Kangaroo Milk
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” [Hebrews 5:12,13]
Kangaroos are among the most unique creatures on our planet. The word “kangaroo” stems from the Aboriginal word “gangurru” that was used to describe the grey kangaroo. Today the name kangaroo or “Roo” encompasses all species of kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos. The adult male kangaroo is called a buck, boomer, or jack. An adult female is a doe, flyer, or jill. Young kangaroos are joeys, and a group of kangaroos is a mob.
Fossils tell us Australia once had kangaroos 10 feet tall, weighing 500 pounds. Today the red kangaroo is the world’s largest marsupial, at six feet and 200 pounds. In addition, they can run nearly 40 mph, bounding as far as 25 feet! Their strong tails are used for balance when hopping, or as fifth limbs when grazing. Oddly, kangaroos can’t move backwards or move their hind legs independently on land. But when swimming, they can kick each leg separately. All kangaroos are herbivores, and those living in drier regions need little water. But these vegetarians can be deadly. The powerful hind legs with long, sharp toenails are a dangerous weapon. With one kick, kangaroos can disembowel opponents.
The doe kangaroo can mate and become pregnant directly after a joey is born, but the development of that pregnancy will be suspended until the first baby kangaroo is either lost or leaves the pouch. This means a female kangaroo can have three babies at the same time: an older joey living outside the pouch, a young one in the pouch, and an embryo on hold, awaiting birth. Then, amazingly, the doe will develop two different kinds of milk, one in each teat, to feed her two offspring – a high fat milk for the younger joey in the pouch, and a high-carbohydrate milk for the older joey. Eventually they must learn to live off solid food.
Did you know the Bible says some baby Christians never get weaned? Some who should be teaching others by now are still on infant formula – being bottle fed the simple basics of Christianity they should already know. If a baby doesn’t grow, something is wrong. Likewise, the Christian life requires growth and moving on to the solid food in God’s Word.
