09.06.23
What Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Behold now behemoth, which I made with you; he eats grass as an ox. Can you draw out leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which you let down? (Job 40:15; 41:1)
Dinosaurs are only a mystery if we accept the evolutionary story of history. This story says that they evolved 235 million years ago. They never lived at the same time as man. At one time they ruled the earth. However something unexplained happened about 65 million years ago and they disappeared. Their fossils are found in the layers of the earth which were deposited over millions of years.
It might be helpful to understand that the word ‘dinosaur’ means ‘terrible lizard.’ It was coined in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen, the first superintendent of the British Museum, and an anti-Darwinist. If the pre-flood conditions still existed on the earth today, many reptiles would likely be much larger than we find them, perhaps as large as some dinosaurs.
Since most dinosaurs were land animals, God made them along with the other land animals on the 6th day of Creation (Genesis 1:24, 25). Since Adam and Eve were also made on that day, man and dinosaurs lived together on the earth.
Since the King James Bible of 1611 pre-dated the word dinosaur, we would not expect to find that word in the Bible. However, there are words that could be referring to dinosaurs, such as ‘dragon’ (Psalm 74:13), ‘fiery flying serpent’ (Isaiah 30:6), and the aforementioned behemoth and leviathan in the Book of Job. You would do well to read through Job 40, 41 to see for yourself if these creatures don’t sound like they could be dinosaurs.
If dinosaurs lived at the time of Noah, how did these large animals get on the ark? As noted last week, it is quite likely that Noah took juvenile specimens of each ‘kind’ on the ark. Not every type of dinosaur needed to be represented, just a few, two of each kind. There are probably only about fifty ‘kinds’ of dinosaurs. Though there were many large dinosaurs, it has been found from the fossil record that the average size was that of a sheep. Thus it would not have been an issue to have some young dinosaurs on the ark.
What about the millions of dinosaur fossils found all over the earth? Most of these would be from the dinosaurs that died and were buried in mud and water from the Great Flood. The evidence shows that they were buried rapidly showing some kind of catastrophe.
What happened to the dinosaurs? When the young dinosaurs came out of the ark after the flood, they entered a new world. The world had been devastated and it was a much more difficult world in which to survive. Dinosaurs were among many species of animals that did not survive for very long after the flood. Why? For the same reasons that animals become extinct today—diseases, people hunting them, genetic problems, etc. They did survive for a time however, which may explain the many dragon legends the world over.
Do these questions about dinosaurs matter? Surely they do. If we follow the teachings of evolution, than we will have a harder time believing that the Bible is true and reliable. If we do not trust the Bible, than we will be hindered from believing the message of the gospel.
Yes, this life can be topsy-turvy, and in so many ways there seems to be no hope for this sin-sick world. But Jesus Christ is God’s Son. God loved us enough to send His beloved Son to die in our place. When we place our faith in Him, He forgives our sins and gives us life anew!