Behemoths and Leviathans and Dragons, oh my!

Time to approach another subject in the discussion of creationism versus macroevolution. (Note, by request I will no longer refer to believers in macroevoluton as "Darwinists" although I may use the term "Darwinism from time to time.)

Big Lizards, baby! Dinosaurs...

Now, anyone who has ever seen the Flintstones or perhaps as a child read the comic strip "Alley Oop" are aware that man and dinosaur did at one time coexist. In fact, it is my belief that among the "kinds" of animals preserved by Noah on the Ark were numbered some dinosaurs.

Much like flood stories, most ancient cultures have monsters or dragon stories. It is my opinion that the reason there are so many flood stories is because there was a world-wide flood. I now propose that the reason there are so many dinosaur/dragon tales are because they are true or based in truth. In fact, historians will admit that within the normal historical documentation of many peoples are stories of encounters with dinosaurs or creatures that certainly sound like dinosaurs. Oddly these stories are taken out of the category of history and called "myth" simply because modern man does not want to admit that dinosaurs may have been living amongst us 1,000 years ago.

Bible evidence

Being a Christian, the evidence in the Bible is significant to me. As it happens, dinosaurs are described in the Bible in more than one place. The most obvious reference is in one of the oldest of books, the Book of Job.

Job 40:15-24 -

"15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you;
He eats grass like an ox.

16 See now, his strength is in his hips,
And his power is in his stomach muscles.

17 He moves his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

18 His bones are like beams of bronze,
His ribs like bars of iron.

19 He is the first of the ways of God;
Only He who made him can bring near His sword.

20 Surely the mountains yield food for him,
And all the beasts of the field play there.

21 He lies under the lotus trees,
In a covert of reeds and marsh.

22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade;
The willows by the brook surround him.

23 Indeed the river may rage,
Yet he is not disturbed;
He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth,

24 Though he takes it in his eyes,
Or one pierces his nose with a snare."


The above creature is obviously far more fearful than an elephant or even a hippopotamus (plus, the "tail like a cedar" is a clue...). The description is one of great size and power. Much like a Brachiosaurus or a Sauroposeidon, it was a plant eater that is not described as being aggresive, just too big to mess with.

Now Job may have been written 3,500 years ago, long before Christ walked the earth and by my estimation less than 1,000 years after the Flood. Job also describes another creature that certainly sounds like a dinosaur. The entirety of Job 41 is devoted to describing another dinosaur.

Leviathan

(Job 41)


1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

2 Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3 Will he make many supplications to you?
Will he speak softly to you?

4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?

5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?

6 Will your companions make a banquet of him?
Will they apportion him among the merchants?

7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?

8 Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle—
Never do it again!

9 Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;
Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?

10 No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand against Me?

11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
Everything under heaven is Mine.

12 “I will not conceal his limbs,
His mighty power, or his graceful proportions.

13 Who can remove his outer coat?
Who can approach him with a double bridle?

14 Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?

15 His rows of scales are his pride,
Shut up tightly as with a seal;

16 One is so near another
That no air can come between them;

17 They are joined one to another,
They stick together and cannot be parted.

18 His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 Out of his mouth go burning lights;
Sparks of fire shoot out.

20 Smoke goes out of his nostrils,
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21 His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes out of his mouth.

22 Strength dwells in his neck,
And sorrow dances before him.

23 The folds of his flesh are joined together;
They are firm on him and cannot be moved.

24 His heart is as hard as stone,
Even as hard as the lower millstone.

25 When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of his crashings they are beside themselves.

26 Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;
Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.

27 He regards iron as straw,
And bronze as rotten wood.

28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones become like stubble to him.

29 Darts are regarded as straw;
He laughs at the threat of javelins.

30 His undersides are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads pointed marks in the mire.

31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;
One would think the deep had white hair.

33 On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.

34 He beholds every high thing;
He is king over all the children of pride.”


Leviathan is mentioned by name four other places in the Bible, in Job 3:8, in Psalms 74:14, in Psalms 104.26 and in Isaiah 27:1, which is listed below:

"In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea."

Hmmm. The reptile that is in the sea. In the King James version, that word "reptile" is translated as "dragon." Dragon appears numerous times in scripture, allegorically in prophecy in the Book of Revelation, but twenty-two other times in the Old Testament and at least twenty of those times it refers to some kind of creature. Here is the King James version of Psalms 74:13-14.

"12 For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness."


The Book of Malachi was written somewhere in the vicinity of 600-500 BC, the Psalms around 1,000 BC or so and Isaiah probably around 700 BC. All of these books mention a leviathan or a dragon. Not as an allegorical symbol, but as a creature mentioned along with creatures such as the owl or the lion.

As a believing Christian, I take the Bible seriously as an historical narrative and I believe it to be accurate. If God didn't know the difference between a dinosaur and an elephant, or a dinosaur and a whale then I certainly cannot trust Him with weightier matters such as the disposition of my soul! Therefore I believe at the time of writing of such books, leviathans/dragons and behemoths did walk the earth and inhabit the seas.

For further reference, here is (From StudyLight.org) the Old Testament word and meanings for these animals from the Hebrew:

Leviathan

Original Word Word Origin
atywl from (03867)
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
Livyathan liv-yaw-thawn'
Parts of Speech TWOT
Noun Masculine 1089b
Definition


1. leviathan, sea monster, dragon
1. large aquatic animal
2. perhaps the extinct dinosaur, plesiosaurus, exact meaning unknown ++++ Some think this to be a crocodile but from the description in Job 41 this is patently absurd. It appears to ba a large fire breathing animal of some sort. Just as the bomardier beetle has an explosion producing mechanism, so the great sea dragon may have an explosive producing mechanism to enable it to be a real fire breathing dragon.


Behemoth

Original Word Word Origin
twmhb in form a plural or (0929), but really a singular of Egyptian derivation
Transliterated Word Phonetic Spelling
B@hemowth be-hay-mohth'
Parts of Speech TWOT
Noun Masculine 208b
Definition


1. perhaps an extinct dinosaur
1. a Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus, exact meaning unknown ++++ Some translate as elephant or hippopotamus but from the description in Job 40:15-24, this is patently absurd.


Next, a look at historical documentation of encounters between men and apparent dinosaurs in the distant and not-so-distant past. Should be fun!

Have a Blessed Easter and/or Passover!