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Mixing Authority and Alcohol - Proverbs 31:4-5

12/31/2010

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, for they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Proverbs 31:4-5

Mixing authority and alcohol is a very bad thing to do. As Bathsheba gave her counsel to Solomon her son, she made clear to him that this was the case. She said clearly to him that is was not for kings to drink wine or to desire strong drink. These two terms, wine and strong drink both describe alcoholic drinks. Wine refers to the fruit of the vine - grapes - but in the form of them squeezed and made into wine of a lower alcohol level. Strong drink refers to drinks that are much stronger - probably something akin to whiskey or some type of grain alcohol. It was usually used to get drunk quickly - and in some cases was used medicinally to act as a type of pain killer.

Solomon is told that it is not right for a king to drink these things. The reason that she gives to him for this prohibition is that if he does, there is a chance that he will drink and forget "what is decreed." This is a reference to the Word of God. For Israel, the Word of God was also the place where their civil law was found. But either way the concern was that while in a drunken state, he might forget the civil law - or the law of God. When he did, he would then forget the rights of the afflicted. These are the less fortunate, the poor, and those who look to the king to defend their rights.

Drunkenness causes us to function apart from wisdom. When a man is drunk he does not think normally. The alcohol leads him to excess in regard to his emotions. It can also have a deadening effect when it comes to his normal moral restraints. This is why it is not wise to mix drink and authority. When you do, the person in authority is more likely to abuse it - because he will not be thinking properly so as to make godly judgments.

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Four Signs of a Godless Generation . . . Proverbs 30:11-14

12/30/2010

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There is a kind of man who curses his father And does not bless his mother. There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness. There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes! And his eyelids are raised in arrogance. There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men. Proverbs 30:11-14

Today's proverb is a four verse description of the hateful, wicked man. The way this passage refers to this is with the phrase, "There is a kind." The word "kind" is actually the Hebrew word for generation. When you have a generation of people who are like this - you have a very difficult time coming upon the earth. It is an interesting list of things that make for a wicked generation.

Verse 11 describes the first godless characteristic - which is having graceless, ungrateful children who dishonor their parents. This generation curses their fathers and does not bless their mothers. They disobey the one commandment with a promise - Honor your father and mother. The bedrock of any generation is their ability to learn from their parents. When the family goes awry there will be a basic disfunction and rebellion that will pervade the entire structure of the society. The basic unit for passing on wisdom is the family. Proverbs makes it clear again and again in the first 9 chapters of this book that it is through a father and mother that wisdom flows to the next generation. So, when they have basic disdain for their parents that wisdom is lost to an entire generation. We watched this in the late 1950's and 60's as almost an entire generation cast off the morals and the wisdom of their parents and decided to start their own revolution. They decided that their's would be a generation of love and peace. They tuned out on drugs, turned their ears from hearing and honoring their parents, and did whatever they wanted. It was a disastrous generation - and those who embraced this kind of lifestyle and living continue to wreak havoc on society today.

The second godless characteristic of this generation is that they are pure in their own eyes. The Bible considered this particular sin one that is very damaging. Those who consider themselves pure in their own eyes are blind to the truth that they are fallen and sinful. They will justify themselves no matter who disgusting and disobedient their behavior becomes. It is as if they are deaf to anything God says - and decide that whatever their flesh wants is true and good. Those who fall into this trap will find themselves hopelessly bound in their sin and wickedness - and will only be delivered by the sovereign goodness of God as He draws them and illumines them to truth that is outside of themselves. The Word tells us that even though they are pure in their own eyes, they are still unwashed from their filthiness. Just because we decide we are going to redefine sin in our own minds does not mean that we are not guilty of it in God's sight. No matter how many times the world tries to redefine sin, God's Word stands as ultimate and absolute truth. When the wicked disobey God's Word - and decide that their own thinking is what defines pure - they still wind up standing before God as sinners. But the world in which they live is upside down - and as such it is a difficult place for believers and those who desire to lead holy lives to live.

