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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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Biblical Environmentalism: Honoring the Lord by Taking Care of His Creation

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

Normally, when someone hears the word “environmentalism”, it is not used with any reference to Scripture. Instead, it is often associated with enthusiastic, passionate types of people who sacrifice everything in the interest of saving an aspect of Creation. Perhaps it brings to mind the environmentalist groups whose members chain themselves to trees in protest of logging contracts, picket the headquarters of oil and gas companies or throw paint at fur-wearing fashionistas. However, every Christian should be an environmentalist because God is the one who established the standard for environmentalism. A review of Scripture reveals that it actually includes ample information about Creation, its purpose, its importance to the Lord and His instructions on how to take care of it. It clearly indicates that God values His Creation for a number of different reasons and that He has given man the responsibility of taking care of it. However, rather than looking to the world’s standard for environmentalism, it is important to seek the Scriptures for God’s standard of environmentalism, something that I call biblical environmentalism.

In order to establish a biblical standard for environmentalism, let’s first look at what the Lord says about the importance of Creation.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. – Romans 1:20

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. – Psalm 19:1

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. - Genesis 2:15

The Bible indicates that Creation reflects the character and beauty of our God, it was made to bring Him glory and it is His gift to us, a display of His love and the means of His provision for us.

Next, let’s look at what the Scriptures say about man’s relationship with Creation. One of the most important aspects that we must remember when considering our role is that the Bible is clear that as its Creator, God retains ownership of the earth and all of its resources. This fact is clearly illustrated in both the Scriptures and the practices He established for the Israelites.

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. - Psalm 24:1-2

When the Lord established the rules for the Israelites, He set up periodic years where any land that had been bought or sold would revert back to its original owners during the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:28). This procedure encouraged the Israelites to view the land as temporarily theirs.

The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. - Leviticus 25:23

According to these Scriptures, we are merely borrowing the land that we use from God. Does this change your perspective about how you interact with His Creation? Do you treat it like you have borrowed it from an all-powerful, all-knowing God? So if the earth belongs to the Lord, what is our role in regards to Creation? The Bible again offers us a clear answer to this question: our relationship with Creation is to be its caretakers. God gave us dominion over the earth to manage it and to use its resources to meet our needs.

The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. - Psalm 115:16

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” - Genesis 1:28

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land��a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. - Deuteronomy 8:7-9

As a result, biblical environmentalism, learning to take care of Creation in a manner that is honoring to the Lord, is of utmost importance to us: its stewards.

Unfortunately, oftentimes what we see today are two different environmental strategies that do not honor the Lord. Each of these strategies represents an extreme that places another priority above the worship and honor of God. At one extreme, we see people who protect the earth by placing environmental preservation of natural resources and animals above the needs of humans. This is not honoring to the Lord as the Creation is being worshipped rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). At the other extreme, we see people who greedily use natural resources for financial gain. In this instance, their selfishness and love of money has caused them to abuse the gift that the Lord has given us (Matthew 6:24). As followers of Jesus Christ, we must maintain the right balance in our relationship with Creation. This balance includes exploring the earth but not exploiting it. We are to enjoy Creation but not worship it, instead directing our praise to the One who made it (Psalm 150:6). We are to utilize its resources without being wasteful or unnecessarily harmful to our natural environment. And while our actions to manage and take care of the earth may appear to be similar to those of secular conservationists, of utmost importance is the attitude of our hearts. Our desire to conserve natural resources should be born of our desire to honor and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

Christa Jewett is the president and founder of Saltwater Studies, Inc., a company and ministry of the Lord that offers biblically-based marine science education. The focus of Saltwater Studies is to create curriculum and facilitate interactive experiences that illustrate to students the truth outlined in Romans 1:20; that all Creation testifies of the character of God.

