C A R L B. G A R N E R

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

Modern man has learned much about the world of botany. Well over 90% of our plants and other "staple crops" are known to be pollinated by either bees, bats, birds or butterflies. That knowledge is especially interesting to those of us who know and love the Bible. If God is the author of the Bible (and He most definitely is!), you would expect His Book to be in harmony with His Work (and it most certainly is!). There is concern in some parts of the scientific community that man has "forgotten" the benefits of insects and other pollinators, and research is now on-going in these areas. The National Wildflower Research Center in South Austin has been a participant in this research and in its publicity. In the midst of the writing on this subject lurks the question about the role of evolution in this process. A new book speaks of the work of these pollinators being the result of organic evolution as though this is a given in modern science. On the contrary, the role of birds and bees in this matter is not evidence for evolution at all, but rather for a young earth. Evolutionists go into cardiac arrest when it is suggested that the earth is less than "billions" of years old, for their theories require such longevity. But the work of birds and insects in pollinating the earth's plants is right at the heart of the discussion of the length of the days of the creation week.

THE DAY-AGE THEORY
Those who seek to harmonize the Bible with evolution's theories have suggested that the days of Genesis One were not really days, but long ages of time. Thus they propose to remove the conflict between evolution and the Bible. They submit that each of these "days" was millions or billions of years in length, allowing for the longevity needed for natural selection to result in today's diversity of species. There are several ways to refute their arguments:

First, the Hebrew term for "day," yom, is the ordinary term used to describe a solar (or 24 hour) day.
Second, there are other perfectly good Hebrew words Moses could have used if he had wanted to say they were "ages" instead of days. Instead, he used yom.
Third, accepted rules of hermeneutics demand a literal interpretation unless there are compelling reasons to consider it otherwise.
Fourth, Adam lived through part of the 6th day, and all of the 7th, yet at the birth of Seth, he is said to be only 130 (not billions of) years old, Genesis 5:3.
Fifth, rules of grammar and usage indicate that when yom is plural (yammin) it always denotes a normal solar day. Also, when modfied by a numeral (first day), it always describes a solar day.
Sixth, if evolution were true, all of the varied species of botany, created on the third day, would have had to survive for millions or billions of years (the night half of this imaginary "age") without the benefit of photosynthesis. Henry Morris writes, "vegetation created on the third day might have endured for a few hours without sunlight, but hardly for a geologic age." Morris is exactly right!
Seventh, the terms "evening and morning," in Genesis 1:5f, are comprehensible only in the context of a normal 24 hour day.
Eighth, the pollination of plant life.

Perhaps the most obvious problem for the day-age theory is related to our subject of pollination. Since plants were created on the third day, Genesis 1:11f, and the birds and insects were not created until the fifth and sixth days, Genesis 1:20-31, someone has to explain how plants could have survived during those millions of years. The question is thus asked by Wayne Jackson: "How could plants have survived that are pollinated solely by insects? For example, clover is pollinated only by bees, and the yucca plant has the pronuba moth as its only means of pollination. How did plants multiply if they were growing millions of years before the insects necessary for pollination even came into existence?"

The Bible cannot and need not be forced to harmonize with man's evolutionary theories. If you believe the Bible at all, believe all of it. And don't be intimidated by so-called "science" on this subject. Their theories change so often that their text books must be modified every year or two. True science (that which is capable of being proved) will not contradict anything the Bible says. You can count on that!