Important Things We Overlook In The Book Of Job
Our daily Bible readings give us spiritual food and help us know the God who created us. But when we encounter the difficult passages, it is easy to skim over them due to some theological questions we dont have the answers to. The account of Job is considered one of those hot topics we toss around.
Why did God allow Satan to afflict Job?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
We can have as many answers as we have questions, and we will never know the definitive reason for the book of Job until Jesus takes us home to live with Him forever . But because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us now, we are given more spiritual insight than Job and his contemporaries had.
These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
Theories abound regarding the time on the historical calendar of Jobs difficulties with some placing Job as a contemporary of Abraham. These conclusions arise because there is no mention of a Hebraic law or any kind of covenant between the Lord and mankind established yet. Job is also considered the oldest biblical manuscript.
This could give us some insight into how Satan was able to afflict Job. Adam gave away his rights to dominate the realm where he lived when he sinned, and Satan became the ruler of this world.
1 Peter 5:8 NIV tells us, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Surely Youre Not Saying
Do you believe that the Bible is Gods word and that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins? If so, thats awesome!
Is it a requirement of a Christian to have a young earth-dinosaurs on the ark belief system? No, it doesnt.
You can accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and never even have thought about where the dinosaurs came from or where they went.
However, I think there is enough evidence for us to explore the idea that some dinosaurs were still alive in Bible times and after.
Ezekiel 2: 3the Monstrous Behemoth
Besides giant reptiles, the Bible also includes several references to a monstrous and mighty beast, specifically called Behemoth in the book of Job:
“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 the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.”He is the first of the works of God let him who made him bring near his sword! For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play. Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh. For his shade the lotus trees cover him the willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare?” From this description of the Behemoth, it seems possible that the book of Job was describing a giant, vegetation-eating sauropod.
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Why Such Different Views
How can there be such totally different explanations for dinosaurs? Whether one is an evolutionist or accepts the Bibles account of history, the evidence for dinosaurs is the same. All scientists have the same factsthey have the same world, the same , the same living creatures, the same universe.
If the facts are the same, then how can the explanations be so different? The reason is that scientists have only the presentdinosaur fossils exist only in the presentbut scientists are trying to connect the fossils in the present to the past. They ask, What happened in history to bring dinosaurs into existence, wipe them out, and leave many of them fossilized?
The that addresses such issues is known as historical or origins science, and it differs from the operational science that gives us computers, inexpensive food, space exploration, electricity, and the like. Origins science deals with the past, which is not accessible to direct experimentation, whereas operational science deals with how the world works in the here and now, which, of course, is open to repeatable experiments. Because of difficulties in reconstructing the past, those who study fossils have diverse views on dinosaurs. As has been said, Paleontology is much like politics: passions run high, and its easy to draw very different conclusions from the same set of facts.
The Bible says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom .
What Does The Bible Say About Dinosaurs Wrapup
I will be honest. I believe there was a very good chance that dinosaurs were in the Bible. I understand what the vast majority of the worlds scientific minds say. However, The young-earth theory does make a lot of sense if you are sold out to a biblical worldview.
Now, I cant tell you that I have the same amount of faith that there were dinosaurs in the Bible as I do in Jesus Christ being the Savior of the world. I can tell you about eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I stake my life and future on that event in history. But, Im not as certain about the age of the earth. But, the Bible seems to leave us clues.
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Dinosaurs In The Bible Surely You Jest
First of all, we have to recognize some things by even asking a question like this. You may believe that God created the world, that He created dinosaurs along with all the animals and all the creatures of the world. Some non-believers will disapprove, but youre still on fairly safe ground with the argument.
You may believe that God created Adam and Eve and we are their descendants. You may confess to people that you believe that Jesus Christ is Gods Son and you may demonstrate to the world that you have a biblical perspective of that world. At that point, some people will think you are a religious nut, but there are a lot of people who believe those things, so youre still not alone.
The Supposed Conflict Between Science And Faith Is Centuries Old And There Is A Path
1:30 AM on Jun 27, 2021 CDT
This column is part of our ongoing Opinion commentary on faith, called Living Our Faith. Get weekly roundups of the project in your email inbox by signing up for the Living Our Faith newsletter.
When youre told evolution and faith arent compatible, the options seem bleak: You can reject a vast body of scientific evidence or you can reject God.