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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A God Who Reigns

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

"The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all." – Psalm 103:19

Have you ever considered the abundance of blessings that you enjoy as a follower of Jesus Christ? I could spend days listing all of the wonderful benefits that the Lord showers on those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ and are obedient to the truth of the Bible. Just having read these first two sentences, you may already be thinking what some of those blessings might be: salvation, eternal life, joy, etc. However, in this post, the blessing that I will be focusing on is the fact that followers of Jesus Christ have been set free from a spirit of fear. According to 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” For those who do not know the Lord, fear of the unknown often causes them to go to great lengths to control their environment, their circumstances and other people. Oftentimes, they are consumed with anxiety as they are unaware of what their future holds. However, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are set free from this spirit of fear because we have a relationship with the God who controls the universe. Yes, that is right. God is in control of everything. His kingdom rules over all. In examining Scripture, we also know that He has a plan for all of Creation (Isaiah 46:10-11) and that those plans are good (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 28).

Just take a moment and consider that truth. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a personal relationship with the God of the Universe. (Now, reread that last sentence imagining it being read in the booming voice of a radio announcer. Impressive, right?) The Supreme Being who spoke the world into existence (Genesis 1) knows your name, loves you, cares for you and has great plans for your life (Psalm 139). Think of how quickly some people in our world try to increase their personal importance by dropping the names of celebrities, wealthy individuals or powerful businesspeople. Yet in the eyes of God, all of the inhabitants of the world are “grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:22). While others might be impressed if you have a personal relationship with someone like the President of the United States, how much more important is it that you have a personal relationship with the God of galaxies both known and unknown.

As a quick sidebar, it seems a bit odd that at times we can be quick to point out personal associations with other people yet we fail to mention our most important relationship with the most Powerful Entity ever known. Let’s say that Superman was real, instead of a comic book action hero, and you simply had an interaction with him. How quick would you be to relay this information to others around you? Would you send out a tweet? Post a blurry picture of your encounter on Instagram? Document your interaction in detail on Facebook? Now how many of you would do the same about your relationship with the God of the Universe? Perhaps we all need to improve our divine name-dropping skills!

Now let’s apply this truth to Creation. As bible-believing scientists, our strength does not lie within ourselves but in the fact that we know the God who controls all of Creation. While we may have “head knowledge” of this truth because it is discussed throughout Scripture, we can also experience this truth by interacting with God through Creation. When in God’s Creation, we cannot control the weather or the wildlife we see but He can and does. I can testify to this truth. There have been numerous times where either my students or I have offered a prayer to the Lord asking Him to change the weather or show us a specific aspect of His Creation and He has responded powerfully and often immediately. Rather than being an exception, these experiences have become the rule on my field trips. As I share with my students, I have become accustomed to “shock and awe” as I have seen the Lord respond to our prayers with amazing displays of His love by showing us something incredible during our time in His Creation. We have seen how the Lord blesses those who honor Him. I echo the words of Job, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). This is the relationship that God desires to have with every one of His children.

Let me give you some examples of how I have seen the Lord faithfully respond to either me or my students’ prayers during our time in His Creation:

One of the first times I saw the Lord control the weather was on a morning I arrived at the beach to find the ocean looking flat and calm. This presented a challenge as the class for the day was based on measuring wind and waves. While I mentally prepared for contingencies, I decided to leave this issue in the hands of our faithful God. So at the beginning of class I asked the Lord to provide waves for my students. Shortly after, we realized that the wind had shifted and we all watched as the waves began to build. The wind stayed its new course for the duration of the class until all of my students had a chance to measure the height of these newly created waves. Shortly after, the wind shifted again and the waves quickly died down. God’s Word is true – even the winds and the seas obey Him (Luke 8:25).

On another day I had a large group scheduled to attend a kayak trip in the mangroves but upon leaving my house I discovered that the weather was really bad. Strong storms were predicted to move through the area all morning bringing heavy rain and lightning. Knowing that the Lord had provided the students and the time for the field trip, I continued on and asked the Lord to provide good weather for our trip. Once again, the Lord was faithful and we were blessed as a small area of clear sky and sunshine hovered over the group for the entire field trip while the storms circled around us. It was as if the Lord were covering us with His hand, protecting us from the surrounding storms!

One day last summer, I was teaching my students about sea turtles at the beach. Before I started to talk about various sea turtles, I opened in prayer and asked the Lord to bless our time in His Creation. Later as I was teaching, a sea gull flew by us and dropped a baby sea turtle on the sand next to us. We were able to watch as the sea turtle, unharmed, made its way into the ocean. While the sea gull could have dropped the sea turtle anywhere on the beach, I truly believe that the Lord sent it just for us as a special gift for His children!

