I have listed dinosaurs separately because of their non-existence today. Actually, non-existence is not the correct word, because man has discovered a pre-historic fish. They thought the species to be extinct, but in recent years, one was hauled from the waters of the Comoro Islands. “On the coast of the Island of Anjouan, on December 20th, 1952.” (12) The fish was a Coelacanth, and a second one was caught in the same area, “During the night of the 24th and 25th of Septermber, 1953 … of 87 pounds, that was 4 feet 3 inches long. The press gave great importance to the Coelacanth, which was presented as our distant ancestor, or grandfather, or aquatic pre-Adam at a low stage of evolution, and so on. It is precisely because the Coelacanth is none of these (at best a small and distant cousin of man, a little retarded), and also because his existence raises no less clearly the problem of life’s conquest of the continents about 250 million years ago, that it has been keenly studied. Althought he Coelacanth is not our grandfather, the grandfather-fish from which all terrestrial vertebrates are derived must have resembled him a great deal. On the other hand, the monster from the Comoro Islands which we believed had vanished from the face of the earth – or rather from the depths of the waters – at the same time as the Diplodocus, the Iguanodon, and the pterodactyl, about 80 million years ago, is one of those puzzling ‘living fossils’, one of those primitive creatures of times past that are a joy to the paleontologist.” (13)
What this fish does in actuality is cast serious doubt, once more, on Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. It also destroys the idea of spontaneous regeneration. But it does something even more amazing concerning the scriptures. It establishes the individuality of God’s creation. Imagine a fish that is the same today in the 20th Century as it was 250 million years ago. The most sensible deduction from this is that a Coelacanth is still a Coelacanth, a finch is still a finch, and man is and always has been man.
But what of the pre-historic dinosaurs? Does the Bible speak of these ancient giants, and if so, what does it say? The first account in Job 40:15 ff begins a description that appears to be a flawless portrayal of the Brontosaurus Rex. “Behold now, behemoth, which I made as well as thee; he east grass like an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are as tubes of brass: His limbs are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the way of God: He only that made him giveth him his sword. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field do play. He lieth under the lotus-trees, in the covert of the reed, and the fen. The lotus –trees cover him with their shade: The willowed of the brook compass him about. Behold, if a river overflow, he trenbleth not; he is confident though the Jordan swell even to his mouth.”
The footnotes in the Bible offer the meaning of the word “behemoth” to be, “that is, the hippopotamus.” The dictionary offered a better description, “an animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in Job 40:15-24. Any monstrous or grotesque creature or thing. Heb. B’hemoth (expressing dignity or greatness). (14) When viewing the scripture more closely, the latter definition from the dictionary seems to comply more readily than the Bible footnote. ** see my personal note at the end of this paper.
The description of the creature in Job does not correspond with that of the hippopotamus. Take his tail for instance. The tail of the hippo is practically non-existent, and he could never move it as a cedar. It was clear that the willow trees encompassed his body. A willow tree could encompass the bodies of several hippos. And “if the river overflows, he is not afraid even if it swells to his mouth.” The hippo swims and floats, and will push off the bottom of the river to come up for air, but the creature described in Job uses his massive thighs to dig in and stand against the force of the river. The Bible makes no mention of this creature swimming as the hippo does. Rather the creature enjoys the banks of the river bed under the lotus-trees. Notice also, that as the Brontosaurus did, this behemoth “eats grass like an ox.” That this terminology is used is amazing because that is exactly the expression used today to describe how the Brontosaurus masticated his food.
“His bones are as tubes of brass and his limbs are strong as iron.” The Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois. There is on display there, perhaps every animal imaginable and known to mankind that lives or has lived upon the face of the earth. They have a large display of a hippo family grouping, but there is no skeletal display of the hippo. Were there such a display, the bones of the hippo would not be likened to “tubes of brass” in size.
