THE SPLENDOR OF JEHOVAH'S CREATION-"Let the Rivers Themselves Clap Their Hands"

GLANCE at a map of the earth, and in most places, you will see lines snaking their way across landmasses.  These tendrils cross plains,deserts, and grasslands.  They wind their way through valleys, canyons, and forests.  (Habakkuk 3:9)  These are rivers , our planet's arteries of life.  Such watercourses testify  to the wisdom and power of earth's Creator, Jehovah. As we observe them, we share the feelings of the psalmist who sang:  "Let the rivers themselves clap their hands; all together let the mountains cry out joyfully before Jehovah." -Psalm 98:8, 9. 

Rivers are closely linked with human history. The Bible speaks of four major rivers that were parted from a river issuing out of Eden.  (Genesis 2:10-14)  One of the earliest  civilizations sprang up in the fertile valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Great civilizations were made possible by the Hwang River in China, the Ganges and the Indus in southern Asia, and the Nile in Egypt. 

No wonder, then, that man has always stood in awe before the might,the bounty, and the beauty of rivers. The Nile of Egypt flows for about  4,150 miles.  The distinction of being the largest  river goes to the Amazon of South America. While some rivers are majestic, others are very beautiful, like the much smaller but swift-flowing Tone River in Japan. 

What make a river flow? In  a word, gravity, its is gravity that draws water from higher to lower elevations. Sometimes the results are thundering waterfalls. Describing these displays of force and grandeur, the Bible says:  "The rivers have raised, O Jehovah, the rivers have raised their sound; the rivers keep raising their pounding." -Psalm 93:3. 

"Who sends torrents of rain?" Jehovah asked the godly man Job. (Job 38:25, Contemporary English Version) Yes, where does all the water come from?  The answer involves and intricate system called the water cycle. Earth's water is in a container state of circulation powered by the energy of the sun and by gravity. After water evaporates, it rises in the atmosphere. Eventually, it cools and condenses to form clouds.  In time, this vapor returns to the earth as snow or rain. Much of the water is stored in the oceans,lakes, rivers, glaciers, polar icecaps, and under the ground. 

Next time: Conclusion of "Let the Rivers Themselves Clap Their Hands"

From the Watchtower magazine, 2004