Bible Question: How can we reconsile the age of the earth as indicated in the Bible with the evidence for the existence of dinosaurs and cavemen? I know the Book of Job makes reference to what could be dinosaurs but are there any others? |
Bible Answer: I have stuggled with the question of whether the Bible supports the existence of dinosaurs, as have many before me. In recently reading Job 40 15-24 and all of Job 41 again, I do not believe the Word of God is supporting any belief of the existence of dinosaurs at all. In Job 40, verse 15, "Behold now the behemoth, which I made with thee" is clearly speaking of an animal created by God during the creation period in Genesis, but I believe it to be an ANIMAL and not a "terrible lizard" as so many have tried to explain. I do not believe the animal to be a hippo or an elephant either - the description does not fit either of those animals. And the whole of Job 41 is a complete and separate subject, describing something else - and is NOT a continuation of Job 40. I fully believe that God is describing Satan allegorically to Job here, and I base that upon Job 41, verse 33: "Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear." To me the singularity of the existence of this "leviathan" and the fact it is said of God to without fear is a DIRECT descriptor of Satan, and not a T-Rex dinosaur. And then in verse 34: "He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." Here we have another reference to the lawlessness and true perverse nature of Satan. The book of Job is an account of a devout man contending with the nature of God versus the nature of man through trials put upon him by - none other than Satan (with the express permission of God - purely as a test to show Satan that Job is a true man of God). And I fully believe that God used the description he made of the "leviathan" in Job 41 to further illustrate to Job, and ultimately all of us who call on God as our Father, to trust in Him alone for all, and not be deceived like Satan or to be a deceiver as Satan surely is. If these scriptures are what many base the proof of dinosaurs upon, they have missed the mark and the meaning of this passage. The book of Job is an example to us of how to deal with God properly as one of his children, not a proof of the existence of creatures who I believe never drew the first breath of life. I don't know everything, in fact I constantly look to the Bible for all of my answers, but I also trust the Holy Ghost to guide me in my study and what those studies reveal to me. I do ask that someone much wiser than me to correct me immediately if I have erred: don't let me dangle if I am wrong! In summation, I do not believe in the existence of dinosaurs AT ALL, and do not believe the Bible supports their existence either. |