On another field trip, it was a hot summer day in South Florida and I was leading a group of students on a walk through the mangroves. Because of the oppressive heat, we saw no wildlife for the majority of the field trip. Nearing the end of the trip and dismayed that my students had been on an entire field trip without seen hardly any wildlife, I had my students line up along the railing of a boardwalk. As we watched the water below us, I specifically asked the Lord to show us a checkered pufferfish that I had seen in the area on previous field trips. Before I finished speaking, a checkered puffer fish swam out of the roots directly in front of my students. Leaving the shadow of the trees, it swam in a straight line towards them, stopped right beneath where they were standing, then turned around and headed straight back into the roots. His swim was reminiscent to me of a model on a catwalk making a special appearance. My students shouted excitedly and I cheered, knowing that the Lord had sent Him out specifically for us in answer to my prayer. The Lord, in His great mercy, had rescued my field trip.

Earlier this year, on the night before one of my field trips to Marco Island, one of my 4-year old students prayed a special prayer to the Lord. In the simple confidence of a child, she asked her Father, “Please turn things into flowers. Make butterflies come out and no bees. Please don't let any jellyfish sting us and make people be nice.” In response to this child’s sweet request, the Lord showered us with abundant blessings. During the field trip, we found a large number of sand dollars with a five-petal flower-like imprint on the surface; we were surrounded by butterflies and had numerous people stop us on the beach to give us beautiful sea shells that they had found. Of course, there was also a distinct absence of bees and jellyfish. In addition, at the beginning of the field trip, one of my other students had also hopefully asked for the Lord to show her pink shells and a dolphin. As we walked, we found a variety of pink shells littering the beach. Upon our return to the parking lot, just as we were leaving the beach, I prayed once again, “Oh Lord, please don’t forget the dolphin.” Before I finished speaking, a dolphin appeared just offshore and swam back and forth along the beach just long enough for all of my students to see it. How great are the blessings of the Lord?

I could continue on and share dozens of other stories just like these. Before beginning Saltwater Studies, my ears had heard of the Lord. I knew the truth of Scripture. But through my experiences in His Creation, now I can say that my eyes have seen Him. Just as important, I know that my students have as well. My prayer is that you too will experience the Lord through His Creation. The next time you are outside, I encourage you to ask the Lord to show you a special blessing in His Creation that is intended just for you. Then prepare yourself for “shock and awe” because the God of the Universe who controls all of Creation has specialized gifts waiting for you!

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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Creation Creatures April Update

By: Austin Ryan of Creation Creatures.

Hi, this is Austin Ryan with Creation Creatures again. April is the start of the season for me. All my animals are out of their winter sleep. So far I have done one show in April, the show was for a MOPs group. During my shows I try to encourage the youth and their parents to learn more about their faith and how to defend it. As homeschoolers (the majority of my shows are for homeschoolers) we have a time advantage to learn and study the Scriptures. I am looking forward for two more shows in May.

Doing God's will, Austin Ryan Creation Creatures

#creationcreatures #austinryan #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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A World We Can Understand

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

In a previous blog post, The Purpose of Creation, I mentioned that the purpose of Creation was to display God’s great love for us. All of Creation testifies of God’s love in numerous ways. One of the ways that we can see God’s love for us is that He created a world we can understand. Our God is infinite in wisdom and in knowledge. Yet instead of creating a world that is consistent with His level of understanding, He created one that even we, finite beings, can comprehend. Regardless of any single person’s intelligence level, God in His love for us, made sure that there is something in this world that he or she can grasp. In the display of this ability, we can glimpse a shadow of the magnificent capabilities of our God. As an engineer will tell you, it is often the simplest designs that are the most brilliantly constructed. Greater talent is often displayed in simplicity rather than complexity. In his biography of Giotto di Bondone, an artistic genius of the Italian Renaissance, Giorgio Vasari relays a story of how Pope Boniface VIII requested copies of Giotto’s work. In response, Giotto dipped his brush in red paint and painted a perfect circle with one continuous stroke. This perfect circle was sufficient for the Pope to conclude that Giotto was the greatest painter of his time.[1] Just as the simple circle testified of the extraordinary talent of Giotto, so our world testifies of the immensity of our God.

