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Symbols in the sky
The great fires of the sun never go out. They burn with a surface heat of six to seven thousand degrees, whilst the internal temperature is considered to be approximately 50 million degrees. Of this output energy, the earth receives but a minute part. If the earth was any closer to the sun, the heat of the latter would destroy us. If it were as close to the sun as the moon is to the earth, the earth would disintegrate! But God's wisdom arranged that the earth should be positioned where it is in order that it should sustain life (Isaiah 45:18).

The greatest works of man are puny compared to those of God. Supposing a fog existed over Sydney Harbour (Australia) 90 metres deep, the amount of air to be dissipated would be more than five million tonnes. Man cannot devise means to disperse it; yet the sun, the great dispeller of gloom and darkness, can accomplish the work within an hour, and this is but a fraction of fog to be shifted during each twenty-four hours.

Many an astronomer has extolled the glory of the sun. Its surface is called the Photosphere, because it gives out the light which illuminates the earth. Under normal circumstances, it seems to have a smooth surface but, actually, it has large waves upon it, so that it has been described as a great ocean of fire. Sun spots appear on the photosphere which are really great fiery storms, during which tremendous hydrogen flames are cast out, reaching over 300,000 kilometres. Near the edge of some of the spots are bright ridges called faculae, which form the most brilliant part of the sun, and are sometimes 65,000 kms in length and 6,500 kms in breadth. Outside the photosphere is the reversing layer consisting of cooler gases. Above this is the Chromosphere, or color sphere, so called because of its rose tint appearance. It extends to a depth of 6,500 kms. Beyond this is the marvellous white glory of the Corona. It is a kind of rarefied atmosphere out of which emerges long, slender, luminous filaments called streamers. Some have extended to a distance of sixteen million kms in length. They were seen at the time of total eclipse in 1878.

The Bible likens the sun to a great fiery brazier of unparalleled strength and splendour, whose fertilising rays bring life to the world. In Psalm 19, David likened the sun to an army general surrounded by his troops who do his summons; or to a bridegroom appearing with glory and splendour, before the assembled gathering. The sun's great heat, light and strength, reminded David of a strong man running a race, and he saw it as a symbol of earth's coming king, the Christ in whom his hopes were centred. David was a "man after God's own heart," to whom God made promises of eternal import (see 2 Samuel 7:12,13; Isaiah 55:7), and he loved to contemplate the omnipotence and omniscience of the Creator as revealed in His works. He declared: "The works of God are great, sought out of all them that take delight therein" (Psalms 111:2).

The glory, strength, fiery heat, revealing light, dominating power, and life-giving properties of the sun are used as symbols of the Lord Jesus. He is represented as coming to the earth "as the great Sun of righteousness with healing in his beams" (Malachi 4:2). His glory will commence a new epoch, a "new day" for the earth, when he shall shine in the political heavens as King of kings (2 Samuel 23:4). His rays of spiritual light will disperse the gloom and evil of this Gentile night and irradiate the world with divine Truth (Isaiah 60:1-3). He will come as a bridegroom to his waiting bride (Revelation 19:7), and she comprises all those who have earnestly sought to live in accordance with his precepts in anticipation of his coming, and, joined to him in immortality they will live and reign upon the earth in glorious unity (Revelation 5:9-10; John 17:20-21). Christ will be "a strong man to run a race" (Psalm 19:5), for he will cast down all opposing kings and rule over the earth in righteousness (Daniel 7:27). Then shall all men praise him, for the nation and kingdom that will not serve him shall perish" (Isaiah 60:12). In the effulgence of his spiritual light and understanding there shall be dispelled the fog and "gross darkness" that encompasses mankind today, and by his revelation of divine Truth men will be forced to exclaim: "Surely our fathers (spiritual, political and scientific!) have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit" (Jeremiah 16:19).

The Evolutionist caught in a Fly-Trap!

Simply put, evolution can be defined as the developing of new and complex forms of life, from simpler forms by natural processes rather than specific creation. God is thus replaced by Nature; and evolutionists claim that all the amazing diversities of life on the earth do not speak of His wonderful creative Power, but of the remarkable vicissitudes of chance!

