Dinosaurs and the Bible

Biblical Sermon Outline

By Pastor Ron Jones, www.titusinstitute.com

Introduction:


The question that I would like to answer this morning is "Does the existence of dinosaurs fit in with the Biblical view of creation?"

This is crucial for us as believers in Jesus Christ to be able to answer.

1. Why is it important to know how dinosaurs relate to the Bible?


Evolutionists use dinosaurs to prove that evolution is true. Dinosaurs did exist. Many Christians think that a Christian has to reject the existence of dinosaurs in order to defend the Bible. They do not.

Evolutionists say that the only way dinosaurs and man could live on the same earth is if there are million of years separating them.

The Bible allows for the existence of dinosaurs and even mentions them (although not by the word "dinosaur" which, did not exist at that time).

2. Where did dinosaurs come from? Did dinosaurs and man live at the same time?


Why don’t we find the word “dinosaur” in the Bible?

The Name "DINOSAUR"


In 1840, Sir Richard Owen, one of England's greatest anatomical researchers, coined the term “dinosaur” which means “terrible lizard.”

The word could not be used in the Bible because it didn’t exist.

Are there creatures described in the Bible like dinosaurs?

A. God created man and dinosaurs.


Gen.1:20-23
tells us that God created the great sea and air creatures on the fifth day

V.21 "the great sea monsters" or “great sea creatures” includes plesiosaurs

V.21 "every winged bird" (bird is general for creatures that fly) includes the pterodactyl

Gen. 1:24-26
God created the land dinosaurs on the sixth day, the same day he created man.
V.25 "the beasts of the earth" includes the tyrannosaurus rex and stegosaurus

Gen.1:30
All animals, including dinosaurs were originally plant-eaters

Day 5
V. 21
1. Great creatures of the sea
Heb. “tannin” ® freq. Translated as “dragon”
Hebrew Lexicon = serpent, dragon, sea monster
Isa.27:1
Leviathan

2. Every living and moving thing in the water
3. Every winged bird according to its kind

Day 6

3 categories

1. livestock ® cattle, domesticable animals,
2. creatures that move along the ground
creeping things, insects and smaller reptiles, probably also amphibians and small mammals, moles, rats, etc.
3. wild animals = beasts of the earth = lions, elephants, dinosaurs

B. Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible and did man and dinosaurs live at the same time?

Why don’t we find the word “dinosaur” in the Bible?

In 1840, Sir Richard Owen, one of England's greatest anatomical researchers, coined the term “dinosaur” which means “terrible lizard.”

The word could not be used in the Bible because it didn’t exist.

However, in the Book of Job, Job describes two great creatures that appear to be dinosaurs.

These dinosaurs would have been ones that survived the Noahic worldwide flood as we shall talk about later.

Both appear in Job as God brings two of his greatest creatures before the mind of Job to show his greatness.

Job 40 and 41 behemoth and Leviathan

Job lived c.2000 B.C. at the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)

He lived in the land of Uz located between Babel and Erech, west of the Euphrates River.

So if "behemoth" was a dinosaur and "leviathan" a prehistoric marine reptile they would have lived around 2000 B.C.

Context: To show the greatness of the Lord, the Lord asks Job if he is able to have rule over the physical creation in Ch.39 (mountain goats, wild donkeys, ox, ostrich, horse, hawk). As a climax in Ch.40 & 41, God brings in behemoth and leviathan.

The Lord speaks to Job teaching him that no one is able to stand before God and question him. To bring this point across, he brings in two of God’s greatest creatures He created.

God uses an argument from the lesser to the greater. If a human being cannot stand before the power and greatness of two creatures God created no one can stand before the God who created them.

What was happening around 2000 B.C. when these creatures lived?

Job 40:15-24
"behemoth" –

The Hebrew word is an extension of the plural of "behema" akin to the superlative in the English. It means "a large beast, a brute beast par excellence." The debate centers on whether it is to be regarded as a natural animal, the hippopotamus or elephant or something else.

Jamison, Fausset, and Brown say that the description in part agrees with the hippopotamus, in part with the elephant, exactly in all details with neither.

V.15 "Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as you;"

V. 15 "He eats grass like an ox." = plant-eater

V. 16 "Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly."

Jamison, Fausset, and Brown say it is not an elephant whose weakest point is belly. It could be a hippopotamus whose belly is guarded by thick skin.

V.17 "He bends his tail like a cedar;"

Cedar trees are tall and long.

Cedar implies straightness and length which do not apply to the river hippo's short tail, but perhaps to an extinct species of animal, a dinosaur.

Dr. Duane Gish says it could be a diplodocus dinosaur.

 

The word "cedar" is not used for "cedar branch" in the Bible, but used of a cedar tree.

V.17 "The sinews of his thighs are knit together.

V.18 His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron.”

The "sinews" which are his tendons are "wrapped," that is "firmly twisted together like a thick rope." This denotes the beast’s strength and power.

V.19 "He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword."

He is so powerful that only his Creator can approach (with a sword) to subdue him (implication – no man can).

Does this seem like the description of a hippo or elephant? No.

V. 20 "Surely the mountains bring him food; and all the beasts of the field play there."

This is a very striking picture of this immense animal peacefully feeding on grass, and the weaker species sporting behind him.

V.21 "Under the lotus plants he lies down; In the covert of the reeds and marsh."

V.22 "The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him."

He lays his body down in the water so the shade by lotus plants cover him.

V.23 "If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident though the Jordan rushes to His mouth."

Jamison Faucett and Brown say “Though finding His food on land and reposing under the shady lotus at times, he can live in the water as well as on the land and therefore has no fear of the overflowing river, even a powerful one like the Jordan.”

