Dinosaurs and the Bible

1) A 10 year old boy wanted to impress some friends with a joke—a dinosaur joke.

2) He thought for a while and then came up with what he thought was a good line.

3) He asked his friends how they knew a dinosaur was coming.

4) When the friends said they didn’t know, he said “Because bronto saw us.”

5) The Bible has some things to say about animals.

6) We could spend a year or more studying the animals of the Bible.

7) For this year, we use only tonight and most of our study will involve dinosaurs.

8) Dinosaurs are big creatures, but the Bible tells us God is concerned about large and small animals.

9) Mt. 10:29 says God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground.

10) If God is aware of small birds dying, He is certainly aware of the largest creatures in the past or even now.

11) Gen. 1:21 in the ASV refers to something larger: “great sea monsters.”

12) As we look at the animals made by God, we see variety, creativity, and God’s greatness.

a) Many look at a camel for instance and say to themselves, “that is one ugly creature.”

b) If you are around camels for a while you see some pretty unattractive habits.

c) Camels are often ill-tempered, prone to spit and grumble when they are loaded.

d) Yet, in the harsh desert they are almost ideal creatures for those who use them.

e) From the time of Abraham they are mentioned, most often, when listing possessions.

f) In ancient times large herds of camels were a sign of wealth.

g) Jeremiah spoke of a swift camel (Jer. 2:23) used or riding and racing.

h) Camels have a heavy “coat” for insulation so they hardly perspire in the desert heat.

i) Their system has been arranged so it requires very little water.

j) Camels have 3 stomachs, and each stomach can hold 5 gallons of water.

k) We have all seen a camel’s hump; here it stores food for when times are scarce.

l) The hump actually shrinks when camels draw on their reserve food supply.

m) God made these creatures so valuable, John the Baptist was clothed from them (Mt. 3:4).

13) If we stop to take a close look at the Bible, we find a lot of information about animals.

14) Some may be under the impression that man and animals have always gotten along – no problems.

15) Perhaps this mindset has created difficulty in believing man and dinosaurs could co-exist.

16) After sin entered into the world, man and the animal kingdom didn’t always get along real well.

a) 2 Kgs. 2:24 refers to “children” being attacked by two “she bears.”

b) Josh. 24:12 tells us that hornets were used to drive people away.

c) Samson was attacked by a young lion (Judg. 14:5).

d) Jonah was swallowed by some type of sea creature (Mt. 12:40).

e) Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake (Acts 28:3).

17) Hebrews tried to keep leftover manna (Ex. 16:20), and they found worms in the food.

18) Jonah enjoyed a gourd for shade, but a worm destroyed his blessing (Josh. 4:6, 7).

19) Many, many creatures are listed in the Scriptures; here are some of them:

20) Cattle, goats, swine, dogs, a rare type of antelope, mountain sheep, deer, wild boars and elephants.

21) We read of the gazelle, leopards, cheetahs, jungle cats, wolves, foxes, jackals, weasels, and mice.

22) We have rats, bats, apes, monkeys, whales, hedgehogs, porcupines, and birds of all kinds.

23) Lizards are in God’s word as are tortoises, snakes, and crocodiles. We find frogs and grasshoppers.

24) Ants, bees, and wasps are listed as are moths and fleas. Ticks and fleas are found.

25) Spiders are in the Word of God just as are leeches.

26) Creatures big and small are in the sacred pages, and no one has any problem with these animals.

27)Not until we get to the subject of dinosaurs, and then lots of people throw up their hands in confusion.

28) How could great creatures like dinosaurs ever been on the earth when man was living?

29) There has been an interest in this matter for a long time, but the matter really peaked a decade ago.

30) In 1993 there was a movie titled “Jurassic Park.” We knew about dinosaurs before that movie.

31) In the Bible we read of two very special creatures: Behemoth and Leviathan.

32) Behemoth is described in Job 40:15-24; according to the ancient record Behemoth:

a) Eats grass like an ox, “moves his tail like a cedar,” has bones “like beams of bronze,”

b) Its ribs were “like bars of iron” and he was “first in God’s ways.”

c) Whatever this creature was, it was very large and powerful—like a dinosaur.

d) There have been attempts to say this creature was only a hippopotamus or an elephant.

e) Neither of these creatures can be compared to anything today; none have a tail like a cedar tree.

f) “First in the ways of God” suggests this was the largest creature God made.

g) Job was familiar with something that was very, very big—just like the dinosaurs we see in museums.

33) Creature number 2 is Leviathan; we read about him in places like Job 41; Ps. 104:25-26.

