God tells us in Exodus 8 of a devastating swarm of flies sent into Egypt. We can see how this could happen by considering the life cycle of flies and the delicate balance by which they are kept in check. A female fly can lay as many as 1,000 eggs during her 30-day summertime life span. She lays between 100 and 250 eggs at a time, which hatch within 24 hours. It has been calculated that if all the offspring of an individual pair of flies lived, their population (starting in April and ending in August) would reach a total of 190,000,000,000,000,000,000!
We can start to appreciate how critical it is that the fly populations be controlled when we understand that flies are one of the most dangerous insects to man. They live on filth. They enjoy decaying flesh, garbage, and manure. Then they walk around in the sugar bowl on your table. A single fly can hold up to 30 million organisms or bacteria in its internal tract and 500 million on its body surface. The common housefly is capable of transmitting about 40 serious diseases. Birds, toads, spiders, and other predators keep the fly populations from growing to plague proportions.
Developing a better understanding of nature and its complex system of interactions gives us reason to praise God. His attentiveness to details is truly astounding.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, August 6.
