“These may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth ... the locust ... the beetle ... and the grasshopper.... But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.” Leviticus 11:21-23
It is interesting to find beetles mentioned in the Bible and included in the “clean” food approved by the Lord for the Israelites. Most creeping things were not to be eaten, but the locust, beetle and grasshopper were exceptions. Do you know why? Read the Bible verse carefully, and you will see that the “clean” insects had legs above their feet. This raised them above the ground. The bodies of creatures without legs above their feet are always in contact with the ground.
This distinction is a lesson for us. If we allow Satan to occupy us with this world so that we do not want to be separated from it or to rise above it in our thoughts, this is not pleasing to God. But if our thoughts and affections rise above the world (heavenward) and separate us from it, then God is well pleased.
There are over 200,000 kinds of beetles, and it is interesting to notice how the Creator adapts each kind to its surroundings. All “clean” beetles have four wings. The top pair is a stiff outer case not used for flying but for protecting the inner pair when folded and at rest. The many beetle varieties include all sizes—tiny ones small enough to crawl through the eye of a needle up to the Goliath beetle of Africa, which is the size of a man’s fist. One of the tiny ones is only one-tenth of an inch long and is blind and has no wings; this one would be “unclean.” It lives in a nest of yellow ants where it receives good care because of a sweet liquid the ants take from it. When it is hungry it nudges an ant. Their two mouths come together, and food from the ant is transferred to the beetle.
The yellow tiger beetle, which is brilliant green with coppery-colored legs, is a ferocious little creature. It lives on sandy shores or on flat, open places and catches insects by attracting them with a fragrant perfume. Then it kills them with its sickle-shaped jaws.
The unusual water beetle lives below the surface of ponds. It carries air down in a bag-like part of its body and comes back up when it needs more. The Creator provided this one with exceptional eyes so that when on the surface of the water it can see both what is in the air above and what is going on down below. The diving beetle also spends much time in water and is equipped with fine hairs on its underside that hold an air bubble for breathing when it dives down.
We will look at more interesting beetles in the next issue.
ML-02/26/2012