V.24 "Can anyone capture him when he is on watch; With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?"

No one can stand before him to try to take him down.

Then in Job 41, God uses a comparison between the power of a sea creature called Leviathan and himself – argument from the lesser to the greater.

Job 41:10

If you can’t stand against Leviathan, you can’t stand against the God who created him.

Job.41
v. I Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?

v.2 Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

v.3 Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?

v.4. Will he make an agreement with you, for you to take him as a slave for life?

v.5 Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls?

v.6 Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?

v.7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?
He cannot be captured even as larger sea creatures were with harpoons or fishing spears.

v.8 If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again?

v.9 Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
Most see this as Nile crocodile. There is evidence that Nile crocodile reached a length of 50 feet. Could be that?

v.10 No one is fierce enough to rouse him.

Who then is able to stand against me if I have created such a creature?

v. 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to
me.

v.12 I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form.

v.13 Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle?

v.14 Who dares open the door of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth?

v.15 His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;

v.16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between.

v.17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.

v.18 His snorting throws out flashes of light, his eyes are like rays of dawn.

v.19 Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.

v.20 Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.

v.21 His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.

v.22 Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him.

v.23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.

v.24 His chest is as hard as rock, hard as lower millstone.

Size and fearsomeness – a crocodile could be caught by one of those

v.25-29 shows that weapons are powerless against him. That could not be said of any crocodile.

v.30 His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trails in the mud like a threshing sledge.
The underside of an alligator or crocodile is soft and smooth not rough.

v.31 He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

v.32 Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair

v.33 Nothing on earth is his equal - a creature without fear.

Paul Taylor, in the Great Dinosaur Mystery, writes about Leviathan,

“The ‘Leviathan’ the Bible talks about in Job 41 is described as the greatest creature in the sea. Unlike a crocodile or fish, it was useless to try to catch a leviathan with hooks, harpoons or anything else. ‘Nothing on Earth is his equal—a creature without fear.’ What was leviathan? The large size, strong jaws, great teeth, fast swimming ability and its protected back and undersides all give clues. It could have been a Kronosaurus or something like it. This was one of the greatest, most overwhelming animals ever to swim the seas. It was not a true dinosaur, but it was reptile-like and had great, sharp teeth.”

It seems these animals were still alive at the time of King David.

Psalm 104:26 says they played where the ships go to and fro. This was probably in the Mediterranean Sea. It is interesting that many reports of "sea serpents" closely match the ancient pliosaurs and mosasaurs. They looked somewhat like huge lizards or crocodiles with flippers or webbed feet. Fossils show their backbones were very flexible. They could probably swim with a snake-like motion.”

 

The Size of Dinosaurs

It is interesting that reptiles are the only classification of species on earth that continue to grow as long as they live. If man lived before the flood for over 900 years, then the large dinosaurs (which are reptiles) could have gotten that big because they lived so long.

However, the majority of dinosaurs that he created were not even that large. According to Dr. Ron Carlson, only 5% of the dinosaurs that have been found are over 2 ft. tall.

3. Did Noah take dinosaurs on the ark?

Gen.6.5-14

v. 17-22
During the time between the death of Abel and the time of Noah, wickedness increased upon the earth until God decided that he would destroy all living creatures on the earth.

These living creatures on the earth would include dinosaurs.

How big was the ark?

It was shaped like a giant rectangular box. According to Duane Gish, it was as long as 1 1/2 football fields and taller than a four story building.

It would hold as much as 533 railroad stock cars.

Gen.6:19-20
"Two of every kind" would include dinosaurs. However, Noah probably did not take adults, but young animals when they were of small size.

All these small animals could fit into the ark, including dinosaurs.

Gen. 7:6-10

That means that the flood of water that came upon the earth destroyed all the land dinosaurs on the earth.

This is in fact, what the evidence shows. According to Dr. Ron Carlson, Dinosaur National Park in Vernal Utah where they're digging out larger dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and others. There is a sign outside the park that says these dinosaurs were buried by a massive flood.

Mammoth Hot Springs – another place where Mammoths have been found.

Sign out in front - these mammoths were buried by a massive flood.

In the Andes, head of the anthropology dept at the University of Bolivia told Ron Carlson in 1994, that they had just discovered in the Andes at 14,000 ft a fossilized bed of over 5 million fish.

According to Duane Gish, "In order for a plant or animal to become a fossil (except under very special circumstances), it must be buried almost immediately after it dies. If an animal dies, and then just lies around on the ground or floats around in the water, it never becomes a fossil.

{Fossilization} takes place when the bone is replaced a little bit at a time by minerals dissolved in the water that is in the ground. When the bones and teeth of an animal, or parts of a plant buried in the ground, become wet with this water, this mineral in the water replaces all the material in the bone, tooth, or plant, and it becomes hard as a rock...

It doesn't take millions or even thousands of years for something to become a fossil. Someone found, down in an old abandoned mine shaft, a hat that a miner had lost 50 years earlier. The hat was as a hard as rock. After lying at the bottom of the shaft in water with a lot of mineral, the hat had fossilized.

The Noahic flood would have caused sudden burial and thus provide a natural means of fossilizing their bones.

So all the dinosaurs on the earth died in the flood. But Noah probably took some on the ark.

4. After the flood, what happened to dinosaurs?

When Noah and his family and all the animals left the ark, they found a very different kind of world than the one they lived in before the flood.

The climate and vegetation must have changed.
Gen.8:22

Climactic changes hinted at.
2 Pet.3:5-7
The lands that were filled with lush vegetation and were enjoyed by man and animals alike was now replaced by areas of wilderness, desert, ice, and the like.

The dinosaurs most likely could not survive in the post-flood world and died out.

It is also possible that human beings killed them off as they did the Woolly Mammoths.