The third evil characteristic is that they are arrogant. This is described as having "lofty" eyes. This simply means that they look down upon everyone else. They consider themselves awesome and wonderful, while everyone else is lower than them. This makes them arrogant. Arrogance is defined in the Bible as primarily a sin agaisnt God. Psalm 119:21 speaks of the arrogant as those who wander from God's commandments. They ignore and look down upon God Himself - and therefore think far higher of themselves and what they want to do than they do of the commandments of God. Proverbs says this makes them embrace sin and be careless (Prov 14:16) as well as those who stir up strife (Prov 28:25). An arrogant heart ultimately disregards God. Such a generation will exalt their own thinking and reasoning above God's. If anyone tries to instruct them or correct them - up will go their eyes and eyelids as they look down on the poor fool who has decided to oppose their perfect wisdom. Problem is the fool is the one whose eyelids are lifted in arrogance against God and against those who walk in His wisdom.

Disregard for parents, purity in our own eyes, and arrogance will lead to a society where gentility is gone. The last of these four evil characteristics is that this generation is one where their mouths are out of control. Their teeth are like swords - their jaw teeth are like knives - to devour the needy and afflicted among men. They have no regard for the poor and needy. They only see them as someone to exploit for their own ends. There is a complete lack of civility because there was never other characteristics built into their lives to encourage it. They do not regard parents - who would have taught them obedience and selflessness. They do not see anything as sin - because they justify their own actions - and would even justify treating the afflicted and needy badly. Finally, they are arrogant - and view all others as beneath themselves. This makes it far easier to have little or no conscience at all as long as they get what they want in the end.

There is a generation that lives this way. Before you think I am going to refer to a specific generation - think about what the Bible says about the heart condition of mankind. This is actually what happens in every generation of men. It happens because of the fall of man into sin. It happens because we are in rebellion against God - and want to do our own thing. The generation of which Solomon speaks is any generation from the fall to the end of the age. Unless God intervenes with the gospel and the saving of mankind by His grace - we would all eventually gravitate in these four directions. These verses teach us wisdom by helping us to understand where the sinful nature and the flesh will take us. If anything these verses should make us very open to running to God for his grace and His transformation. Because if we don't - this is most likely what life will look like. A world filled with a disregard for parents, filth being called purity, arrogance, and a society filled with harmful and vicious words. This is a generation to be avoided at all costs. But the only way out is through the gospel of Jesus Christ - and the regeneration in Him that changes us from the inside out.

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Why the Godless Hate the Godly . . . Proverbs 29:10

12/29/2010

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Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life. Proverbs 29:10

In a sinful and fallen world there is something that provokes the wicked when they see a man of true integrity. Today's proverb tells us about "men of bloodshed," and how they hate men of integrity.

Men of bloodshed are those who have shed the blood of humans - they are either very violent men - or most often men who have murdered. When we think of murderers though, we need to see them in two ways. There are those who have crossed the line of literally taking someone's life by murdering them. But there is a second type of which the Scriptures speak that encompasses far more people than one would think. In Matthew 5 Jesus said these words, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

This statement of Jesus shows us that pretty much everyone in the world is guilty of murder. If we've been angry with a brother or sister - called someone a derogatory name - we are guilty of murder before God. We are guilty enough to go into the fiery hell itself. This is where murder begins, in the mind. It is what God told Cain before he murdered Abel. God said to him, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7) Cain's murder of his brother Abel began as a thought - an angry, evil thought - which soon hatched into a heinous, murderous action. Sin always begins in the mind - and if we do not master it there - it will yield its wicked fruit in our actions.

Murderous men hate men of character and godliness. The word hate here is the Hebrew word "sane" which means to hate, to consider another an enemy - to dislike, be hostile to, or to loathe another. It is the direct antonym of the Hebrew word "anab" which means to love. John wrote of this very incident between Cain and Abel. He said, "For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous." (1 John 3:11-12)

This passage in 1 John tells us exactly what our proverb today is trying to tell us. The murderer hates the godly man. It should be noted that the word "blameless" does not mean without sin. It speaks of a person of integrity who desires to live a godly, moral life according to God's Word and God's precepts. This world does not love such a man - and the more ungodly they are - the more they hate him. We see this growing every day in our society. Just look at how Christians are portrayed in our world today - especially in the media. The hatred of the media elite and the ungodly in positions of power there drips off our television and movie screens. It is difficult, unless you are watching a movie produced by a Christian, to find positive Christian characters. This is because when a man's deeds are evil - he hates the people who pursue righteousness.

