who is the creating Word made flesh for my salvation. In His Name. Amen.
Photo: English molecular biologist Francis Crick. Published in a Public Library of Science journal. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
Acts 17:25
"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things..."
As modern science has learned more about molecular biology, it has also learned that life could not have arisen on Earth from non-life. This fact is so clear that even many evolutionists now admit this truth and are now looking to space for an answer to their problem.
Dr. Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule, calls the origin of life "almost a miracle." He believes that although life could not have developed on Earth, maybe it could have developed somewhere else. His theory – called "directed panspermia" – says that life could have been seeded on Earth by beings who developed elsewhere in the universe. But this is not really an answer. It simply places the origin of life beyond man's reach for inquiry. The important point is this – many evolutionists are now admitting that life could not have started here on Earth without the action of some intelligent agent, unknown to science.
This is exactly what the Bible teaches, for it clearly says that life was created through the Word of God. The source of life, and all creation, is found in that creating Word, made flesh for our salvation. This is a much higher answer than saying that little green men from outer space made us. Read the details for yourself in the first chapter of John's gospel.
Dear Father, I thank You that You have not only given me biological life, but that You have prepared life eternal for me through Jesus Christ, Who is the creating Word made flesh for my salvation. In His Name. Amen.
Photo: English molecular biologist Francis Crick. Published in a Public Library of Science journal. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
THE VENUS FLYTRAP
Psalm 104:24a
"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all..."
The exotic Venus flytrap is an insect-catching plant and a wonder of God's engineering. For example, these meat-eating plants usually live in mineral-poor soils, but by catching their own lunch, they actually provide their own fertilizer.
Up until now, scientists have not fully understood what causes the trap of the flytrap to close so rapidly on its victim. They knew that when an insect trips the little trigger hairs inside the trap, those hairs send an electric impulse to the cells on the outside of the trap.
Now it has been learned that this impulse almost instantly causes the outer cells of the trap to secrete acid. The acid breaks down the cell walls and they expand at high speed, causing the trap to close. The more the insect fights the trap, the more tightly it closes. Six to twelve hours later, after lunch is digested, the trap receives chemical signals from inside - the carnivorous plant's version of a burp – and opens to await the next meal.
The Venus flytrap is a glowing example of what Scripture is talking about when it says that the works of the Lord are manifold – that He has made so much variety and so many ways of providing for living things. Truly, the Lord's imagination and creativity are a wonder to behold!
Dear Father in heaven, I praise and thank you for how Your work so fills me with joy and wonder. I especially thank You for Your wonderful plan of salvation which has redeemed me from sin, death and the devil. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Courtesy of Picasa 2.0. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
Psalm 104:24a
"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all..."
The exotic Venus flytrap is an insect-catching plant and a wonder of God's engineering. For example, these meat-eating plants usually live in mineral-poor soils, but by catching their own lunch, they actually provide their own fertilizer.
Up until now, scientists have not fully understood what causes the trap of the flytrap to close so rapidly on its victim. They knew that when an insect trips the little trigger hairs inside the trap, those hairs send an electric impulse to the cells on the outside of the trap.
Now it has been learned that this impulse almost instantly causes the outer cells of the trap to secrete acid. The acid breaks down the cell walls and they expand at high speed, causing the trap to close. The more the insect fights the trap, the more tightly it closes. Six to twelve hours later, after lunch is digested, the trap receives chemical signals from inside - the carnivorous plant's version of a burp – and opens to await the next meal.
The Venus flytrap is a glowing example of what Scripture is talking about when it says that the works of the Lord are manifold – that He has made so much variety and so many ways of providing for living things. Truly, the Lord's imagination and creativity are a wonder to behold!
Dear Father in heaven, I praise and thank you for how Your work so fills me with joy and wonder. I especially thank You for Your wonderful plan of salvation which has redeemed me from sin, death and the devil. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Courtesy of Picasa 2.0. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
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