Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Biblical History of Man: The Flood part 7

Almost every child I have ever known goes through a period in their life where dinosaurs are a fascination to them.  So let's talk about dinos.

Were they on the ark?  Yes.  God said that He would send "Two of every living thing of all flesh" to Noah.  So yes, He send dinoasurs too.  Probably they were small ones.  Reptiles start small and grow larger as time goes by.  So the spring chicken dinos were probably the ones who came to Noah.

What happened to them?  Well, they got off the ark.  They multiplied.  They spread out over the earth.  After all, that's what God said would happen.  It's likely that they didn't live as long as they did before the flood, just like man lived to shorter ages.  And thus they may have been smaller at their death than before the flood as well.

The so-called Mesozoic Era is called the time of the dinosaurs.  To a secular geologist this would be from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago.  To a geologist with a biblical worldview this would be a time somewhere in the middle of the flood while sediments were still being rapidly deposited over the entire earth.  All the fossils that are found in these layers are the unfortunate dinosaurs who perished during the flood.

Remember that the word "dinosaur" wasn't invented until 1841.  So the Bible would not be using that word.  But they do exist in scripture.

Read Job 40:15-24 This is God speaking to Job.

15 “Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox.
16 “Behold now, his strength in his loins And his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 “He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18 “His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron.

19 “He is the first of the ways of God; Let his maker bring near his sword.
20 “Surely the mountains bring him food, And all the beasts of the field play there.
21 “Under the lotus plants he lies down, In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
22 “The lotus plants cover him with shade; The willows of the brook surround him.
23 “If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.
24 “Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?
 
 
Many of your Bibles have a footnote that indicates this might be a hippo or an elephant.  With a tail like a cedar?

Somehow, I don't think that an elephant or a hippopotamus quite fits the description, do you?

I hope you enjoy the cartoon.  It is from Answers in Genesis. 

Another creature is described in Job chapter 41.

1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?  Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2 “Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 “Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words?
4 “Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?
5 “Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens?
6 “Will the traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?
8 “Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9 “Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?
10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me?
11 “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
13 “Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can come within his double mail?
14 “Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.
15 “His strong scales are his pride, Shut up as with a tight seal.
16 “One is so near to another That no air can come between them.
17 “They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 “His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 “His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 “In his neck lodges strength,And dismay leaps before him.
23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immovable.
24 “His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.
25 “When he raises himself up, the mighty fear; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
27 “He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
28 “The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 “His underparts are like sharp potsherds; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.
34 “He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”
 
Your Bible footnotes might say this is a crocodile.  Personally I have never seen a crocodile breathe fire.  I hope you haven't either.  The description is of a water-dwelling, scaly, fire-breathing creature that looks much like the skeletons we have of a plesiosaur or a pliosaur.  We have a nice skeleton of a plesiosaur in the Fort Collins Discovery Museum.  Check it out sometime.
 
Job is a book written post-flood.  It was of creatures that Job was familiar with, or else God would not have used them as examples to prove a point. 
 
So, that leads to the question we just have to ask: Are there dinosaurs alive today?  I'm sure that some kids would like me to say "no" because they want Jurassic Park to remain a fantasy.  Well, Jurassic Park IS a fantasy, and it will remain such.  But there is much evidence that dinosaurs lived much later than Job.  We have written accounts, drawings, photos, and inscriptions from many cultures in many parts of the world over many different time periods that indicate the contact that man had with dinosaurs.


I would have to say that there is historical evidence of man and dinosaurs living together and that they lived after the time of the flood.  The picture taken above of the pterodactl is an authentic photo taken during the Civil War.  Those are Confederate soldiers.

But what about today?

Here's some interesting videos for you to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpkULq7ZV3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkEmAQdPweM

More on dinosaurs next post

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