RIBS, ADAM, REGENERATION

BONES, BONES BONES—OUR AMAZING RIBS!

God morning!

We are having another fine and beautiful day here where I live. What a wonderful time of the year—not too hot and not too cold for these old bones! I love it!

What, you may be asking, do bones have to do with the bible? Well, for one when God created us and also all vertebrates He created bones. But there is one bone actually mentioned by name in scripture. You guessed it, the rib; “And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.” Genesis 2:21

There has been some misconceptions surrounding this bit of history so let’s clear those up first. I know there is a belief out there that the word rib actually means “side” and “curved”. Therefore some say God did not take an actual rib but rather the curved spiral of DNA from Adam to make Eve. Well, if you look up the Hebrew word for rib in Genesis 2:21, it is tzalelot and can be translated either way—ribs or sides. However Hebrew words pick up precise meaning from the context of the sentence or paragraph. If you continue reading into Genesis 2:22 (still the same sentence by the way), it reads; “and the rib, which God had taken from Adam…” This time the Hebrew word is tzela which translates to rib. Not side or curved, just rib. So there is no doubt God is speaking of a rib bone.

The other belief about ribs is that men have one less rib than women. Or if not all men, at least Adam did. Well since ribs are one of the most, if not the most interesting bones in our bodies, let’s see if this could be true. The easiest way to figure this out is to count your ribs, then count the ribs of someone you know who is the opposite sex. You will quickly discover the number of ribs is the same. “The number of ribs is determined by the code written in our DNA. God did not change Adam’s DNA; He simply removed one of his ribs to use for the creation of the woman. Thus, all men descended from Adam (and Eve) would have 12 pairs of ribs, even if Adam had one less rib. The same could be said for a man who loses his leg due to an

accident. Would all his children only have one leg? Of course not—the man’s DNA that codes for two legs has not changed.”¹ 

So how come Adam didn’t have one less rib? After all, God did take a rib from him. Well, as you know if you ever had anything broken, bones can repair themselves. Within a month your bones with knit together to form a solid structure again. But of all the bones in our body, there is only one that can regenerate itself. You guessed it…our rib bones! As a matter of fact, “Ribs are commonly removed during surgeries that require bone grafts in other parts of the body. The rib

is removed from the periosteum (a tissue surrounding the bone) much like a banana would be removed from its peel while keeping most of the peel intact. The periosteum must remain, as it contains osteoblasts which build the new rib bone.”²

Besides this amazing feature, “The function of ribs is threefold. First, they provide protection for the lungs and heart. The ribs more or less form a “cage” around these very important organs. Second, they are one of the few bones that continue to make red marrow (and thus blood cells) in the adult. Third, they serve as attachment points for chest muscles involved in respiration.”³  

God and His infinite wisdom knew all of this and much, much more when He worked on His amazing creations of the universe. Sometimes I feel like a little child looking at awe at the world around me. There is just so much to wonder about…

Until next time, God bless and get out there and enjoy His beautiful creations!

Willow Dressel

This week in the night skies; “Friday, April 17 Callisto occults Ganymede among Jupiter's moons. Dark Callisto crosses in front of Ganymede from 9:27 to 9:37 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Their combined light will dim by 1.0 magnitude during the middle of this time. Start watching early to see them moving together into a blend. See Bob King's article Catch the Last Best Antics of Jupiter’s Moons.”⁴ Make it all one day earlier for Australia and New Zealand and anyone in that area.

References:

^1-3https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/the-amazing-regenerating-rib/

          http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-april-10-18/