“Thou hast made... the earth, and all things that are therein... and Thou preservest them all.” Nehemiah 9:6.
The four to six-foot, 150-pound African aardvark is unlike any other creature in the world. Its nearest relative might be a pig; in fact the name aardvark, given to it by the natives, means “earth pig” in their language. But its similarity to a pig is mostly in its long snout, nostrils, brown body and bristly hair. Its long upright ears are more like a donkey’s, its tail is something like a kangaroo’s, and its arched body is not too different from a hyena’s.
There are two things the aardvark is specially good at doing. One is finding termites’ nests, which in their part of Africa stand out in the open like concrete mounds. Approaching one, it listens carefully to determine if termites are inside. Hearing their movement, it tears into and opens the mound with powerful claws. Then, with a foot-long sticky tongue it laps them up.
But don’t think termites don’t fight back... they do, just like ants fight when their nests are entered! Both insects have “soldiers” with sharp mandibles and they attack the intruding aardvark, but find that its skin is so tough they cannot bite through it. In addition, the Creator has provided nostrils and ears that seal tightly when in the insects’ nests, so these are protected too.
It is also an expert at digging. Their dens are in tunnels about ten feet long with half a dozen entrances, and this requires lots of digging. No problem! Their strong front legs and sharp claws, kicking the dirt out behind them, go through even hard dirt faster than men with shovels. For the most part they stay in these dens through the day and come out at night to raid ant hills and termite nests, adding other insects and fruit and gourds to their menu when available.
Babies, born in the den, have skin so loose and full of wrinkles that it appears to be several sizes too big, but they soon fill it out. To keep her little ones hidden, the mother moves into a new burrow about once a week. Before long they are taken out to learn the fine points of hunting, and within a year’s time they are on their own.
For all the strange appearance of these animals, they represent one of God’s creatures and indicate His pleasure in placing such a great variety of life on the earth at the time of its creation. For each creature He has provided what is exactly right for its way of life, and He watches over it all its days.
The Bible tells of something else that brings pleasure to Him: “I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness.” 1 Chronicles 29:17. Is your life pleasing Him? It can please Him only if you have confessed your sins, have asked the Lord Jesus to forgive and cleanse you, and have accepted Him as your Saviour. If you have not done this yet, why not do it right now!
ML-04/21/1985