I know. Im a science educator and a university biology professor, but I was raised a creationist in a faith community that reads the Bible literally.
For a person of faith who wants to love God with heart, soul and mind, rejection of either science or God is an impossible choice.
Instead of an outright rejection of science, many find science in the Bible, and particularly in Genesis. Modern science evidence regarding astronomy, geology and biological evolution is sometimes retrofitted and forced into Scripture. The mental gymnastics required to do so while taking the Bible literally can be exhausting.
According to Pew, almost 40% of white evangelical Christians reject the evidence for evolution, the highest portion of any category that Pew surveys. In a separate Pew study, in Texas, Pew found that the percentage of highly religious adults who reject evolution approaches 50%. Intelligent design, touted as an alternative to evolution by some, is not really a view separate from creationist views, rather, it is a way of defending such views.
Its a conversation thats been going on for hundreds of years.
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Were There Dinosaurs On Noahs Ark
A visit to Kentucky’s creationist museum, a conservative base in the culture war
But lets not get ahead of ourselves. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. A short while later, Ken Ham found 40 acres of pastureland in northern Kentucky on which to build a museum devoted to the ideology of Young Earth creationism, which holds that the world is 6,000 years old, and which represents for a subset of evangelical Christians not only the most convincing explanation for how our planet, and the humans who rule it in Gods name, came into being, but also a potent weapon in the struggle against homosexuality and other modern ailments. What I didnt understand until I visited Ken Ham is that his museum, which is devoted to a literal, historical reading of the first book of the Bible, is in itself a forward operating base in the conservative war against legalized abortion, gay marriage, and the belief that man is at least partially responsible for climate change .
Luckily, I belong to a tradition that, in addition to creating the Bible , came to understand, per Maimonides, that the first chapters of Genesis contain stories meant to advance an understanding of universal, ethical monotheism, rather than scientific explanations for creation. A faith that demands uncompromising fealty to a literal reading of its origin story seems to me a perilously brittle faith.
The Creation Museum is not a museum so much as it is a 3-D hellfire sermon with a food court.
Do We Read About Dinosaurs In The Bible
We dont find the word dinosaur in the Bible of course, because the word dinosaur was not even thought of then. But there are a number of places where the word dragon occurs in the Scriptures. Actually, the same Hebrews word for dragon is used in some passages to speak of monsters, serpents, and even sea monsters!
The most interesting passages in the Bible that refers to a huge monster type of creature is found in Job chapters 40 and 41.
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Did God Make Dinosaurs
Yes. Everything we can see was created by God. Many species of animals have gone extinct for various reasons, while many new species are discovered every year. There is beauty in knowing we can see Gods fingerprints on all of creation, including the dinosaur fossils that archaeologists uncover. We may never truly understand the history of dinosaurs, but we can be assured that they were created by God.
Did Dinosaurs Really Exist A Christian Response
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. Isaiah 35:7
For centuries scholars have debated whether dinosaurs ever roamed the earth. Did they co-exist with humans? If they were real why is there no mention of it in the Bible? Did God really create all living things during the six days of creation?
In his new book, Dinosaurs or Dragons? , Isaacs presents many unique theories including the notion that the term dragon, mentioned in several translations throughout scripture are actually the creature that we know today as dinosaurs.
CBN.com Program Director Chris Carpenter recently sat down with Isaacs to discuss why he believes the dragons of the Bible are indeed dinosaurs, the powerful impact this theory could have on refuting evolution, and why the book of Revelation may hold the key to his theories.
Lets talk about this book, Dragons and Dinosaurs. Obvious question to start, and that is what was your inspiration for writing this?
Your book brings forth some new theories, perhaps some things that havent really been thought about or discussed much before that lends evidence on dinosaurs and dragons. Take a moment to outline this if you could.
Is there a difference between a dragon and a dinosaur?
Is there anywhere in scripture that even references dragons or dinosaurs?
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What Are The Strange Creatures Mentioned In The Bible
Did dinosaurs really live millions of years ago? Did they evolve? What happened to them? Why are there so many dinosaur fossils found?
Did dinosaurs ever live on earth with man? Does the Bible have anything to say about dinosaurs?
