Bats, Sparrows and You


Written by:  Pastor Jëan Ross

Central to the first angel’s message of Revelation 14:7 is a call to worship God as Creator. The fact that we are created by God and in His image gives value and purpose to life. We are not the result of random chemical reactions or biological mishaps, but are sons and daughters of the Creator of the Universe. Romans 1:20 points out that creation reveals to us the love and power of God in the things that are made. Consider for a moment the marvelous design of the ear muscles of the bat. 

It is well-known that bats fly by sonar. They emit high frequency sounds which the human ear cannot hear. The returning echo of those sounds places "sound-print" pictures in their minds. Using this technique, a bat can catch a tiny, fast flying insect. The higher the pitch, the smaller the surface its echo can reveal. Some sounds are so high that they can enable the little bat to detect the presence of a wire no thicker than a human hair stretched across its pathway.

 Then there is the intensity of that sound. The louder it is, the more distant the object that can be detected. So these calls are generally very loud, But wait! If it is necessary for a bat to make such a loud sound, in order to have it echo back from a distant object, how can the bat possibly hear the echo with its ears, in the midst of all the racket it is making with its mouth?

 This is a good question, for it would, indeed, be a very real problem. The ear of the bat was designed to be extremely sensitive, so that it can hear very faint sounds. Yet just a few of its screams would quickly deafen it! But God has taken care of this problem. There is a special muscle in the middle ear of the bat. It is attached to one of three tiny bones which transmits the vibrations of the eardrum to the organ in the skull that converts them into nerve signals sent to the brain.

Just as each scream is on the verge of being emitted, this muscle instantly pulls back that bone, so that it does not transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The eardrum is momentarily disconnected! Then, after the scream is ended, that muscle relaxes and the bone moves back into place, thus the only sound that the bat hears is its own echo. This back-and-forth motion of that bone occurs more than a hundred times a second! And it always occurs in perfect alignment with the sending of the super-short screams.  
If God cares enough about the common bat to provide it with this remarkable ability to hear its own echo, how much more does God care for you. Jesus said in Matthew 10:29-31, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” What a comfort to know that God loves us and that we can take to him all our cares! 

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