Dinosaurs: Does the Bible speak of them?
You may be surprised to learn that it does. Dinosaur-like creatures are mentioned in the book of Job which is thought to be the oldest book of the Bible. The Bible uses names such as behemoth and tannin when it speaks of them. Behemoth means kingly, gigantic beast.
Job 40:15-19
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins [MOTHNAYIM = either side of the backbone between the hipbone and the ribs] and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews [GID = tendons that connect muscle to bone] of his stones are wrapped together.
18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. [Emphasis added]
These words in the book of Job were probably written roughly two-thousand years before the birth of Christ but after the time of Noah’s worldwide flood. Tannin is a term that means dragon-like animals which include the great sea creatures such as whales, giant squids and marine reptiles like Plesiosaurs that are apparently now extinct. Such creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament [Psalm 74:13; Isaiah 27:1; Jeremiah 14:6]. There were both land and sea creatures of this sort. Another term that is used for such creatures is Leviathan [Job 41:1; Psalm 104:26]. This is a reference to a large, fierce sea creature. The impression is given that he was a strong but graceful unstoppable creature. Nearly all of Job 41 is given as a lengthy description of him. In size he was many times the size of a grown elephant.
Job 41:19-34
19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings [SHEBER = thrashings or beating] they purify themselves.
26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon [flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings].
27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire [TIT = mud].
31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. [Emphasis added]
Never think for a moment that such creatures didn’t exist, and, like man, they were all created of God. None of them evolved to be here.
Genesis 1:19-26
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
What a wonderful and powerful God we have!
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Then we see that it was man that God originally placed in rulership over all this that He had made.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. [Emphasis added]
After these giant-like creatures died out, many people forgot about them. Dinosaurs became extinct and the fossil skeletons that are now in museums did not begin to be put together until about the 19th century. People thought behemoth mentioned in the Bible must have been an elephant or hippopotamus. But these creatures don’t have tails the size of thick cedar trees. Furthermore, they’re not fire-breathing. The idea that these creatures lived millions of years ago is also false. We live on what we can rightly think of as a young Earth that has been here roughly six thousand years.
Our authority on creation and all that God has made is the Bible. Anything that conflicts with its teaching is incorrect. Never think that we must somehow make the Bible “keep up with science.” Instead, it is science that must “keep up” with the Bible. We should never think we must somehow make the Bible coincide with man’s human viewpoint about anything. Instead, we must learn to trust the 66 books of the Bible and everything it states. It will always be the authority on everything for it is the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God [THEOPNEUSTOS = God-breathed], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect [TELEIOS = brought to maturity], thoroughly furnished unto all good works. [Emphasis added]
