Amber is a beautiful and interesting part of God’s creation. It is a stone-like substance, sometimes clear enough to see through. It most often appears in shades of yellow, where the name “amber” comes from, but sometimes it is brown or even colorless. It looks hard and solid and its irregular shape is smooth. If caught in a flame, it will burn and be destroyed.
While new amber is actually being formed right now, the amber that is thousands of years old needs only polishing to make beautiful and extremely valuable pieces of jewelry. Perhaps you have seen amber in necklaces, bracelets, rings or other ornaments.
Amber was formed from the resin of pine trees that grew in northern Europe hundreds and thousands of years ago. This resin was gummy material mixed with oil in the trees and slowly seeped out of the bark, until its own weight caused it to drop to the ground where it hardened in round, oval, flat or irregular shapes. The pine trees were buried under ground or under water for many, many years. Most amber is mined, but some washes up on shore in the Baltic Sea area, and some is gathered from the sea in nets.
What adds the most value to these gems is that some contain air bubbles or a trapped insect, such as an ant, fly, mosquito or sometimes a spider. Some of the trapped insects are now extinct. These small creatures got trapped in the sticky resin before it hardened and could not get away. They are perfectly preserved and look alive inside the amber jewel.
An interesting fact about these perfectly preserved creatures, now seen hundreds or thousands of years after their entrapment, is that they are identical to the living ones we see today. There has been no change in them whatsoever - they are still just as the Creator made them.
Sad to say, there are those around us who will not believe in God as the Creator, even with lack of evidence. But the Bible, which we can always trust, tells us: “In six days the Lord made heaven [the sky and stars] and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exodus 20:1111For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)). How much more happiness we have in knowing and believing the Lord God and His holy Word, enabling us to say, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:1111Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)).
The One who created all things has a heart of love for you and invites you to receive Him as your Saviour and be with Him in heaven when your life on earth is over. Have you accepted His invitation?
ML-03/21/2004