Howdy partners, I just got back from the zoo, well its been several days now. I had the occassion to enjoy the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. My was it a treat! It has been some years since Ive been to a real zoo, and this one had over 2000 species, a very good set animal exhibits, elephants, giraffes, zebra, lions and tiger.
As I roamed the grounds it was very apparent that I could only skim the exhibits, not take time to thoroughly enjoy them; it would have taken more than a day! SO many times we take things, including creation, for granted. We look at Animal Planet and National Geographic yawn and change the channel.. remark that Ive seen that before. Remarkably it sometimes fails to make the impression on us that it should. THis world we live in, even in this advanced civiliation is still full of God mysteries resplendent through the animal kingdom!
Ps 40:5 Oh Lord how wonderful are Thy Works.
Oh Yes there was a Botanical Garden, I hurried through that, but at least I now have some appreciation for the explosion of color and dizzying array of plants and flowers. The pools and fountains were a refreshing and provoked the question, " I wonder what the Garden of Eden looked like?"
Doing some research I found out that there are approximately 1.5 to 2 million species discovered, and there might be 2-50 million yet to be discovered! 10.000 new species are discovered each year!!
I caught a picture of the giant snapping turtle, without realizing that there are 300 species of turtles. We went into the reptile house, ooh ing ahhing at the snakes and lizards, There are almost 8000 types. Birds? forget it, there are 10,000 species of birds,a nd 30000 fish. Those is the ones that we know.
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0934288.html
The genius of Gods creation is revealed threads that occurred to me after I left the zoo.. I shall name a few.
We have covered the diversity. The sheer numbers boggle the mind and drive us to worship the Creators intelligence. He wasnt content with just creating one bird or fish, He is prolific. creator as seen throughout the universe.. man is just discovering how much he doesnt know. A truism emerges, " When man thinks he knows all there is to know, there is a discovery in science that makes him a babe in the woods."
One: The vast array or diversity of animal, reptile and plant life and Oh dont forget the mind boggling number of sea creatures. When man explores the deep sea he is still finding out creatures he didnt know existed! God poured out his genius when he designed each creature. I only saw a few creatures, but I never come away nothing less than stunned.
Romans 11:33 Oh Lord how excellent is thy works and they ways past finding out. We will never plum the depths of His creation, but we can enjoy and reflect upon it as God's crown jewel.
Oh Lord How wonderful are thy works... .
Second: Because there is so many creatures on Planet Earth, there is also a interconnectivity throughout the food chain.
FOr example: plants depend on insects, animals depend on plants, man depends on animals and plants for sustenance. A tiger depends on deer and various creatures for its meat, those creatures depends on the rain and the growth of plant life. We depend on tigers to keep the animal population down. etc the
All creatures draw from the breath of God, and are connected by the magnetic field, sight, sense, and sound. The world is one vast network of connections! The Bible says, Acts 17:28 " In whom we live and move and have our very being."
Third thread, is the functionality of the animals.. Take the bird for example. Each bird has a specific habitat which it thrives, certain food which it depends on, and a cerain coat which makes it adaptable to the climate that it lives in. Birds are migratory creatures, and as such they can adapt to extremes of weather hot or cold.
Elephants are designed to not only capture their food by their tusks and trunk, but also to thrive in their environment. Their are desert elephants as well as African or Asian elephants. The trunks are designed to catch and split apart branches and fruit, and to also ward off lions.
I could go on and on with each creature bird or mammal, but you get the picture. A vast mosaic of the God handiwork. When I consider the works of thy hands.. I am overwhelmed, and so should you!
For all those that think that all this evolved over billions of years, and that animals developed this over time, youd got another thing coming. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and GOd saw that it was very good!. Indeed it was!! Within the millions of creatures each was given weapons and skills to provide and defend itself.
The scope of creation is too marvelous for us to comprehend but it is here for us to enjoy..
I could add another thread and that is the artifice and intelligence in creation.
William Bartram was a 19century naturalists who had some interesting things to say.
If we bestow but a very little attention to the economy of the animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premeditation, perseverance, resolution, and consumate artifice, in order to effect their purpose.
If we bestow but a very little attention to the economy of the animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premeditation, perseverance, resolution, and consumate artifice, in order to effect their purpose.
William
If we bestow but a little attention to the economy of animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premediation, perseverance, resolution, and consummate artifice, to affect their purpose.!!
It would do justice to render Bartram's quote about the whole of creation. After all he spend a lifetime studying it, " On the recollection of so many and great favours and blessings, I now, with a high sense of gratitude presume to offer up my sincere thanks to the Almighty, the Creator, and the Preserver."