Just an aside . . . we see this proverb lived out daily in the moral and cultural battle that is raging in our own nation today. This is especially true when we see the actions and words of the radical homosexual movement. The more the homosexual movement gains ascendency in our laws and in the movie and television industry - the more you will see this hatred grow. The radical homosexual movement absolutely despises biblical Christianity because the Bible is clear that homosexuality is sin. That will pit them against us - if we choose to remain true to the Word of God and preach the true gospel. But, our place is not to hate the homosexual - or for that matter anyone who hates us because we hold to biblical truth and morality. Our place is to love them even if they hate us and do violence to us in their cause to legitimatize what God calls sin. Remember what this world system did to our Lord - the ultimate blameless man of absolute integrity. He Himself told us if they hated Him, they would hate us as well. But we are NEVER to turn to violence to defend ourselves from such attacks. We must remain true to the gospel and win them by the love of God - and by the grace of His eternal gospel.

The remainder of our proverb today states that the upright are concerned for the lives of the moral and those who walk in integrity. The literal translation of this would say, "But the upright seek his soul." We stand with the godly man of integrity - because we see that life is more than just the 70 or so years we spend on this planet. There is an eternal soul in each man - and that is what we should be most concerned with in life. There will come a day when the wicked will be loosed in a way that we have not seen before in our nation. Regardless of our most recent elections, there is not a moral, godly ascendency going on in our nation. If there was, such moral issues such as abortion, homosexual and heterosexual immorality, decency, and the moral debauchery of our nation would be put on the front burner as the real problems we face as a nation. As it is - we continue to worship the dollar - and when it finally crashes to the ground, which it will, we will face a country that will rip itself apart because we lack basic morality. In that day it will be difficult to stand with the "blameless man" in our nation. In some ways it already is. Franklin Graham has taken several biblical stands for righteousness and he is more and more being ripped apart in the public square. We should stand with him and with other men who stand for biblical righteousness. Even if it becomes increasingly difficult to do so - we need to be concerned with the souls and lives of such men. For according to this proverb . . . that is wisdom.

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Can't Buy True Wisdom with This World's Wealth - Proverbs 28:11

12/28/2010

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The rich man is wise in his own eyes, But the poor who has understanding sees through him. Proverbs 28:11

An interesting thing about men is that the wealthier that they are - the more that we tend to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to intelligence and wisdom. We assume that because they have accumulated wealth that a certain amount of wisdom and knowledge were used in doing so. This may be the case, but when a rich man begins to be "wise in his own eyes," his wealth is only a facade to cover his foolishness.

The rich are often wise in their own eyes. This is because wealth can buy you a lot of things - including a group of well paid sycophants who will tell you that you are a genius. This is the age old "yes-man" who follows about his benefactor telling him how brilliant he is publically, even though privately he man consider the rich man a moron. But while on the dole, this person gives the rich man a sense that he is wise. Unless his wisdom is gained from Scripture - this is only wisdom in his own eyes. The problem with being wise in our own eyes is that one, we can easily impress ourselves - and two, once we have impressed ourselves our pride can shut out any other evaluation others may try to give.

But this proverb tells us that the poor man who has understanding can see right through the foolish rich man. The word for understanding here means the ability to discern. The poor man examines the rich man wise in his own eyes. He discerns the difference between wisdom gained of experience and God, and that paid for with money. He discerns that those who praise the rich man are all paid patrons of his supposed wisdom. He also knows that if the money flow stops, the truth concerning this man's foolishness will not be tolerated - and he will be abandoned by his fair weather pals.

Wisdom knows others who are wise. Since that wisdom comes from God, there is no need to brag about it. Since it comes from God, there is also no price that can be paid for it. Such wisdom is given by grace - and gained by the teaching of the Holy Spirit as we daily search the Scriptures and learn to listen to God.

