ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

ELEPHANTS !!
Yes, today I want to spend a little time on the plight of the Elephant.
Recently Kenya has seen an increase in    poaching generally, and it seems little can be, or IS being done about it.
Elephants, it is predicted, may be extinct in Africa within TEN years if Poaching is not stopped.    These huge, wonderful animals are hunted not for food but for their TUSKS; for their ivory.   It is said that Elephants are being slaughtered in Africa at a rate of '20.000-25.000 per year out of a population of just 420 to 620,000.

In 2011 it was reported that more than 150 Chinese citizens were arrested across Africa, from Kenya to Nigeria, for smuggling ivory, and there is growing evidence that poaching increases in elephant-rich areas where Chinese construction workers are building roads.'

A Senior State Department official, Robert Hormats, has been put on record as saying ' China is the epicenter of demand - (for Ivory) - Without the demand from China this (trade) would all but dry up.' Some experts have said that the survival of the species is at stake ('we are experiencing the greatest percentage loss of elephants in history'). What is being done about it? Well some effort is being bade, but not enough. The Year of 2011 was perhaps the worst with hundreds of Elephants killed across the Continent. Even the calves were killed, apparently for no reason, and it was as if there was a settled intention to destroy every Elephant living. During 2013 and 2014 poaching continued at set levels with little change, and almost unchecked. How many Elephants does Kenya have left? I don't know. I saw a note recently putting the number at about one hundred thousand, but I think it is much less. EVERY day it is said an Elephant dies every 15 minutes worldwide.     Ninety six die in Africa every day!     How long can we expect the remaining few to last?     Truly the Elephant may be GONE in our lifetime!

I must admit that I like Elephants. But I am not just concerned for them because I find them attractive and fascinating creatures.   I am also aware they are part of the Plan of God in His Creation; they have a place to fill, and it is not just as a spectacle, or as a provider of Meat or Ivory.    They have a place in our environment, and affect the worldwide balance of our ecology.

WITHOUT THEM we would be the losers in ways we have not even imagined.    They are here for a purpose that may well affect us all.     Indeed when we treat the world echo system carelessly we endanger ourselves most of all, as well as every other animal and plant species.      Those who kill and uproot selfishly and without any discrimination are ENEMIES of us us all.    Enemies of God as well.        It is said that the Chinese value Ivory and might do almost anything to get their hands on it.   'It is said by experts that know, that as much as 70% of all illegally procured ivory is flowing to China.     It is also said that the Shabab and Darfur's janjaweed that are hunting the elephant for its ivory in order to pay for guns and to sustain their lifestyle.     Is it Man who is his own worst enemy, or is he motivated and misdirected by another greater Enemy?  He wants us all dead anyway, and is quite prepared, if he can put it into our mind, to help us destroy ourselves by pulling the 'carpet' of our echo system from right out from under our feet.

We should ALL be concerned for the world around us; not just OUR social comfort, but we should care to maintain and keep in good health the Creation, both animal and plant, that provides us with a stable planet to live on.     Right now we seem to have forgotten that it Man's responsibility to ensure this, rather then exploit it all for his own convenience.

KEEP GOD IN MIND!     In Genesis 2v15 it is written 'And the LORD God too the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it  (King James Version of the Bible)
The New International Bible says 'The LORD God too the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.'
Right at the BEGINNING of everything, God having made all the plant and animal life, He then commissioned Adam what to do with it all.
The Hebrew word Abad means 'to dress, to tend, a vineyard'.
The Hebrew word Shamar means 'to watch, preserve, to guard;
to build a hedge around'.

So right at the Beginning God gave Man a Mandate that involved tending and guarding Creation.      The word 'Dominion' which can be translated 'power' or more properly 'authority' relates to having God's trust and mandate to take care of, and to guard His property - His Creation.
MAN was NOT give authority to LORD it over everything in an effort to make himself more comfortable, richer,  or contented.  He was not told to USE Creation for his own interest, but to CARE for it in God's interest.       Neither was he given permission to KILL anything unless it was to satisfy his hunger.     BUT NOW Man has told himself it's OK to kill - anything, and anyone, even himself if it pleases him.     Yes Man stopped listening to God when Eve listened to the Serpent, and after that he went astray in everything he attempted - and instead of caring and guarding, Man has neglected and exposed to attack everything that God has provided.


Teach yourself AND your children and grandchildren to CARE and to GUARD Planet Earth, and NOT to exploit and denude if of every good thing that contributes to our well being.