We won’t find the word dinosaur in the Bible. So what does the Bible say about dinosaurs? What a great question! Let’s dive in! (You might also be asking “Who is God?” Read this article to find out more about the greatness of God).
What Does Dinosaur Mean?
The word means terrible lizard, and it wasn’t coined until the nineteenth century and the Bible was written before the second century. But there are words in the Bible the authors used about creatures that sound like they’re describing a dinosaur. One example is a description of Behemoth in Job 40:15-19:
“Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
“Behold now, his strength in his loins
And his power in the muscles of his belly.
“He bends his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
“His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.
“He is the first of the ways of God
This describes a beast that is unlike the biggest land animals that exist on earth. The elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus fit some of this description, but not all. The one telling difference is the description of its tail. Despite how big the three listed animals are, their tails are tiny. No one would refer to them as “bending their tail like a cedar.”
References to dragons and Leviathan are other words used in the Bible that might refer to dinosaurs”
“In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea (Isaiah 27:1).”
The reference to these creatures is sometimes symbolic, but to be symbolic the people the author writes to must understand the reference. We don’t know these references are to dinosaurs, but it is a possibility.
When Did Dinosaurs Live?
Evolutionary scientists say the dinosaurs went extinct sixty-five million years ago. They don’t know why but they’ve given possibilities, including a devastating asteroid strike. But, because they didn’t and can’t observe it, they don’t use the scientific method for their conclusion. And whatever the supposed cataclysmic event was, it didn’t seem to affect the other animals because they continued.
What Do Creation Scientists Say?
Creation scientists generally believe that dinosaurs existed before the flood, but they either didn’t survive the flood (because they weren’t taken on the ark) or because the climate and ecosystem changed after the flood, they quickly died out.
So, Based on the Bible, We Conclude the Following:
- We know dinosaurs existed because we have found their skeletons.
- We know that according to the creation account, God created all the animals on the fifth day: “God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves (Genesis 1:21).”
- We know dinosaurs no longer exist. But the Bible’s description of creation by days tells us dinosaurs lived while people did.
- We have reason to believe that the flood or its aftereffects contributed to the dinosaurs’ extinction.
- We know the Bible uses language that allows for references to dinosaurs.
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