What Happened to the Dinosaurs?

 What Happened to the Dinosaurs? When the film “Jurassic Park” premiered in June 1993, it became the highest grossing movie ever at the time. The dinosaurs were created with pioneering computer-generated images and life-sized animatronics. We are fascinated with dinosaurs,especially the huge ones which eat people. No doubt sales of amber containing fossilized mosquitoes reaped big money after that movie was released. People still believe in the Loch Ness monster (Nessie) and continue to search for and find dinosaur bones. The presence of their bones means they did exist, but what happened to dinosaurs? “And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds — livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.’ And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestockaccording to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis1:24-25). On the sixth day of creation, God included dinosaurs in His creation, since dinosaurs were one of the animals which crept on the ground. As far as eating meat, dinosaurs were created as plant-eaters because as yet there was no death, and therefore no meat to eat (things changed after the fall, as recorded in Genesis 3). And what of their teeth, some of which were six inches long? They were perfect for ripping into tough-skinned vegetables and fruits. Dinosaurs were land reptiles, different from contemporary reptiles in that they had large holes in their skulls and their back legs were under their bodies. Reptiles such as exist today have legs on the sides of their bodies which allow them to run fast. Dinosaurs’ legs, instead, gave them a slower gate and enabled them to go longer distances. Were Dinosaurs on, or Left off of, the Ark? It’s hard to fathom this in our way of thinking, but yes, there were dinosaurs on Noah’s ark. They were included in the land-dwelling animals. There would be no reason we know of to relegate them to the status of being left behind. Because we envision dinosaurs as monstrous, man-eating beings, we have a hard time believing they couldeven fit on the ark, much less inhabit the same space with the eight people God saved from world-wide destruction. But even the largest dinosaurs (sauropods) were hatched from eggs only slightly larger than a football. God, in His infinite and perfect wisdom,would most likely have placed young dinosaurs on the ark. Also, not all dinosaurs are huge; some are the size of a dog and the smallest dinosaurs matched a chicken in size. God ordered two of every sort (kind) of animal be placed on the ark. Dr. Jason Lisle, a scientist who is a Christian, says for dinosaurs, only sixty kinds were needed to cover the whole of the species, making a total of 120 dinosaurs of various sizes. The question still remains about how to fit all those animals (including all the other kinds) on the ark. God had Noah build his ark to measure probably 510’(L)X 85’ (W) X 51’ (H), according to Hebrew measurements. The ark was massive. With an accounting of every kind ofanimal placed on the ark, though, they would have taken up less than sixteen percent of the space. Therefore, all theanimals would have had space enough on one tier. It made clean-up easier, too. The 1611 King James Version of the Bible is the earliest printed Bible. The word dinosaur did not enter our vocabulary until 1841. Sir Richard Owen, a creationist who refuted Darwin’s claims, coined the word “dinosaur” based on a Greek compound word for “terrible reptile.” It was also not until the nineteenth century that dinosaur fossils were discovered. Therefore, we must look at the words which occur in the Bible. Interestingly, the Hebrew word tanniyn, whichmeans dragon, is in Scripture and is used for a range of animals (Genesis 1:21; Exodus 7:9, 10, 12; Deuteronomy 23:33; Isaiah 27:1; 51:9,34; Psalm 74:13; 91:13; 148:7; Job 7:12). Behemoth, the word used in Job 40:15, sounds a lot like a sauropod.As far as we know, it was the largest land-dwelling creature God created. The book of Job waswritten in probably 2000 BC, and at that time, the behemoth was still an herbivore. Job 40:17 states the behemoth makes his tail “stiff like a cedar.” And verse 19 says, “His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron.” We know God was stating His case to Job as Creator and yet from these words we can infer Job was familiarwith the behemoth, otherwise God’s words would make no sense. Job 41 mentions Leviathan. In one verse the creature is said to spew flaming torchesfrom his mouth and sparks of fire leap forth” (Job 41:19). And we ask, why not? Dr. Lisle also mentions bombardier beetles, which are stillin existence. They produce a defensive hot spray. What of electric eels or lightning bugs? The thing is, we cannot limit God and what He willed to create. Throughout history, depictions of dinosaurs have been spotted in cave paintings, canvas painting (St.George and the Dragon), statues, and legend. As with many species, dinosaurs gradually went extinct. We don’t know how this happened; it could be any of the following reasons: disease, famine, they were hunted to death, or perhaps they faded gradually because the post-flood environmentwas not conducive to them thriving. The decisive reason for the dinosaurs’ demise is the same reason for human beings’ demise – Adam’s sin. The fall changed everything. But thank God we have a Redeemer who paid the price for our sins. How Can We Connect Science with the Bible? Secular scientists continue to make unsuccessful attempts to disprove the Bible, and every time, the truth of God’s Word shines. A Christian looks at the world and its history through a unique lens we call a biblical worldview. The world is man-centered, and if something doesn’t make sense to him, he deems it unknowable or comes up with a theory to try to explain it. A number of secular scientists, however, when confronted with something the Bible explains that science has been unable to, turned their focus to Jesus Christ and surrender to Him. We can connect science tothe Bible in discoveries of God’s creation. The ultimate answer to scientific why’s is God. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He set the earth in motion and made humans as living breathing beings based on His perfect and awesomedesign. Science, then, could be defined as the discovery of what God has done. Does Science Have an Answer for Everything? This topic is an important one because secular scientists and other would-be experts refute the Bible’s claims. Secular science says it is based on facts, but, for the most part, refuses to acknowledge the Creator. Science does not have ananswer for everything, much as it supposes it does. What science lacks is faith in something (and Someone) greater than it. Science brings its own assumptions into its research and discovery and often contradict the Bible, whose Author is Truth. Does the Bible? Every notable and serious concrete question posed by man can be answered by the Bible. Yes, God did leave some details out, and that may be for our protection or because God didn’t choose to include them. But the Bible is our source of everything God wants us to know, and for Christians, that’s enough. We will enter heaven in a glorified state, knowing all we are supposed to know. But we won’t know everything, and that’s because we aren’t divine; only God is omniscient. Any time secular science and biblical worldviews meet, a debate ensues. Christians, while curious beings, have faith in the One who has all the answers to any question anyone could ever pose.We seek answers, but our goal is not knowledge or power; our goal is to bring glory to God (Job 37:14), Creator of the heavens and the earth. Secular science wants solutions and embarks on often relentless pursuits of knowledge and answers. What usually happens is disappointment either because of failure or because their answeris found in what the Bible says. God made dinosaurs. God put them on Noah’s ark. God gave them exit from the ark, and then God allowed them to go extinct. The evidence is in archaeological finds and, more importantly, inthe Bible—our best treasure. It will never suffer extinction.