“…dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow…” (Hebrews 4:12)
When the writer of the book of Hebrews penned these words under divine inspiration, he pointed out the very basic nature of the skeletal system that forms the foundation for our bodies. It was clear that it would take something very powerful to separate the soul from the spirit and the joints of the skeletal system from the marrow that is contained within the bones. We know that as these verses say, God’s Word is just such a powerful tool. Let’s spend just a few minutes looking at the marvelous creation that contains the joints and marrow, our skeletal system.
The structural framework that supports our bodies is the skeletal system. It is composed of many different parts, but the main component is the bones. There are 206 bones, more or less, in the adult human body. In the newborn baby, they will have not yet grown together on to each other. This can be seen in what is called the “soft spot” or fontanels of the baby’s head. Each one of us might have extra bones or be missing a few, and there are people with more ribs than others, but males contrasted with females. We can have 12 or 13 pairs of ribs, but the only man to have one less rib was Adam because God removed it during surgery. So, today, men do not have one less rib than women.
The bones are amazing structures that are stronger than steel, pound for pound. They are hollow, containing the material called bone marrow, of which there are two types, red and yellow. The ends of each bone are covered with an amazing material that allows them to move past one another without causing pain when working properly. This particular cartilage, when working properly, keeps each movement from causing tremendous pain, as we know it does in arthritis.
Bones function to support the body, protect soft internal organs, allow movement by acting as points of attachment for muscles, store mineral salts until needed, produce all of our blood cells — red, white and platelets — and store energy in the yellow marrow in the hollow part of the bone. If any one of the functions does not work properly, then we will not be in this world for very long. Each of the functions must have been working perfectly in the first human that came into existence. It is not possible for evolution to have “perfected” these functions over millions of years because we need them on an hourly basis.
These bones are self-repairing and heal themselves even stronger than they were before they were broken. The bone has living cells within it called osteocytes. These are arranged in concentric layers called the Haversian Canal System. With blood vessels running through this “compact bone” tissue, our bones are supplied with food, oxygen and all other necessary materials to stay alive. The ends of the bones contain the other type of bone tissue found with them, and that is the spongy tissue. This is where the cells that make the blood cells are found. Here the process of making our red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets goes on at an incredible rate of millions per minute.
The skeletal system also uses other organs and tissues such as cartilage, tendons and ligaments. These hold bone to bone and muscle to bone. They cushion and act as strings that allow muscles to be placed away from the area they actually move. Your hand would be so full of muscles, were it not for these structures, that you would not be able to move your hand at all.
The bones can withstand some tremendous forces as we walk, run and jump while we live. During a normal walking pace, our feet can take up to 5,000 lbs. per square inch. When we increase to a run, it goes up to 10,000 lbs. and at a jump, it might be as much as 20,000 lbs. per square inch. This is amazing, given the lightweight nature of the bones.
The smallest bones in the body are the three bones in the middle ear. These are the malleus, incus and stapes that attach to the eardrum to the cochlear in the inner ear and are about the size of a small ant, about 8-9 millimeters long.
These structures work together to complete God’s desired effect of allowing his creation the ability to carry out many amazing functions and fulfill the command to “Go into all the world…” Indeed, we can praise the Lord for we are “fearfully and wonderfully made!”
