Make Noise, Not War

Ezra 3:13
“So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.”

On today’s program I will give you one guess at what howler monkeys are especially good at. That’s right – they howl. Or perhaps I should say, they shout. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, their shouts can be heard clearly up to three miles away, making them the loudest land animal on record.

Now, why did God give them this ability to shout so loudly to other howler monkeys? Howlers live in groups of about 20 individuals. And since they would rather make noise than war, when one group of monkeys is about to encroach upon the territory of a different group, the monkeys make their presence known by howling. This enables them to avoid violent confrontations.

Males are a great deal louder than females. That’s because they have a hollow bone near their vocal cords – the hyoid – which amplifies the sound by acting like the body of a drum. And according to the book 1000 Wonders of Nature, males also have a thick neck and drooping double chin that “acts as a resonating chamber to amplify the sound.”

God wants His people to raise our voices, too, but with songs of praise. As our Creator and Savior, He alone is worthy of our praise. But He also wants us to use our voices to present the gospel to unbelievers so that they, too, might trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You will bless the words I speak to others so that they might come to know You as their Savior. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Author: Steven J. Schwartz
Ref: “The long-distance call of the howler monkey,” 1000 Wonders of Nature, p. 204 (Reader’s Digest, London). Photo: Male howler monkey. © Leonardo C. Fleck. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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