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When Sin Requires Consequence - Proverbs 27:13

12/27/2010

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Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge. Proverbs 27:13

There are just plain dumb decisions that are made in life. At times when we make these stupid decisions, God in His mercy will deliver us from the consequences. If this happens, do not think God approves your actions - He is just showing amazing mercy to you in the midst of them. But there are some decisions God decides to allow us to face - with the full measure of the consequences being given to us. This proverb tells us about two of them.

The first has to do with a man acting foolish financially. When someone becomes surety for a stranger, that is a very foolish thing to do. This proverb tells us to even take a man's garment when this happens. Just as a reminder, surety is when we co-sign a loan - or guarantee another person's debt. If they default on the loan - we are on the hook for what they owe. The reason this is so foolish here is because someone is doing this for a stranger. He doesn't know the man - and is not related to him. He is just guaranteeing a loan for someone he does not know. He does not have a clue as to his character or his integrity - he just lays down his money to guarantee this man's borrowing. Surety is discouraged for anyone - but this should be a no-brainer when it comes to a stranger. With a family member of friend, we at least have a sense of their character and whether they will be likely to repay the loan. But a stranger - we know nothing about him. Thus, Solomon tells us to take this man's clothes when the loan defaults. This is something that hopefully will teach him a lesson about guaranteeing the loans of others - especially those he does not even know.

The second scenario is when a man hires a prostitute for sex - and offers her a pledge as payment. Adultery is a very foolish sin - but to offer someone our name as pledge is really foolish to another level. Amazing as it may seem, this is what Judah did when he hired his daughter-in-law Tamar as a prostitute. Tamar was not being a harlot. She was simply desiring that Judah's family line fulfill their duty in raising up sons for the deceased. When Judah did not have the money in hand to pay her - she asked for his seal and his cords. These were things by which a man could be known if they were seen. This was not wise for him - but it gave her the proof she needed when her adulterous father-in-law wanted to have her stoned for playing the harlot. When Judah saw his own seal and cords, he was humiliated and withdrew his call for her death.

No one wants to be humiliated by their sin. But there are times when it is a far better thing to be humiliated and learn than to escape humiliation and continue in sin. God is amazing how He delivers us from sin and from the world around us. May God give us grace to embrace that deliverance - and truly be wise.

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Reproof a Blessing and a Reward to the Wise Man . . . Proverbs 25:12

12/25/2010

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Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. Proverbs 25:12

How well do we accept reproof when it is offered to us? Do we consider such reproof and correction a blessing - or to we view it as that which causes us problems and grief. The fact of the matter is that someone who reproves us is a wonderful friend. It is not often that men will be of such godly charcter and strength that they will offer reproof. When we run into one God speaks in proverbs to tel us what a wonderful thing it is that we have.

The earring of gold here is thought by some to be a nose ring. This however does not fit the context at all - as what is being said refers to a hearer. The earring of gold speaks of a reward or an ornament given to another of great value. But what is truly of value here is the ear that is listening to the reproof offered to it. That is something that is special - and deserves to be rewarded and decorated.

There are wonderful rewards for the man who listens to reproof. Proverbs 1:23 says that the Spirit of God will be poured out on such a man. There is something we don't hear often enough by the Holy Spirit movement. Proverbs 13:18 says that the one who regards reproof will be honored. Other verses in Proverbs speak of the one who receives reproof as being sensible, wise, and understanding. Much wisdom comes to us when we will listen to reproof and respond to it as the Lord directs us. Finally, we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the work of the inspired Scriptures of God is to bring reproof to us. So, if we want the Word of God to truly do its work in us - we will have to have an ear that is open to reproof.

There is also mentioned here an "ornament of fine gold." When we have someone who can offer to us "wise reproof" we should realize that we are being rewarded and blessed. The word for ornament most likely refers to a necklace of some sort. These were usually given to show a position of honor. It is an honor to be wisely reproved by a godly man - or by the Word of God.