On the other hand, the opposite is also true. Just as God designed a world with the purpose of creating something that everyone, of every intelligence level and of every gifting, could understand, there are also going to be elements of our world that are beyond our comprehension. It does not matter if you are the most intelligent person on the planet, there are still going to be aspects of this world that you do not understand because no one is capable of completely understanding an infinite God with a finite mind. First Corinthians 3:19 says, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Although God has created some people with intelligence that is well beyond mine or yours, it is important for us to remember that our God is infinitely greater. Some secular scientists may try to dazzle us with their theorems and logic but ultimately, without the Lord, even their greatest thoughts and accomplishments are foolishness to Him.

If you are one of those people who feels uncomfortable or intimidated by science, this truth should be a great encouragement to you. We must remember that God is the author of all knowledge and understanding. He also gives liberally to those who ask Him for wisdom (James 1:5). If there is anything that you are having difficulty understanding, ask Him to grant you wisdom. He will be faithful to answer you because He wants you to be able to understand His Creation for the purpose of deepening your relationship with Him.

[1] Pioch, Nicolas (2002) “Giotto di Bondone” WebMuseum, Paris. Last Updated July 27, 2002. Accessed online February 16, 2013 at http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/giotto/.

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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Why Science Must Include Jesus Christ.

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." - Colossians 1:16-17

A common viewpoint held by many people today, both unbelievers and followers of Jesus Christ alike, is that the study of science should be independent of spiritual beliefs. However, this viewpoint does not reflect an accurate view of our natural world or an accurate interpretation of scripture. According to the Word of God, Creation was made by Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ. He is the source of all living things (Colossians 1:16-17).

Since science is the study of the natural environment of which Jesus Christ is the literal source, any discussion of science must include Him in order to be accurate. In addition, by saying that in Him all things consist, Colossians 1:17 is also saying that Jesus Christ literally holds us together. In Psalm 3:5, King David offers praise to the Lord, acknowledging that we wake every morning because He sustains us. The Lord holds our very lives in His hands.

Without Jesus Christ, we cannot even offer an answer to the most basic of scientific questions: “Why does life exist?” Those who believe in evolution, in particular, cannot answer this simple question. Evolutionary theory, at its core, removes the need for God, thereby eliminating the source of life. Consequently, evolutionists are prevented from being able to offer a viable answer to this question. One of my favorite worship songs, “You Are” describes a number of Jesus Christ’s wonderful attributes. It includes a line that says, “You are every question’s answer. You are every reason why.” The truth in the Bible echoed in this song underscores that there is no way to offer an explanation for the existence of life in our world apart from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ must be included in our discussion of science, so that we can offer answers not just to what exists but also how and why all Creation exists. Without Jesus Christ, life just does not make sense.

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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The Purpose of Creation

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

One of the most important Creation-related verses in the Bible is Romans 1:20. In this verse, we find that one of the reasons God created the world was to testify of Himself.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. - Romans 1:20

This verse indicates that God’s invisible attributes, including His eternal power and divinity, are all revealed through His Creation, and have been since the day the earth was created. According to the Word of God, Creation reveals everything all people need to know about Him, eliminating any potential excuse for them to live apart from Him.

So, why would the literal Master of the Universe go to so much trouble to leave evidence of Himself in everything that He made? The answer is simple. Creation reveals God’s amazing love for us and His desire to have a personal relationship with each of us. My personal belief is that this world is the first of two love letters that God has given us with the second one, of course, being the Word of God. Our God, who spoke the entire Universe into being, created all that we see so that we can have a relationship with Him.

God’s love for us, as revealed through Creation, is deeply personal and intimate. In Psalm 139, King David describes the Lord’s vast and intricate knowledge of every one of His children. He writes that the Lord formed us in our Mother’s womb and knows the number and substance of our days before we were even born. But rather than describing a cold and distant relationship that might be expected between an Engineer and His created work, this chapter describes the love and fondness between a Father and His children.

“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.” - Psalm 139:17-18b

According to these verses, our Father thinks of us more often than the grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. Even more importantly, His great and amazing love is displayed freely through His Creation!

