Why Did God Make Mosquitoes?
Buzzzz. Ouch! Smack! Yes, those sounds usually are heard when Ms. Mosquito pays you a visit. And I say, "Ms. Mosquito," because only female mosquitoes "bite."
There are more than 2,500 species of mosquitoes in the world. A species is generally defined as a group in which males and females produce offspring that are fertile, i.e., are capable of reproducing themselves. They are not "sterile" - as in the case of the mule, a hybrid cross between a male donkey and a female horse.
The fossil record reveals that the ancient ancestors of the modern mosquito were about three times as large as their present day offspring. This is another example of how nature has degenerated. It is not evolving from the less primitive to the more sophisticated, contrary to the claims of modern Darwinians. Some ancient pagans believed that mosquitoes are reincarnated humans who were evil in the way they lived. Though there is no truth to the notion of reincarnation, there are some blood-sucking humans who would make good mosquitoes in another world!
Mosquitoes are specially fashioned little flies. "Little flies" is what the name means. The term "fly" is a generic word for insects that have only two wings. Mosquitoes can beat their tiny wings at a rate of about one thousand times per second! Their wings are so thin that even the blood vessels show. Only God could have designed this amazing and minute system.
But mosquitoes can be dangerous. They can carry germs that cause harmful diseases in humans - sicknesses like malaria and yellow fever. Many people wonder, therefore, just why God would create potentially noxious little insects like these.
Critics of God and his word are ever anxious to lash out and appeal to what they call the "incongruities of nature" as arguments that a benevolent God could not have designed and implemented the universe around us. Thus there is no God behind earth's environment. There are just "too many examples" that do not meet their standard of how things ought to be. They have endowed themselves with omniscience and thus are confident they know how it "should have been done."
Let us take the mosquito, for example. There are two important points that need to be taken into consideration.
“Only God could have designed this amazing and minute system.”
First, our original parents, Adam and Eve, were not bothered by disease until they disobeyed God. Because of that disobedience, the human family became weak and vulnerable to diseases - and even death (Romans 5:12; 6:23). In the beginning, the Lord did not intend for any of us who have been made in his image to be hurt by his animal creatures, but this is the price we pay for not following the Creator's instructions. Every mosquito bite ought to be a reminder to obey God.
Second, mosquitoes actually are a valuable source of food for many creatures that were made to benefit mankind. For example, frogs, lizards, and some fish eat mosquitoes. These insects are an important link in the animal food chain, thus ultimately they are for our benefit as well. There is a balance in nature that we sometimes do not recognize or appreciate.
Third, there are numerous mysteries in nature we do not understand. There are more things we do not understand than those we do. We must humbly recognize and acknowledge our limited knowledge, and not speak irreverently of God in our frustration. This is the epitome of arrogance. This was precisely the problem of Job as he questioned the wisdom of God in governing the universe. The Lord humbled the patriarch and brought him to his knees by a barrage of interrogation that yet baffles the keenest of minds (see Job 38-39).
We may occasionally wonder why our heavenly Father made certain things. We should be confident there was a good reason for so doing, whether we understand the intricacies of such or not. We praise him for the things we comprehend, and for those we do not. Such is true reverence!
Printed by permission of Wayne Jackson, published in the Christian Courier, February 12, 2008
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Answering The Atheist
Complaint:
Where did Joseph's brothers find the hidden money? Was it at home (Genesis 42:29-35) or at the inn (Genesis 42:27; 43:21)? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
A careful reading of the text will plainly reveal what took place.
Genesis 42:27 indicates that when the brothers had set up camp (KJV says they were at an inn, NKJV simply calls it an encampment), one of them found his money in the mouth of his sack. No doubt they all opened their sacks to feed their animals, but the writer specifically tells us that "one of them" saw his money in the mouth of his sack.
They returned home, and told Jacob of the events which had transpired. It is at this point, we read:
Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid. (Genesis 42:35)
What the questioner is calling a contradiction is in fact an extremely detailed account of the brothers discovering their money bags. Why did only one brother find his money when they stopped on their way home? It would seem that only one money bag had been laid in the mouth of the grain bags. Thus, one found his money bag, but the rest had not yet.
8 brothers? |
In Genesis 43:21, when the brothers were in the presence of Joseph again, they spoke of what had happened before. as they recounted their discovery, they said,
...it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight, so we have brought it back in our hand.
That's not what we read in Genesis 42. So, is this a contradiction? Though it is true that the brothers recount of events is inaccurate, Moses by inspiration wrote what they said. As we look in the Genesis record, we can see on more than one occasion that the brothers didn't quite tell things how it was (consider Genesis 37:31-34; Genesis 42:13; 44:19-20; 50:15-17). It was not the inspired writer's job to correct what Joseph's brothers said, but simply to record their words. He did so.
There is no contradiction.
This article is in response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible.