Hi to my Forum Friends,
In another discussion "Intelligent Christians Speak Up!" -- begun by our Friend, Deep -- we had a short dialogue regarding dinosaurs in the Bible.
On that thread, I posted, "Hi Deep, Wow! Thank you for this information. I agree with you that Jeannie Fulbright's book "Animal Science Without Evolution" along with her complete creation science series should be added to the curriculum of every school in America. She is doing an amazing job of countering the evolutionist misinformation that has been in public schools for too long. By the way, dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible. You will find them in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah. But, rather than spoil your fun by telling you exactly where to find them -- I will let you go on a treasure hunt through those Scriptures. Happy hunting!"
Hoss Gal responded by asking, "Mr. Bill, I would like to know where to find those scriptures, if you wouldn't mind telling me."
And, I asked her,"Hi Hoss Gal, Are you asking as a "believer" -- or as one looking for a rock to throw?"
She told me, "Well, no, I can't say that I am asking as a believer. Actually, I asked because i was interested enough to go look at them and see what they say. I didn't plan to comment further on them, just add them to my own knowledge base. Just a strange quirk of mine, I guess, keeping my mind open to all views. Throwin' rocks ain't my style.
Hoss Gal's response is very honest; and I respect her position. So, from that earlier dialogue, let's talk about the Biblical dinosaurs; called Leviathan and Behemoth.
In the book of Job, God has allowed Satan to test Job, a righteous man -- but he cannot take Job's life. Satan lays much suffering on Job; took all of his children, took all his wealth -- and left him only with a nagging wife and four friends who tell Job that he is suffering because of some hidden sin; which, of course, was false. Job, at times decries the day he was born; but, he never denies God.
In Job 38:1-3, God tells Job to quit listening to the dark counsel of his friends, to stand like a man, and God would show him His power. Then, in Job 38:4, God asks Job, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" God goes on in Job 38 reminding Job of His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.
And, in Job 41:1-2, God asks Job, "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?"
Then, in Job 41:8-10, He speaks more to Job about Leviathan, "Lay your hand on him; remember the battle; you will not do it again! Behold, your expectation is false; will you be laid low even at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; who then is he that can stand before Me?"
In these Scripture, God is reminding Job that this creature, this Leviathan which He has created, is such an awesome, fearsome creature that Job would be destroyed by it. Yet, the Leviathan cannot stand before God.
What do theologians and Bible scholars say about the Leviathan? Matthew Henry, whose Bible commentaries are foundational to every Christian library, tells us this of the Leviathan, which he describes as a large sea dwelling creature:
The description here given of the leviathan, a very large, strong, formidable fish, or water-animal, is designed yet further to convince Job of his own impotency, and of God’s omnipotence, that he might be humbled for his folly in making so bold with him as he had done. I. To convince Job of his own weakness he is here challenged to subdue and tame this leviathan if he can, and make himself master of him (v. 1-9), and, since he cannot do this, he must own himself utterly unable to stand before the great God (v. 10). II. To convince Job of God’s power and terrible majesty several particular instances are here given of the strength and terror of the leviathan, which is no more than what God has given him, nor more than he has under his check, (v. 11, 12). The face of the leviathan is here described to be terrible (v. 12, 14), his scales close (v. 15–17), his breath and neesings sparkling (v. 18–21), his flesh firm (v. 22–24), his strength and spirit, when he is attacked, insuperable (v. 25–30), his motions turbulent, and disturbing to the waters (v. 31, 32), so that, upon the whole, he is a very terrible creature, and man is no match for him (v. 33, 34).
You will also find the Leviathan mentioned in Psalm 104:26. In Psalm 74:14, we are told that God crushed the head of Leviathan.
In Isaiah 27:1, we read, "In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea."
Pastor David Guzik of Calvary Chapel, in his commentary on Isaiah, tells us:
What do we know about Leviathan from other passages of Scripture? Leviathan is referred to in passages like Job 3:8, Job 41, Psalm 74:14, and Psalm 104:26. These passages reinforce the idea of Leviathan as a mighty, serpent-like creature, connected with the sea.
The Hebrew word for Leviathan is livyathan (liv·yä·thän') and Strong's Concordance tells us it means: leviathan, sea monster, dragon; large aquatic animal; perhaps the extinct dinosaur, plesiosaurus. Strong's Concordance goes on to say of Leviathan:
Some think this to be a crocodile but from the description in Job 41:1-34 this is patently absurd. It appears to be a large fire breathing animal of some sort. Just as the bombardier beetle has an explosion producing mechanism, so the great sea dragon may have an explosive producing mechanism to enable it to be a real fire breathing dragon.
So, could this be speaking of a plesiosaur, or sea-dwelling dinosaur?
And, in Job 40:15-18 we are told, "Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox. Behold now, his strength in his loins And his power in the muscles of his belly. He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron." Sure sounds like a dinosaur to me.
The Hebrew word for Behemoth is behemowth (be·he·mohth') and Strong's Concordance tells us it means: perhaps an extinct dinosaur; a Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus. And Strong's adds: Some translate as elephant or hippopotamus but from the description in Job 40:15-24, this is patently absurd.
Hoss Gal, from these Biblical descriptions, it sure seems to me that man and dinosaurs, sea dwellers and land dwellers, were neighbors a few thousand years ago.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill Gray
billdory@pacbell.net
Alabama bred,
California fed,
Blessed by God to be a Christian American!
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