There is no doubt that millions of dinosaurs once roamed Earth. Fossils have been found all over the world and the bones of some of them are on display in the museums. Scientists have reconstructed the ancient creatures and we think we have a pretty good idea what they looked like.
If you try finding the word dinosaur in ancient literature or the Bible, I can save you time. The word is simply not found. But then the word dinosaur didnt come into existence until 1841 when Sir Richard Owen coined the name which means terrible lizard.
The finding of fossil bones began over a hundred years ago in 1822 when an English doctor by the name of Gideon Mantell found some strange teeth fossilized in a rock. Actually, Dr. Mantells wife found the first tooth and they began a life-long investigation that led them to more bones in a gravel quarry.
Mantell was convinced that the tooth his wife had found looked identical to an iguana only about twenty times larger. Dr. Mantell finally named the creature that had owned that tooth Iguanodon which means iguana-like tooth!
Dinosaurs And Human Beings
Much has been written and argued regarding certain evidence that supposedly shows dinosaur and human remains together. The evidence includes what are interpreted to be human footsteps together with dinosaur footprints, as well as prehistoric pictures in caves and on pottery where human figures appear together with exceptional creatures very similar to current reconstructions of these giant reptiles. However, rigorous scientific study has shown that these features have been misinterpreted.
Let us analyze, for example, the alleged human and dinosaur prints found in the riverbed of the Paluxy River in Texas. A few decades ago, some enthusiastic scientists proclaimed that this was sure evidence against the theory of evolution and proof for the occurrence of a worldwide Flood. Intrigued by these statements, more than one evolutionist and creationist scientist studied in detail the marks found on the rocks. In that particular place, the riverbed and bank have many marks due to water erosion. We can tell the true dinosaur tracks from the pseudoprints due to the marks left on the rocks from the circulating water. With a little imagination, we can make out prints similar to those of almost any animal.
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What Do The Bones Say
There is also physical evidence that dinosaur bones are not millions ofyears old. Scientists from Montana State University found T. rex bones thatwere not totally fossilized. Sections of the bones were like fresh bone and containedwhat seems to be blood cells and hemoglobin. If these bones really weretens of millions of years old, then the blood cells and hemoglobin would havetotally disintegrated. Also, there should not be fresh bones if they were reallymillions of years old. A report by these scientists stated the following:
Unfossilized duck-billed dinosaur bones have been found on the NorthSlope in Alaska. Also, creation scientists collected such frozen dinosaur bones in Alaska. Evolutionists would not say that these bones had stayed frozen for the many millions of years since these dinosaurs supposedly died out . Yet the bones could not have survived for the millions of years unmineralized. This is a puzzle to those who believe in an age of dinosaurs millions of years ago, but not to someone who builds his thinking on the Bible.
How Do Dinosaurs Fit With The Bible
Before you say anything, I dont refer to the Bible as a textbook. Im just looking for clarity about my religion.
If the dinosaurs existed, which they obviously did, they had to disappear, right? How did they disappear and the humans didnt? Since the Bible says God created everything, the humans and dinosaurs would coexist. The dinosaurs disappeared, which some say a meteor caused and others say the great flood did. First well talk about the flood. If Noah took two of every animal, that includes the dinosaurs. If they disappeared after the flood, it wouldnt make sense. For example, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was an apex predator. How did they just disappear? And all the other dinos?
Next, the meteor theory. This makes more sense to me, as the dinosaurs died but some things, like birds, fish, and mammals survived.
Can anyone help me with this?
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Dinosaurs In The Bible Back To The Beginning
Well, weve already mentioned the Biblical creation. But let me insert that, for Christians, the book of Genesis found in the Old Testament lays an entire foundation for life in general if you have a Biblical worldview.
Its very hard to have a piecemeal approach to a Christian worldview without a fairly firm grasp and belief in the book of Genesis. To be honest, if you are going to believe that the book of Genesis is much more than stories and fables, you will be challenged to accept some incredible stories from Genesis as fact rather than fiction. One of those stories is that God judged the world by sending a worldwide flood yep the story of Noahs ark.
But, Im getting ahead.back to the creation of the dinosaurs. The Bible says:
Then God said, Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kindlivestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals. And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:24-25
So, if we believe in Gods word, it appears that God created every land animal, every winged bird, great sea creature, and every living creature except humans in the above passage. That would have included all land animals AND yes, dinosaurs also.