To see how absurd this teaching is, examine carefully God's handiwork in the insect-devouring "Venus Fly Trap," found in North Carolina, USA, and consider whether this is an evidence of wonderful design at the hand of an intelligent Creator, or of blind chance working through amazing luck!

A -- flower
B -- plant
C,D,E -- trap in action.
1. Leaves of basal rosette each with terminal trap. 2. Trap.
3. Fly on leaf.
4. Contact hairs that set off trap: closing mechanism.
5. Teeth that close the trap.

From the accompanying drawings, identify the different parts of the flower, and consider how the trap works. The leaves (see sketch B1) of this plant lie in a "rosette" flat on the ground. Each leaf ends in a leaf-blade that looks and acts like a steel trap. The two halves of the trap, hinged in the middle, are attractive on top, being colored pink, red or green, and having the lure of flowers. But there are three little "triggers" (sensitive hairs -- see sketch C4) on the upper inner surface of each side of the trap, making a total of six "triggers" for each trap.

Insects land on these traps and walk around in search of nectar. When an insect disturbs the sensitive hairs on the trap, it will instantly snap shut, with tooth-edges meshing and preventing escape (see sketch E). These six sensitive hairs even distinguish between a living and a dead object, for the leaf-trap will not close unless two hairs are touched in succession, or the same hair twice. Small sticks or pebbles will leave the trap undisturbed!

Once shut, however, the trap gradually pinches tighter and tighter, squeezing its prey against the digestive glands on the inner surfaces of the trap. These traps are strong enough to crush soft bodies, while the glands secrete an acid that can digest any insect caught.

The glands are able to give a continual supply of acid for a week once a victim has been ensnared. When the trap closes, functions are set in motion which virtually turn it into a "stomach."

This plant, with its many traps, is designed to work in unison with co-operative sequence. This is obviously the rational design of an intelligent Creator.

Consider again the various parts of the trap, two leaves, the hinges, the toothed edges, the "trigger" hairs, the digestive glands, the copious acid secretion at the right time. How could random chance, without intelligent design, produce such an organization? It is impossible. The theory of evolution is revealed to be absurd in attempting to show how the Venus Fly Trap evolved. In fact, in trying to do so, the evolutionist is himself caught in a fly trap!

Consider the alternative. The parts of the trap either "evolved" one after the other over millions of years -- or God created the plant! The evolutionist claims that it took millions of years for the trap to evolve, but, until the whole plant is completely formed, it won't work! In other words, for millions of years the plant has been evolving a trap that won't work! Fortunately, the plant has no brains, otherwise it surely would have destroyed itself in sheer frustration! But though it lacks brains, apparently, according to the evolutionist, it went on busily evolving away over millions of years, attempting the impossible, trying to make an incomplete trap work until, supposedly at one stage, a particularly bright plant, by superhuman effort (we won't use the word "miracle"), suddenly thought out (without brains, mind you) what was required and proceeded to grow it!

Please excuse the sarcasm in our description, but how else can evolution account for this amazing plant! There is only one way that plant could come into being: by specific creation.

Look at it again. Notice that the flower is separate from the trap which is situated at the end of the leaf. Any variations in the shape of leaves are not handed on to its offspring, unless they are transferred to the seeds. Can the flower do this itself? Of course not! The alternative is for the evolutionist to "suppose" that somehow evolution takes place inside the seed itself.

Now consider what these so-called scientists are asking you to believe. They ask you to accept that the intricate insect trap, with all its functions is the result of "changes" inside the microscopic cell from which the seed is developed, and that during this evolutionary period these changes were useless (for the trap would not work), and therefore they were "evolved" for no apparent reason!

The cell, itself, is made up of many complex parts and substances, the most intriguing being the chromosomes and genes. The former are the tiny ribbons of proteins and nucleic acids that dictate growth and heredity, thus determining the shape and function of the whole plant.