Wisdom is the ability to receive and learn from reproof. May God Himself give us a humility that will receive that reproof when offered. May we also consider such reproof as ornaments of gold, silver, and precious jewels. That reproof will turn us away from ourselves and toward the Lord Who offers to us great wisdom and understanding.

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Always a "Buy" Recommendation . . . Proverbs 23:23

12/23/2010

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Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Proverbs 23:23

Truth? What is truth? That is a question that Pilate posed to Jesus at His trial. Today, truth is in the mind of the one currently thinking. We live in a word deeply affected by post-modern philosophy. This philosophy says that truth is whatever you want it to be. Each man's truth is his own - and not to be frowned upon by anyone else's views. This is the corollary to the current doctrine of truth, the doctrine of tolerance. The effect of these two working together negates for the most part what the Bible says is truth. Yet the Bible says that it is truth. The Bible is God's revelation of Himself - and as the Author Himself is True - so anything He does to reveal Himself is truth by the very nature that He has said it. This places the the Christian worldview at odds with the current views of post-modern truth and tolerance. In the end though, everyone functions on the basis of truth. This is especially the truth when we die and face God in judgment. We might be able to deceive ourselves that whatever we want to believe is truth - but in the end, all men will stand before God and give an account of themselves to Him. In that day there will only be one so-called version of the truth - God's.

Proverbs tells us to buy truth and do not sell it. This world, since it is fallen, is not big on truth. Romans 1 says that mankind rejects God and chooses instead to make gods of their own - deceiving themselves in the process. The god of this world, Satan, is a liar and the father of lies. Therefore the world system in which we presently live is far more based on lies than on truth. Therefore whenever we encounter truth, we need to buy it and not sell it. Those terms are terms that are used in stock and investments. The only reason you would buy and not sell something is because it is constantly increasing in value. The longer you hold it, the wealthier you become. And according to Scripture here - you want to buy truth whenever you can and hold it forever because it will only make you richer every day you have it!

The Word of God is truth! Let's consider this for a moment. The wise man who buys truth and does not sell it - has found a field that is filled with gold, diamonds, and jewels of every shape, size, and description - as he comes to the Word of God. Knowing this it is amazing that we don't realize that time spent in the Word will make us eternally wealthy whenever we do it. Buy truth - redeem any time you can in the Word of God - it's worth millions!

There is more here - because God wants us to do more than just read His Word - although that is a good start. He wants us to gain wisdom and instruction and understanding as we do. Getting wisdom means getting an idea of how God views things. Getting instruction means being open and teachable so God can teach us at any time through anything that He does. It also means coming to God's Word to learn and to be instructed by Him. Getting understanding means that we take the wisdom and instruction that we obtain and we learn how to apply it to how we live each and every day. We learn how to walk with the Word that we read and understand and discern the difference between good and evil -between what is God and what is NOT God in this world and in our lives.

It is vital that we take the time that we have here on earth and apply it to knowing God - and as we know Him - walking with Him in wisdom throughout our days. The benefit to knowing truth - buying it and getting wisdom, instruction, and understanding is that we learn to live for the things that truly matter. We also learn to steer clear of things that will harm us in the end. That way at the close of our lives we will not spend our time regretting the things we've done and regretting the way that we've lived our lives.

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The God Who Made Our Ears and Eyes - Proverbs 20:12, part 3

12/22/2010

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The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them. Proverbs 20:12

This last day we will spend on this verse has to do not just with the physical creation of our ears and eyes, but rather with some philosophic and religious implications of this fact. What should we learn from the fact that God has made our ears and eyes?

Psalm 94:9 will help us here with these things. Psalm 94 is written to help us see that God is Who He is - GOD! Psalm 94 is a psalm about God's judgment that is coming upon a disobedient people. It is about people who ignore God's warnings about pride and rebellion. As these people do their wicked acts, they do so with the attitude that "The Lord coes not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed." Their attitude is that God doesn't have the ability to see their actions and their deeds.

The answer that God gives them is given in verse 8-10 which read as follows, "Pay heed, you senseless among the people; And when will you understand, stupid ones? He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see? He who chastens the nations, will He not rebuke, Even He who teaches man knowledge?"