34) God asked Job if he wanted to play with Leviathan as a man plays with a bird (Job 41:2).

35) Whatever this beast was, the Bible says he was “so fierce no would stir him up.”

36) This animals had terrible teeth so “the doors of its face were not opened.”

37) It had “rows of scales” that formed a tight shield.

38) When this creature “sneezed,” the Bible says it “flashed forth light.”

39) Out of its mouth went “burning lights; sparks of fire shot out.” Smoke went out of the nostrils.

40) I am not making these things up – listen to Job 41:18-21 – READ.

41) Leviathan “played” in the “great and wide sea” (Ps. 104:25-26).

42) Isa. 27:1 refers to this giant creature as a reptile in the sea.

43) Both on land and in the water there were ferocious creatures.

44) Leviathan sounds a lot like a dragon.

45) Just like the beast mentioned before, liberalism has tried to downplay the description.

46) Some have said Leviathan was just a big alligator.

47) Man can open the mouth of an alligator, but such was not possible with Leviathan.

48) Arrows could not damage Leviathan, but they can do lots of damage to a croc.

49) We have never seen a crocodile that “breathes fire.”

50) People get into trouble when they try to interpret the Bible using t.v. or a movie from Hollywood.

51) God and not secularists need to be our guide on this matter and all other items too.

52) If we listen to the hype from the world, dinosaurs were roaming around and eating people.

53) Person after person was gobbled up by these great pictures in the beginning.

54) That makes for a great t.v. show, but it is simply not true.

55) In the first chapter of the Bible (Gen. 1:29-30) we have some information on diet.

56) For both man and beasts, a vegetarian diet was put into place.

57) With the passage of time that changed. Lots of things changed.

58) Meat eating was not how things first began.

59) Other passages support this conclusion – Rom. 5:12 says death and sin go hand in hand.

60) Before sin came, death did not exist. What death didn’t exist?

61) Certainly spiritual death did not exist, but there was also the aspect of physical death – man & beast.

62) Rom. 8:20 says the creation was “subjected to vanity.”

63) Here is an interesting thought we might like to consider (Gen. 6:12).

64) Here it is said “all flesh” was corrupted on the earth.

65) What does that mean? Most probably read right over that and think it refers to human beings.

66) People as a whole were being rotten and sinful.

67) Drawing this conclusion is surely right because as we continue to read the flood came.

68) Might there be something else involved in this passage – “all flesh.”

69) Animals have flesh. Perhaps we are also being told that animals were also doing some things.

70) Sin had changed things so much that animals were commonly eating other animals.

71) People dying at the hands of creatures (such as dinosaurs) was also occurring.

72) We cannot say this conclusion is right for sure, but it is a tempting conclusion to draw.

73) Speaking of the flood, we now come to another matter that creates difficulty for many.

74) How did God get all those animals on the ark, especially big dinosaurs?

75) We must again take a look at what is in the text.

a) First, we are not told that all the animals were full-grown.

b) Suppose we wanted to preserve the human race and we could only take 10 people.

c) Who would say, “Let’s choose 10 people between the ages of 85-102?

d) That’s not the right age group to accomplish the goal of keeping the species alive.

e) If the earth were to start over, full-grown adults would not be the only ones taken.

f) Much of what was in the ark had to have been young and capable of reproducing.

g) Furthermore, the word “kind” in the ark story does not mean every single variation.

h) We are not required by the text to believe that Noah had every single type of dog.

i) One source has suggested there may have been fewer than 50 kinds of dinosaurs.

j) If these were small, and certainly if not every kind was required, there was not a space issue.

76) If the flood happened as the Bible says, and we believe it did, a couple of things would have occurred.

77) Fossils would be deposited all over the earth. This is precisely what researchers have found.

78) Secondly, a catastrophe like the Bible describes would have quickly fossilized some creatures.

79) Again, this is what we have uncovered in the world; great fossil finds.

80) When this subject is discussed, the other “big question” is where did dinosaurs go?

81) After the flood, the earth would have been a new place.

82) Just look at the recent examples of flooding; natural disasters change things.

83) What if the flooding down south had covered the entire planet? Lots of things would have shifted.

84) We know from our time that changes can be good or bad for animals.

85) Some changes can better a habitat for animals. Other changes will kill off creatures.

86) One possibility is that the new world offered an environment that dinosaurs could not accept.

87) Other explanations can be given, but this is one possibility.

88) There is nothing about dinosaurs that is inconsistent with the Scriptures.

89) We do not need to run from discussing this topic or any other.

90) God’s word will be dependable each time we need to discuss a topic.

91) Tonight we hope you love and trust that word.