“And God created great ‘dragons,’ and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:21).
One of the most fascinating of God’s creations was the dinosaur. Which of us has not marveled at the immense size and fierce construction of these mammoths and wondered what it would have been like to live when they did? Their fossils are spread all the way around the globe and the fascination with them continues. But for the creationist, there would seem to be some problems. Did they really exist? Where is the mention of their creation? How could they have lived when man did? Were dinosaurs on the ark? Why have they become extinct? Let’s look at a little of what we do know about the dinosaurs.
First, they are the creation of God; they did exist in living form and not just as created fossils as some would have us believe. Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” So, they are the creation of God. In the Book of Genesis, we can see the record of their creation. In verse 21, God creates “tannin”; this word was incorrectly translated “whale” by the King James translators. They could not translate it correctly because they did not know what a dinosaur was. The first bones were dug up less than 200 years ago, and in the translators’ frail wisdom decided that what must have been meant by the inspired writer was the greatest animal they did know about, the whale. But, the word “tannin” more correctly means “dragon, sea serpent and monster.” And, this creation God calls “great,” so they must have been very unusual creatures. The dinosaurs then are created on day five of the creation week, and man on day six. So, were they on the earth at the same time? Beyond a shadow of doubt, we must conclude that if the Genesis writer was inspired of God, then certainly they had to be!
Why would this be a problem? “Well, the dinosaurs were meat eaters.” “They would have wiped man off the face of the earth.” “We could not have lived with something like the T-Rex.” Well, these and other answers are given, but is anything impossible with God? No! Read verses 30-31 about what God gave all living things as food! And, even if they did eat meat, could God have stopped a T-Rex from eating Adam? Could God have stopped a den of hungry lions from eating Daniel? Well, as you can see, the answer to both questions is yes! Remember that we have many animals alive today that lived along side the dinosaurs.
Well, if dinosaurs were created on day five, then by the time of the flood, they would still have to have been on earth. So how did Noah get them in the ark? Weren’t they too large to fit on the ark? Remember that if God told Noah to take two of all air breathing animals on the ark ¾ it could be done! Were they all adult animals, as big as they could get? The Bible does not say. How did Noah and the boys keep T-Rex from eating everything on the ark? Remember the den of lions? God can close the mouth of any of his creations. Hibernation? Certainly with God anything is possible.
So, if they were on the ark, why aren’t they still alive today? Well, 2 Peter 3:6 gives us the answer. “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” When the dinosaurs came off the ark, their long-term existence was impossible because of the new ecological conditions found on earth. And so, those that were on the ark became extinct eventually. But, they did live for a while.
Turn to Job chapters 40-41. There you will read about two amazing animals, “behemoth” and “leviathan.” Were they a “water horse” or hippopotamus and an “alligator”? Without a doubt in my mind, the answer is no! What were they exactly? We will never know, but they sound more like a Brachiosaur and marine dinosaur than anything else. Fire-breathing dragon? Why not? A half-inch long beetle from Europe does very much the same thing today! Whatever these animals were, Job was very familiar with them, and since I believe Job to be a post-flood book of the Bible, that makes the dinosaurs in existence with man.
Well, this discussion could go on for a much longer time, but for those interested there are many good books that interpret the fossil record in light of the biblical account. Who says dinosaurs are extinct anyway? The word “dinosaur” means terrible lizard. The next time you are in a zoo or in Florida, look closely at a 12 to 14 foot crocodile and see if the name dinosaur would fit!