God's philosophical question to these people is this. The God Who made us in His image - and who made us with ears that hear and eyes that see - do you not think that He can hear and see? To think that this is not the case is really stupid and senseless. God hears and sees. But what is terrifying is to grasp that as an infinite being God's hearing and sight are not limited to time and space like our own. He hears and sees ALL THINGS! There is nothing that is beyond His perview - and as such - all will give an account to Him. Verse 10 tells us that the God who chastens nations - will he not also chasten the individual?

This says something to us that we absolutely need to hear. God is God - He made the hearing ear and the seeing eye. Since we are made in His image - that means that He too can both hear and see. That is why a simple assertion in Proverbs chapter 20 should make us step back and consider such a thing. It should also help us to embrace wisdom. Wisdom is living in such a way that we realize that we are walking in God's sight - walking before Him. What He says we should heed - what He commands we should do - and what we think we can hide - we should wake up and know that even our most hidden actions, thoughts, and words are as clear as day in His sight. Knowing this helps a wise man to live "pleasing" in His sight. Rejecting it is the ultimate insult to God. We equate to Him and blindness and deafness that dishonors Him greatly. But the fact is that men and women who do not acknowledge His omniscience are the ones blind and deaf.

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The Hearing Ear - Proverbs 20:12, part 2

12/21/2010

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The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.
Proverbs 20:12

Yesterday we looked for a few moments at the seeing eye. We learned how the eye points us to God - a God who created us by His infinite wisdom and understanding. Today, we want to take a look at the human ear - and see how God again reveals His power, glory, and amazing work through it. It is my belief that these two organs alone should bring evolutionists to their knees in wonder and awe at what God made. But since this issue is not about proof, but about an unwillingness to acknowledge, thank, and submit to God, I do not think that the world of evolutionists will be abandoning their incredible faith in their pseudo-science to turn to God any time soon.

One of the first things we should know about our ears is that they do far more than just hear things. They are our source of equilibrium - and what allows us to walk upright. Without our ears we would greatly lack balance and would not be able to stand or sit without losing our balance and falling to the ground.

What is truly amazing about our ears is that they consist of three different parts - each with their own function in hearing and equilibrium. These parts of the ear first focus sound into a canal which operates by the way the air is bounced around by sound waves. Once inside the ear though, these air and sound waves hit our tympanic membrane - which most of you know as the ear drum. This is where the sound waves are turned from an air phenomena to a water-based impulse. Once the sound waves hit this drum - the waves produced by it work through three of the smallest bones and muscles in the entire human body. These three bones take these waves and interpret them, amplify them, and at times decrease them to where they can be passed on to a liquid medium where the sound will continue to be processed. This liquid medium is then moved through a circular canal filled with what looks like little tiny hairs. These hairs take the disturbance of the water in the middle ear and translate it into the various aspects of sound. Pitch, loudness, quality are all detected as the waves move through the watery canal - and even things like distance and direction are detected as well. These little hairs take these waves and code them into electrical impulses that are then sent along the auditory nerve into the brain. The reason we have two ears is that this allows us to hear in stereo - which in turn helps us deal with direction and distance of sounds that come to us. As all this is coded specially so that the brain can then interpret all these codes and allow us to know what is being heard.

What is truly astounding is how sensitive our ears are to sound. Our ears can hear a mosquito buzzing - which I realize to many of us is not that much of a blessing. But when you understand that a mosquito buzzes at a level of one quadrahonth of a watt - it is amazing that we can detect that sound at all. One quadrahonth of a watt is 1/100 quadrillionth of the amount of power it takes to light up a reading lamp - yet with only that much power behind it, we can still hear this sound. The ability of our ears to detect different pitches is also astounding. The piano has over 100 keys on it, each representing a particular pitch, but the human ear has the ability in between each of these pitches to have multiple other pitches it can receive. The sensitivity of the human ear to do this is amazing to a degree almost beyond comprehension.