One of the ways that I have seen the Lord display His love is by interacting with His people on a personal level through His Creation. Since the Lord knows each of us intimately, He knows exactly what will bring us the greatest enjoyment in His Creation. I have seen the Lord frequently modify the wildlife we see during Saltwater Studies field trips to respond to the likes and interests of those attending. Although I may return to the same beach numerous times, each time, I know that we are going to see something different as the Lord takes the opportunity to interact personally with my students and their parents. He loves to bless His children in this way.

One field trip in particular stands out in my mind because of the unique circumstances. I had scheduled a field trip to Marco Island on the west coast of Florida to collect sea shells and had several students signed up to attend. Unfortunately, a hurricane made landfall on the Gulf Coast the day before the scheduled field trip and the winds were still too strong to be out on the beach. I knew that my students would be disappointed so as a last minute alternative, I suggested a beach close to Fort Lauderdale on the East Coast of Florida where the winds would be less severe. Two families chose to attend. As we made our way slowly down the beach, we started to find numerous shells washed ashore by the storm. I found myself talking to one of the women who attended and learned that her family had come to the beach with me to get out of their house because their roof had developed a major leak during the storm. The leak flooded one of the main rooms, soaking their drywall and ruining numerous household and personal items. In order to take a brief break from the mayhem and clean-up, they decided to come to the beach with me. While this situation represented a difficult trial for their family, they were trusting in the Lord that He would provide for their needs. We continued along the beach and the conversation shifted to the sea shells we were collecting. I started to discuss different features of the mollusks (snails and clams) we were finding on the beach.

At a pause in the discussion, the woman with whom I had been talking commented to me, “I just love the snails with holes in the sides so that you can see the inside of the shell. I think the insides of the shell are so beautiful.”

As with everything in life, I have learned that people have different preferences in regards to sea shells. Personally, if I found a sea shell with a hole in it, I probably would not keep it because I generally collect shells for the purpose of teaching my students to identify them. The more flawed the shell, the more difficult it is for a student to identify. Consequently, I only save shells that are as close to perfect specimens as possible. Shortly after the woman’s comment, I paused to help a student identify a shell she had found on the beach. The woman continued on, looking for more sea shells. Only a few minutes later, she ran back down the beach toward me with a huge smile on her face.

“Look what I found!” She shouted. “Isn’t it just beautiful?”

In her hand she was holding a large Apple Murex shell, a beautiful type of snail. Murex snails are the supermodels of the mollusk world. God created them with a flair for the dramatic as they often display elaborate ridges, spines, and folds on their shells. The shell features are combined with beautiful white to sunset-like coloring that make them highly desirable for collectors. This Apple Murex was sporting caramel, tan and brown stripes as well as a deep purplish pink interior. It was about three to four inches long, the largest one I had ever seen found on the beach by an amateur collector. In its side were two perfectly placed holes that nicely displayed the interior of the shell.

“And look, it has holes so that I can see the inside!” She exclaimed. “I love it!”

The Lord knew that of all the people on our trip, this woman would be the one to enjoy this particular shell. If I had found it, I would have been disappointed that such a beautiful specimen was “ruined” by the holes in the side. In His infinite wisdom and love, He allowed this woman to find this shell, blessing her in the midst of her trial by giving her just the right gift that would bring her excitement and pleasure. We serve a personal God who loves His children. God is not a cold and distant Engineer but an ever-present Father who greatly desires an intimate relationship with His children. I offer you a challenge: the next time you are outside take time to pray and ask the Lord to show you something special during your time in His Creation. He has personalized blessings waiting for you!

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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Creation Creatures with Austin Ryan.

By: Austin Ryan of Creation Creatures.

Hi my name is Austin, I am fourteen, and I am with Creation Creatures. Creation Creatures does creation based shows at homeschool groups, MOPs groups, church groups, and birthday parties with my animals. I own 10+ reptiles and a tarantula. Creation Creatures is looking to expand into falconry in the near future. Entering my second year of doing shows, God has transformed me from a timid, shy person into a very confident speaker. The verse I base my ministry on is 2 Timothy 4:12, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."

#creationcreatures #austinryan #creationscience

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thecreationtrail-blog-blog · 11 years ago

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Praise to the Lord from Creation.

By: Christa Jewett of Saltwater Studies.

