I sat this weekend with my 2 year old son and watched a PBS special about elephants. He was mostly captivated with the amazing footage. (I say mostly because we would occasionally need to become elephants ourselves, walking around the house on all 4s, make elephant sounds, and then return to the watering hole in front of the TV)
The storyline was fascinating as they described the result of recent research which followed the Asian Tsunami. Their focus was to try and understand why the Asian Elephants headed for higher ground before any human knew the Tsunami was coming.
As it turns out, researchers at Stanford have identified that elephants have amazingly sensitive feet. In fact, so sensitive are the nerve endings on the bottom or their large feet, that they can sense deep vibrations in the ground, undetectable to the human ear. As they did their research, they discovered an entirely new "elephant language" that takes place through deep utterances made by the elephants and heard through the ground, undetectable to humans and most other animals.
In their research, they identified unique aspects to this language such as warning when danger is near. To validate their findings, they recorded one of these unique signals made by elephants when lions began to approach. They then set up a "lab" at a elephant watering hole and played this vibration signal into the ground. No noise could be heard by the human ear, but the elephants...they ran and immediately guarded their young.
Not only was I intrigued by the findings, I was amazed that here we are in 2006 and we are learning new things about animals that we have known about and studied for thousands of years. How much more do we NOT KNOW?
And then, at church this morning, I was reminded about what we do know. More specifically, what we know about God and what we know is known by God. His knowledge is vast - He has given each one of the billion upon billions of stars a name. (Ps 147:4-5) His knowledge is specific - No sparrow reaches the ground outside of the knowledge of God. (Mt 10:29) His knowledge is personal - He counts the hairs of our head as the most minute detail of His most prized creation. (Mt 10:30)
Just think about it...There is no "important information" He is withholding that we will discover at some future date. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, because they are understood by what He has made. So people are without excuse." (Rom 1:20)
The story of the elephants is amazing. The revelation of God is even more amazing. We have "everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness". (1Pet1:3)
Now that is amazing!