In the center of the museum as one enters, are two dinosaur skeletons on display. These creatures have bones that look like “tubes of brass” and limbs that could be termed “as strong as iron.” Could it be that God, in his infinite wisdom, described the dinosaur as he did in Job to aid us in corroborating the animal with the description, knowing it would be extinct by the time we discovered its remains?
The second image in Job staggers the imagination. In fact, the incredulity of this beastly image is as perplexing as it is difficult to comprehend or imagine. The creature has been created in mythical caricature and exploited by the press with headlines of mysterious sightings, but certainly never taken seriously or portrayed as real. It is inserted here because of the description in Job that so closely resembles this strange monster.
Further, it is inserted here because it appears not only in Job, but in the first chapter of Genesis. The scripture refers to the “great sea-monsters” in Genesis and it is one of those pieces of scripture that is very easily overlooked and ignored because it doesn’t seem to have any significance in our lives today. However, could it be that God is revealing something to us that we have not yet discovered?
Surrounding the mysteries of the Druids; the stories of King Arthur and his knights; and the magic of Merlin, are fascinating tales of fire-breathing dragons that defy the sword and arrows of men. They have made marvelous tales of bravery that tickle and delight the imagination. Yet, hidden in the folds of scripture is a description that astounds the reader. Is it fairy tale? Myth? Imagination? Or is it undiscovered truth?
Job 41: “Can you draw out leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a cord? Will he make many supplications to you? Or will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with you that you should take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your maidens? Can you fill his skin with barbed irons? Or his head with fish-spears? Lay your hand upon him; remember the battle and do so no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Will no one be cast down ever at the sight of him? Whatsoever is under the heaven is mine. I will not keep silent concerning his limbs. Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall be within his jaws? Who can open the doors of his face? Round about his teeth is terror. His strong scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; they stick together, so that they cannot be sundered. His sneezes flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of morning. Out of his mouth go burning torches, and sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth, as of a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth. In his neck abideth strength, and terror dances before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together; they are firm upon him; they cannot be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone; yes, firm as the nether millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid: by reason of consternation they are beside themselves. If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. He counts iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrows cannot make him flee: sling-stones are turned with him into stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble: He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. His under parts are like sharp potsherds: he spreads as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire. He makes a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. Upon the earath there is not his like, that is made without fear.”
This is certainly not a small animal that is making the sea boil and appear white from the churning. The monster comes out of the sea, onto the miry mud of the land, and it would seem nothing can destroy it in its plunder. (Well, maybe Excaliber can, if we believe the legend!) It amazes me that it is easier to believe in the legend than in biblical truths.
At first reading, this seems to be a description of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, until reading the section that describes the animal as living in the sea and breathing fire. The term is used in Genesis 1 in describing the first of God’s creation. God makes specific mention of the sea-monsters. Did he intentionally mention them there because he knew we would bury it in myths and legends?
The stories of the fire-breathing dragons were figments of men’s imaginations, weren’t they? Yet, sitting right at the opening of the Old Testament, and again, at the end of the book of Job, God makes specific mention of the sea-monsters, and describes the animal in detail, including his fire-breathing characteristic. The description in Job is a very lengthy, explicit account of a dragon that reeks havoc upon all it comes in contact with. The entire 41st chapter of Job is devoted to this description. Is it fiction? I doubt it is. Rather it sounds like it is yet undiscovered truth.
The Druids, and the stories surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and Merlin the Magician, all make reference to a fire-breathing dragon. Far from a far-fetched story of a mythical origin, this clearly describes a creature that at some point was known to man. Because we have not seen one, or found the remains of one yet, and because we have only heard of it in the tales of fiction, we have classified this creature in the category of fairy-tale. But is that the proper classification considering it is mentioned not once, but twice in the scripture?
All that is described in the creation account in Genesis, and all that is depicted in Job, are real images of things placed here by God: things he wanted man aware of, thus he guided the authors of these books to include them. God doesn’t tell us why he includes these things, but they are there, nonetheless, and it is left to man’s desire to discover and to explore to find out the why and how. Truth has quite often been stranger than fiction.