The human ear takes energy in the form of sound waves and then translates it into mechanical energy as the sound waves are collected by the outer ear, moved into the ear cavity, and then strike the tympanic membrane. They are now no longer sound wave energy, but mechanical energy. As this mechanical energy moves through those tiny bones and muscles, it is translated into hydraulic energy in the liquid within the middle ear. This hydraulic energy is then moved through the circular cave of the ear where the little hairs are located. At this point the hydraulic energy of sound is translated by these little hairs into electrical energy over 30,000 neurons which make up the auditory nerve. Coded into electrical energy - they now move over the cable system of the auditory nerve which then carries these codes into the brain where they are decoded and we experience sound.

To think this all happened by chance is the height of both arrogance and foolishness. Engineers who have looked at this incredibly complex system marvel at its precision and astounding abilities. What is even more incredible is that we havn't even touched upon the wax system within the ear which deals with impurities - or the way that equilibrium is maintained through the water helping us balance and walk upright - or any of the chemical reactions that have to take place in order for us to translate things in from the hydraulic to the electrical phase of hearing. These would honestly blow our minds if we tried to take the time necessary to understand them. What is truly astounding is that some refuse to see a designer in all this - only random, accidental happenstance.

Once again the human ear blows our minds - and shows us the creativity of God as well as His ability to design systems which baffle engineers today. What we should come away with here is the realization that indeed God did create the seeing eye and the hearing ear. For those of us who are wise enough to see and hear such things from God - there is an aspect of worship that should come from such knowledge.

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The Seeing Eye - Proverbs 20:12

12/20/2010

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The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.
Proverbs 20:12

I am sure that Audiologists, Optometrists, and Opthamologists are thankful for the fact of this verse. On a factual level we learn that God is the One who made our eyes and ears. Some might take this very lightly - and see this as a kind of "duh" statement. There are two ways that we will take a few minutes today to see this truth given to us in Proverbs.

The Lord made the seeing eye. That is a far more amazing thing than we realize. There are few things in this world more absolutely amazing than the way an eye. When we take time to seriously consider this - we will come away with an utter astonishment at God's handiwork.

The eye is so astounding in what it does that no less than Charles Darwin said this about the supposed evolution of the eye in his book, The Origin of the Species.

"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."

Of course Darwin later said that this problem was just an illusion and explained how the eye evolved. Sadly, though, Darwin had no idea just how utterly complex the eye actually is. Just to have a photocell receive light involves a complex series of protein interactions. Most animals without any kind of eye or eye-spot system - would have to evolve these proteins, learn to facilitate their interaction, as well as develop a nerve pathway to their brain through which these interactions could be interpreted, understood, and used for whatever reason sight would be developed. This is to say nothing of the complexity of the retina and the optic nerve - which both are almost beyond comprehension in how they work - not again to mention how they would be formed through materials that don't exist within the species that supposedly are developing them. What I've described is just a series of chemical reactions that would have to develop in an animal for the purpose of making sight possible in the chemical sphere. There is also the amazing way that our eyes function similarly to a video camera - except with an almost infinitely more minute ability to focus and move. Our eyes move due to six sets of muscles on each eye that work in marvelous coordination so that we can experience binocular vision. There is also the way that our tear ducts wash and protect our eyes from drying out and the way our eyelids provide protection and a way to evenly distribute the water formed by our tear ducts over our entire eye. A group of mathmeticians tried to figure out the number of calculations that it would take for a man to dribble a few times - focus his eyes on a basket - and use his eyes to coordinate his muscles so as to make a 15 foot set shot in basketball. This action alone would fry our greatest supercomputer - and keep it busy for days. Yet our eyes do that work in a matter of a couple of seconds and quickly move on to the next task necessary. The complexity of the human eye is enough to boggle the mind. Thus to say that God made it is not something overly simple - but actually something that is absolutely true in every way.

When we look at the human eye we should not think of randomness and something that happened by accident. What we should see is a small part of the body that is so astounding in what it does that we see the handiwork of God. Rather than try to make a ridiculous way that the human eye could have developed by random unguided processes. It is truly fascinating what some will do to make sure that there is not a God Who rules the affairs of men - and sets a standard of conduct for them to follow. I guess it goes to show that even though God gave men a glorious organ by which he can see - men are still blind to the One Who gave it to them.

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