LightGrams
April 24, 2025
Volume 29, Number 14
Did you think “cheetah” when you read the title of this article? Cheetahs deserve honorable mention as “one of the fastest animals” on earth. They have been clocked going 75 miles per hour as they pursue their prey. But there’s an animal that more than doubles that speed.
The peregrine falcon is a predator that inhabits much of the U.S., and can be observed in the corner of Tennessee I live in. According to various websites, the peregrine falcon develops amazing speed when diving to attack its prey. Estimates vary on how fast they go, but the speed is usually stated as between 150 and 200 miles per hour.
BirdwatchingHQ.com says this about their speed: “At the high speeds that these falcons can travel, their lungs should inflate and burst. But because they have a bony bump in their nose, it disrupts the airflow just like the dome shape on the front of a jet engine. Nature never ceases to amaze!” Many will say, “Isn’t evolution amazing!” I can only shake my head in unbelief at such statements.
Falcons are specifically mentioned three times in the ESV Bible. But there’s a verse that includes them and every other bird in Genesis 1:21: “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to their kind. And God saw that it was good.”
Is random chance responsible for the bony bump on the peregrine falcon’s beak? If so, what did this bird do as the bump was evolving over thousands of years? What gave this bird the audacity to attempt dives at record-breaking speeds, and how many birds burst their lungs while the disrupting apparatus was mutating? No, it just makes no sense at all to say that evolution designed this bird.
God challenged Job’s “wisdom” by asking, “Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high?” (Job 39:26,27). The implication is that God knows the answers to these questions. He designed these and all creatures, and they are exquisitely made, down to the bump in their beak.
David wrote in Psalm 19:1 that “The heavens declare the glory of God.” In addition to the planets, stars, and galaxies, a glance at the heavens also reveals birds, a vast variety of them, which also declare God’s glory. Isaiah 6:3 records the words of heavenly beings as they honor God: “And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’”
From the slowest animal on earth (the snail?) to the fastest, they all reveal the amazing design of an infinitely intelligent Creator. Give God the glory!
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2025, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “[email protected]” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
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