Psalm 148

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! 4 Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. 6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths; 8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; 9 Mountains and all hills; Fruitful trees and all cedars; 10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl; 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; 12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven. 14 And He has exalted the horn of His people, The praise of all His saints— Of the children of Israel, A people near to Him."

Praise the Lord!

In Psalm 148, we find detailed description of the praise that issues forth from Creation in honor of its Creator. Is this really true? If all of Creation is praising God, why can’t we hear it?

The Hebrew word used for praise in Psalm 148 is halal which briefly means, to clamorously praise, to celebrate.[1] Through the use of this word, the psalmist is clearly indicating that all of Creation was made to praise the Lord with clamorous sound. In his psalm, he specifically addresses every aspect of Creation including all sizes of land and sea animals, plants, stars, angelic hosts, humans, weather events and even the earth itself. Considering the wide variety of creative forms addressed in this psalm, one might be tempted to think that the psalmist is speaking metaphorically. If the psalmist was being literal, wouldn’t it be logical to think that we would hear all of this praise? Well, not necessarily.

As technology has improved, science has made some interesting discoveries in regards to sounds made by animals, stars and even the earth that are well outside our hearing range. For example, the animal currently thought to be the loudest animal in the world, the Blue Whale, bellows so loudly that other whales can hear the calls more than 1,000 miles away.[2] Scientists have recorded these loudest bellows at 190 decibels. That is louder than a rocket launch! Yet, why aren’t we hearing these sounds? Quite simply, the loudest bellows are low frequency sounds that are outside our range of hearing. Scientists have also made discoveries that numerous other animals such as dogs and bats can hear sounds of much higher frequency than we can perceive. Even more interesting are discoveries indicating that sounds made by earthquakes, volcanoes and even oscillating stars are also too low in frequency for us to hear.[3] So really, it’s not that our natural environment is not making sound; it is just outside our limited range of hearing. A logical conclusion is that the psalmist is in fact being literal - all of Creation really is praising our God - we just can’t hear it.

Considering the limited information we discussed about sounds produced by Creation, take a moment to consider what it must be like to be God. Every single plant, animal, rock, star and angelic host praises Him – not just in our universe but in every universe. Think about the sheer volume of sound that reaches the throne room of God, enveloping Him in praise continuously. If He had created us to be able to audibly perceive these praises, it would be deafening. Our eardrums would literally be blown out! Yet our God is so great, He enjoys and receives this praise without hindrance. Even more amazing is that He created a way for us to enjoy the whisper of a child, a well-played melody, a laugh or a chorus of songbirds while also receiving the praise from all of Creation that He is due. His design and plan for Creation is perfect!

As we consider the volume and quantity of praise to God from Creation outside our hearing, we must also consider what it reveals about our own insignificance. What a fragile species we are that God had to create such narrow boundaries for our natural environment in order to ensure our existence! In the natural sense, we are so inconsequential, so finite, so limited! As we consider our own insignificance in light of the magnitude and greatness of our God, it amplifies the utter ridiculousness of humanity’s chronic tendency toward arrogance, pride and ultimately, self-deification. It is only through the proper perspective of who God is that we can truly understand the immensity of His mercy and grace. I echo the words of King David, “What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). It is only through the amazing love of Jesus Christ that we are made spiritually significant. As you consider this truth, does gratitude fill your heart with the desire for clamorous praise? I encourage you to join with the rest of Creation in lifting your voice to praise the God of the Universe who is greater than we could ever fathom! Praise the Lord!

Christa Jewett is the president and founder of Saltwater Studies, Inc., a company and ministry of the Lord that offers biblically-based marine science education. The focus of Saltwater Studies is to create curriculum and facilitate interactive experiences illustrating all Creation testifies of the character of God (Romans 1:20).

[1] Source: Strong’s Concordance. Accessed online January 31, 2014 (http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Lexicon.show/ID/h1984/page/3)

[2] Source: “About Blue Whales” Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Accessed online January 31, 2014 (http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/about-blue-whale)

[3] Source: “Information about Hearing, Communication, and Understanding” National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Accessed online January 31, 2014. (https://www.science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih3/hearing/guide/info-hearing.htm)

#saltwaterstudies #christajewett #creationscience

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