Few questions create more curiosity than this one? If dinosaurs walked the earth, why aren’t they in the Bible? The answer may surprise you. Not only are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible, but they are hiding in plain sight. The word dinosaur wasn’t coined until 1841. British scientist Richard Owen invented it to describe newly discovered reptile fossils. Of course, the Bible predates this term. When we open the Bible and look for the word “dinosaur,” we are looking for a word that simply did not exist when the Bible was written. But the biblical authors describe dinosaurs. They just use the language of their own time. In the book of Job, God speaks to Job and describes a magnificent creature called the Behemoth. “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar… Job 40:15–17 (ESV) The Behemoth is described as having a tail that is as stiff as a cedar — a massive, towering tree. No animal on earth today is like this. Many Bible scholars believe Job was describing a large brachiosaurus. These were the largest land animals known to exist. They had long, powerful tails. Job says they existed alongside humans! Job also describes an animal called the Leviathan. This animal is also mentioned in Psalms, Isaiah, and Revelation. It is described as a terrifying sea creature that cannot be tamed and breathes fire. Many believe the biblical authors were describing an aquatic reptile known as the Mosasaurus. This was an ocean-going creature of enormous size! As for breathing fire, it may have been able to project fire through a chemical reaction that occurs when mixing chemicals from glands, as the bombardier beetle does today.
Dinosaurs were created on the sixth day of creation, along with all land animals. This means dinosaurs and humans were contemporaries. It explains why ancient cave art depicting dinosaurs is found in virtually every culture. Noah would have taken baby dinosaurs with him on the ark, but the rest would have perished in the flood and been quickly buried under sediment and immense hydraulic pressure — exactly the conditions needed to produce fossils. Dinosaurs and man lived together after the flood, which accounts for their memory in almost every culture and their depiction in ancient cave art. After the flood, in a colder climate, dinosaurs, like other reptiles, struggled to survive. In warmer climates, they were hunted to extinction. Dinosaurs are not in conflict with the Bible. The Bible describes creatures that match them with amazing accuracy. God created them. Humans witnessed them. The Bible describes them as some of God’s most fascinating and powerful creatures.
Behemoth: The Giant in Job
Leviathan: The Dragon of The Deep
When were Dinosaurs created?
Where did dinosaurs go?
Conclusion