As I roamed the grounds it was very apparent that I could only skim the exhibits, not take time to thoroughly enjoy them; it would have taken more than a day! SO many times we take things, including creation, for granted. We look at Animal Planet and National Geographic yawn and change the channel.. remark that Ive seen that before. Remarkably it sometimes fails to make the impression on us that it should. THis world we live in, even in this advanced civiliation is still full of God mysteries resplendent through the animal kingdom!
Ps 40:5 Oh Lord how wonderful are Thy Works.
Oh Yes there was a Botanical Garden, I hurried through that, but at least I now have some appreciation for the explosion of color and dizzying array of plants and flowers. The pools and fountains were a refreshing and provoked the question, " I wonder what the Garden of Eden looked like?"
Doing some research I found out that there are approximately 1.5 to 2 million species discovered, and there might be 2-50 million yet to be discovered! 10.000 new species are discovered each year!!
I caught a picture of the giant snapping turtle, without realizing that there are 300 species of turtles. We went into the reptile house, ooh ing ahhing at the snakes and lizards, There are almost 8000 types. Birds? forget it, there are 10,000 species of birds,a nd 30000 fish. Those is the ones that we know.
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0934288.html
The genius of Gods creation is revealed threads that occurred to me after I left the zoo.. I shall name a few.
We have covered the diversity. The sheer numbers boggle the mind and drive us to worship the Creators intelligence. He wasnt content with just creating one bird or fish, He is prolific. creator as seen throughout the universe.. man is just discovering how much he doesnt know. A truism emerges, " When man thinks he knows all there is to know, there is a discovery in science that makes him a babe in the woods."
One: The vast array or diversity of animal, reptile and plant life and Oh dont forget the mind boggling number of sea creatures. When man explores the deep sea he is still finding out creatures he didnt know existed! God poured out his genius when he designed each creature. I only saw a few creatures, but I never come away nothing less than stunned.
Romans 11:33 Oh Lord how excellent is thy works and they ways past finding out. We will never plum the depths of His creation, but we can enjoy and reflect upon it as God's crown jewel.
Oh Lord How wonderful are thy works... .
Second: Because there is so many creatures on Planet Earth, there is also a interconnectivity throughout the food chain.
FOr example: plants depend on insects, animals depend on plants, man depends on animals and plants for sustenance. A tiger depends on deer and various creatures for its meat, those creatures depends on the rain and the growth of plant life. We depend on tigers to keep the animal population down. etc the
All creatures draw from the breath of God, and are connected by the magnetic field, sight, sense, and sound. The world is one vast network of connections! The Bible says, Acts 17:28 " In whom we live and move and have our very being."
Third thread, is the functionality of the animals.. Take the bird for example. Each bird has a specific habitat which it thrives, certain food which it depends on, and a cerain coat which makes it adaptable to the climate that it lives in. Birds are migratory creatures, and as such they can adapt to extremes of weather hot or cold.
Elephants are designed to not only capture their food by their tusks and trunk, but also to thrive in their environment. Their are desert elephants as well as African or Asian elephants. The trunks are designed to catch and split apart branches and fruit, and to also ward off lions.
I could go on and on with each creature bird or mammal, but you get the picture. A vast mosaic of the God handiwork. When I consider the works of thy hands.. I am overwhelmed, and so should you!
For all those that think that all this evolved over billions of years, and that animals developed this over time, youd got another thing coming. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and GOd saw that it was very good!. Indeed it was!! Within the millions of creatures each was given weapons and skills to provide and defend itself.
The scope of creation is too marvelous for us to comprehend but it is here for us to enjoy..
I could add another thread and that is the artifice and intelligence in creation.
William Bartram was a 19century naturalists who had some interesting things to say.
If we bestow but a very little attention to the economy of the animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premeditation, perseverance, resolution, and consumate artifice, in order to effect their purpose.
If we bestow but a very little attention to the economy of the animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premeditation, perseverance, resolution, and consumate artifice, in order to effect their purpose.
William
If we bestow but a little attention to the economy of animal creation, we shall find manifest examples of premediation, perseverance, resolution, and consummate artifice, to affect their purpose.!!
It would do justice to render Bartram's quote about the whole of creation. After all he spend a lifetime studying it, " On the recollection of so many and great favours and blessings, I now, with a high sense of gratitude presume to offer up my sincere thanks to the Almighty, the Creator, and the Preserver."
