Episode 26: Did you know many places in the Bible tell us how much God cares about all his creatures? We explore these verses, look at one example of God’s special design, and hear about some experiments learning the special properties of God’s world.
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A Bunch of Scripture
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matthew 10:29
Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
If thou see the donkey of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. Exodus 23:4-5
But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. Exodus 23:11
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: Exodus 20:10
Deuteronomy 25:4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
Psalm 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Rose Petal under a microscope
Job 38-41 I’ll leave this for you to read, but it’s worth it, especially remembering God knows the answer to every question he asks!
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6:27-30
Chameleon Tongues
These tiny creatures are full of specialized designs helping them fit into their environment. January 2016 we learned a little more of just how amazing God’s work on them is by studying their tongues.
The LA Times has a good article on what we learned, sadly with the required ending of, “Thus, a snappier and stretchier tongue might be just the evolutionary edge that they need.” But there isn’t the first guess as to how they could have developed these highly engineered tongues by random mutations.
Brown University published this mini video of a tiny chameleon catching a bug:
I first saw them on a composite video only on facebook, which is where I got this quote:
“The researchers watched 20 chameleon species and found the smallest animals have the fastest, most powerful tongues.
But why?
They believe it’s because smaller chameleons need proportionately more food to survive.”
Can you imagine assuming the reason a computer has a quiet and fast keyboard is because without it that model wouldn’t sell, end of story?
And they say the “real” science is on their side. [End rant]
Experiments
We recently finished up the first module on Worldview available at Creation Quest. I must say I was highly impressed, even with big expectations. About the only thing that bugged me was the sound quality when the live class would answer questions. But otherwise I thought Pat Roy did a tremendous job presenting the Young Earth Creation viewpoint to a middle school audience.
The experiments were a lot of fun, and all involved ice!
Today we did this one:
How clouds rain freshwater collected from salty oceans
Materials:
- tea kettle with hot water (handled by grownup)
- large plastic leftover container with matching lid
- food coloring
- salt
- heavy bowl
- ice (or frozen food, it just needs to be cold)
Process:
Add hot water to the container to around an inch or two deep [2-5 cm] and stir in some food coloring and a good pour of salt (the saltier the water, the more obvious the distillation process is).
Place the bowl in the middle and fasten on the lid.
Put the ice on top of the lid right above the bowl.
Wait long enough to watch the class, or about 1/2 hour
If the lid sags, you should have some water in the bowl, if it’s taut, you might have to tip the condenced water from the inner lid into the bowl.
Taste and examine both sets of water.
Fruit Battery Clock
We got our kit for Christmas (thanks Grandpa!), but it looks like the only thing you need to buy special is the digital clock with wires attached.
PBS does a good job describing the process.
PS Our apple didn’t hold out very long, just a day later it wasn’t producing enough electricity to keep the clock going. A highly acidic lemon is ideal if you can get one. 🙂
One Last Verse
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Isaiah 40:26
Last night’s sermon included this verse and I almost wished I’d used it on the podcast instead. Who would have guessed it demonstrates the “greatness of his might” to be able to hand out names? But knowing how vast the universe is today, we know Isaiah is absolutely right!
