06 - What About The Dinosaurs? 2010

Many Christians are confused about dinosaurs. If we based our thinking upon the Word of God, rather than the fallible evolutionary ideas of men, such as seen in the films Jurassic Park and The Lost World, we would easily be able to see how they fit into the Bible.

Exodus 20:11 tells us that in six days God made ‘heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is’—which therefore must have included all now-extinct creatures, such as dinosaurs.

But on which day? Land dinosaurs, like all other land animals, were made on the sixth day of creation.

When was that? Adam was also made on that sixth day, and we have a list of his descendants from then on, so it was thousands of years ago, not millions.

In any case, dinosaur fossils, which show evidence of death, bloodshed and disease, could not have formed millions of years ago, since this would place them before the sin of Adam—thus putting the effects of the Curse before the Fall!

Thinking from a biblical foundation, it is easier to make the connection between dinosaurs and dragon legends—if people and dinosaurs once knew each other, we would expect that there would be left-over memories of when people knew of some of the more impressive ones.

The many dragon tales from cultures across the world testify to a time when people lived with huge, fierce reptilian creatures, some with horns and armor-plated scales, and some which flew.

Such cultural memories of dinosaur-like creatures do not fit the evolutionary idea that the last dinosaur died out 65 million years before the first human appeared, but they do fit with the Bible’s account of history.

Evolutionists have to claim that the similarities of dragons to dinosaurs are a mysterious coincidence, since they believe that no man ever saw a dinosaur.

Because the Bible gives us the true account of earth history, it is no surprise to find that there is a distinct lack of evidence in the fossil record showing how dinosaurs evolved from non-dinosaurs, or one type from another.

It now also becomes clear why we find ‘dragons’ mentioned frequently in the Bible, and the Bible’s description of behemoth falls into place, as the largest plant-eating dinosaur.

The implication that dinosaurs must therefore have survived the Flood is consistent with God’s command for at least two of all kinds of land-dwelling creatures to go on board Noah’s Ark, presumably juvenile forms in the case of the few very large dinosaurs.

Monsters in the Bible

The behemoth

Then there is that other monster mentioned in the Bible, the behemoth. Job describes him as a large grass-eating beast, with great strength in his loins and belly. He has a tail described as being ‘like a cedar’, and his bones are ‘like bars of iron’. The passages also reveal him to be a swamp-dweller.

Job 40: 15-24 "Look at the land beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you. Grazing on grass, docile as a cow—Just look at the strength of his back, the powerful muscles of his belly.

His tail sways like a cedar in the wind; his huge legs are like beech trees. His skeleton is made of steel, every bone in his body hard as steel.

Most magnificent of all my creatures, but I still lead him around like a lamb! The grass-covered hills serve him meals, while field mice frolic in his shadow.

He takes afternoon naps under shade trees, cools himself in the reedy swamps, lazily cool in the leafy shadows as the breeze moves through the willows.

And when the river rages he doesn't budge, stolid and unperturbed even when the Jordan goes wild.”

This whole passage in Job 40 concerning Behemoth certainly suggests a large animal, and no known living animal fits the passage adequately.

One non-creationist biologist, Dr. Roy Mackal, wrote: “Biblical scholars, both Hebrew and Christian, have never come up with a satisfactory explanation for the meaning of these passages.”

He goes on to say, “Most commentators attempt to identify the Behemoth with the ox, the elephant, the hippopotamus, or the crocodile … More correctly, some Hebrew scholars have considered the creature to be a monstrous and unidentifiable animal.”

However, the description does fit many of the large herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs, one type of which certainly was the largest of the created land animals. Such a dinosaur was therefore alive at the time the book of Job was written.

The most natural interpretation of the key verse—Job 40:17—is that the tail of Behemoth is compared to a cedar for its great size, and there is nothing in the context which contradicts this possibility.

Consequently, the most reasonable interpretation is that Behemoth was a large animal, now extinct, which had a large tail. Thus some type of extinct dinosaur should still be considered a perfectly reasonable possibility according to our present state of knowledge.

(INSERT PIC OF BRONTOSAURUS)

LEVIATHAN

More fascinating still is the similarity between fossils of prehistoric marine reptiles, and another monster described in the Bible. ‘… leviathan, that wriggling, twisting dragon …’ which is mentioned in the Old Testament four times.

Leviathan is described in detail, in Job chapter 41, as a creature of immense strength. In the Hebrew text, he has ‘terrifying’ teeth and scales like rows of shields, closely fastened together and hard as stone. He is a resident of the sea, knowing no fear and apparently immune to all man’s weapons. Listen to Job’s description:

Job 41:1-11 "Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, ("serpent," a sea monster or dragon) with a fly rod and stuff him in your fish crate?Can you lasso him with a rope, or snag him with an anchor?

