ARE DINOSAURS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE?
WHAT ARE THE STRANGE CREATURES MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE?
Did dinosaurs really live millions of years ago? Did they evolve? What happened to them? Why are there so many dinosaur fossils found?
Did dinosaurs ever live on earth with man? Does the Bible have anything to say about dinosaurs?
There is no doubt that millions of dinosaurs once roamed Earth. Fossils have been found all over the world and the bones of some of them are on display in the museums. Scientists have reconstructed the ancient creatures and we think we have a pretty good idea what they looked like.
If you try finding the word “dinosaur” in ancient literature or the Bible, I can save you time. The word is simply not found. But then the word dinosaur didn’t come into existence until 1841 when Sir Richard Owen coined the name which means “terrible lizard.”
The finding of fossil bones began over a hundred years ago in 1822 when an English doctor by the name of Gideon Mantell found some strange teeth fossilized in a rock. Actually, Dr. Mantell’s wife found the first tooth and they began a life-long investigation that led them to more bones in a gravel quarry.
Mantell was convinced that the tooth his wife had found looked identical to an iguana – only about twenty times larger. Dr. Mantell finally named the creature that had owned that tooth Iguanodon which means “iguana-like tooth!
WHAT CAUSED THE DINOSAURS TO BECOME FOSSILIZED?
If an animal dies today it begins to degenerate pretty fast because of heat, humidity, scavengers and of course oxygen. Bugs, worms and bacteria also go to work on the decaying animal and it doesn’t take it very long to go from road kill to rot!
If the dinosaurs had simply died of old age or in a battle with another dinosaur, they would have quickly decayed and we would have no record of them today. Something traumatic had to occur to cover the fossilized animals with mud in order to begin the process of fossilization. I like the term “mud flood.
Despite what many of us have been told, the making of fossils can be a very short process (not thousands or even millions of years). There have been fossils found in the mud floods that ruined Spirit Lake when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980.
In fact, a miner’s hat has been found that had been completely fossilized or turned into a rocky mineral. An old western boot has also been found with a fossilized bone still in it . . . and we know that that cowboy didn’t live millions of years ago!
The fact that great fossil beds have been found with thousands of animals all piled up and jumbled together. These huge piles of ancient animals and dinosaurs must have died and been buried very quickly. These fossil beds are found all over the world and are evidence that the world was once covered by a huge flood. One of the fossil beds in found in Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, is between 4,500 and 9,000 feet in elevation. That’s almost two miles above sea level!
Florissant Fossil Beds, also in Colorado, is a wonderful place to visit, but it too is evidence that a gigantic flood covered the west. Florissant is nearly two miles in elevation! That would have required some flood!
DO WE READ ABOUT DINOSAURS IN THE BIBLE?
We don’t find the word “dinosaur” in the Bible of course, because the word dinosaur was not even thought of then. But there are a number of places where the word “dragon” occurs in the Scriptures. Actually, the same Hebrews word for “dragon” is used in some passages to speak of monsters, serpents, and even sea monsters!
The most interesting passages in the Bible that refers to a huge monster type of creature is found in Job chapters 40 and 41.
BEHEMOTH
Biblical Behemoth was probably a huge dinosaur.
In Job 40:15-24 we read about a creature called “behemoth.” We can learn some interesting things about this ancient creature:
1. Behemoth ate grass like an ox. (verse 15)
2. Behemoth had great strength in his loins or back legs and in the muscles of his belly. (verse 16)
3. Behemoth moved his huge tail which is described like a cedar tree! (verse 17) Can you find an animal today that has a tail as large as a cedar tree?
An elephant does not have a tail as big as a tree!Some commentators say that behemoth was actually a hippopotamus or an elephant. Have you ever seen a hippo or elephant with a tail as big as a cedar tree?
4. Behemoth had bones that were as strong as iron. (verse 18)
5. Behemoth was the largest and strongest of all the animals. (verse 19)
6. Behemoth found refuge in the shady trees and willows that grew in the water. He must not have liked living out in the open. (verses 21-22)
7. Behemoth drank so much water that the scripture says “he drinks up a river.” (verse 23)
8. Behemoth could not be captured by the snares of men. (verse 24)
That must have been some creature! Wouldn’t you love to see behemoth? It’s description is kind of like the brontosaurus or maybe the brachiosaurus.
LEVIATHAN
Leviathan . . . a dinosaur like creature described in the Bible.
Job chapter 31 tells us about another fascinating creature called leviathan. You can read about leviathan in Job 41:1-5, Psalm 74:14, and Psalm 104:26.
Let’s see what we can find about this incredible creature:
1. God asked Job, do you think you can catch leviathan with a fish hook? (verse 1)
2. Mockingly, God asked Job if he thought he could put a ring in his nose and tame him! (verse 2)
3. God again asked Job – do you think leviathan would beg for mercy and speak softly to mere man? Or does man think he can make a beast of burden out of him like he does other animals? (verses 3 and 4)
4. God asks Job if he thinks he can make a pet out of leviathan or catch him and eat him at a banquet. (verses 5 and 6)
5. Leviathan is so fierce that no man wants to rile him up because no man can stand up to this mighty creature. (verse 10)
6. Leviathan has huge and terrible teeth and his mouth is like a large door. (verse 14)
7. Leviathan even has scales for protection. (verse 15)
8. When leviathan sneezes, he send forth a light. His eyes glow and out of his mouth fly sparks of fire. Smoke comes out of his nostrils and a flame comes out of his mouth! (verses 18-21) This sounds like some kind of fire breathing dragon!
9. Leviathan has a long and strong neck. When leviathan raises himself up, even the bravest of men shake in fear! (verses 22-25)
10. Leviathan cannot be killed with mere swords and spears. He can break iron like a piece of straw and bronze is like rotten wood to him. (verses 26-27)
11. Arrows cannot drive him away. He has no fear of man and he can stir up the deep waters like a boiling pot. (verses 28-34)
12. Leviathan even plays with the mighty ship that sail the ocean. (Psalm 10426)
Leviathan must have been some sea monster!
And this is all recorded in the Bible and these creatures lived on earth with man!