Will he beg you over and over for mercy, or flatter you with flowery speech? Will he apply for a job with you to run errands and serve you the rest of your life?

Will you play with him as if he were a pet goldfish? Will you make him the mascot of the neighborhood children?

Will you put him on display in the market and have shoppers haggle over the price?

Could you shoot him full of arrows like a pin cushion, or drive harpoons into his huge head?

If you so much as lay a hand on him, you won't live to tell the story.”

Many scholars have attempted to identify this animal as a crocodile, but as other experts have pointed out, there are several problems with this idea.

Although some crocodiles do venture into the coastal areas and can swim out to sea, the deep ocean is not their normal habitat. They are found mainly in inland waters, where they live in lakes, rivers, swamps and estuaries, and breed on the shores.

Therefore they would not be described as great beasts of the sea, where the following Psalm places them:

“What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.”—Psalm 104: 24–26

Nor are crocodiles so terrifying that no one dares tackle them—crocodiles are regularly trapped and killed by native tribes with simple technology.

Listen to Job as he continues describing Leviathan:

Job 41:12-17 “But I've more to say about Leviathan, the sea beast, his enormous bulk, his beautiful shape.

Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin or putting those jaws into bit and bridle?

And who would dare knock at the door of his mouth filled with row upon row of fierce teeth?

His pride is invincible; nothing can make a dent in that pride. Nothing can get through that proud skin—impervious to weapons and weather, the thickest and toughest of hides, impenetrable!”

So clearly the Bible describes creatures unlike any we find alive today. They were alive after the creation of man, per the testimony of Job and of the Psalmist.

Then when were the dinosaurs created?

The Leviathan and all of the sea-faring dinosaurs was created on the 5th day:

“And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”—1:20-21

The Behemoth and all of the great land dwelling dinosaurs were created on the 6th day, when all other land animals were created.

“And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”—1: 24-25

Why did the dinosaurs suddenly disappear?

Some believe that a cataclysmic meteorite shower wiped them out. This is now a dominant theory. And a majority of paleontologists believe that a huge volcanic eruption buried the dinosaurs in mountains of ash.

Yet for most creationists the extinction of the dinosaurs, as well as other extinctions, is not a mystery. In fact, the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other creatures has an easy answer—they simply died in the Genesis Flood (except those dinosaurs likely taken on the Ark, which probably died soon after the Flood). Genesis 7:21, 22 states:

‘And all flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.’

Dinosaurs are often found in large bone-beds or dinosaur graveyards, where many dinosaur bones are packed together. This provides evidence for at least catastrophic local floods.

A few of these bone-beds contain thousands of dinosaurs and indicate catastrophic action.

Probably the largest bone-bed in the world is located in north-central Montana, USA. An estimated 10,000 duckbill dinosaurs are entombed in a thin layer measuring several miles.

The bones are separated at the joints, and are facing east-west. However, a few bones were standing upright, indicating some type of debris flow. In other words, they drowned in fast moving water.

There are many other dinosaur graveyards in western North America, practically all, if not all, indicating catastrophic burial by water or a clay/water mix.

Dinosaur graveyards are not found just in the western United States, but worldwide.

SUMMARY: Wherever dinosaur bones are unearthed, the evidence predominantly suggests catastrophic entombment by water, sometimes by clearly marine water.

Just the burial and fossilization of such massive hulks as the large dinosaurs indicates catastrophic action, as in a mammoth flood.

Then why won’t science at least consider Creationism?

A recent article in WHISTLEBLOWER MAGAZINE provides at least part of the answer. It is titled:

HIJACKING SCIENCE

From global warming to evolution, psychology to sociology, corruption runs deep.

The lead sentence reads: Top academics admit evolution is "unproven and unprovable," but say it's the only alternative to believing in a Creator, which they find "unthinkable"?

There are good scientists and there are bad, as in all professions. Because flawed, sometimes biased men and women are scientists, the door is open for their bias to find its way into their conclusions.

To this day evolution has not been proven. Numerous incidents of attempts to validate evolution through hoaxes and lies have been exposed through the years. Yet still it is forced upon us and our children in school.

Perhaps the best explanation of all for man’s refusal to acknowledge a Creator as the primary cause for all things is found in Romans 1:

“They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.”—vs.19-23

NEXT TIME: “Man, the Crown of God’s Creation.”