Age of the Earth and Dinosaurs Part 2

       We left talking about dinosaurs, a subject that almost all people love, and definitely watch at the movies. The common belief is that dinosaurs are millions of years old and died out long before man ever evolved from the apes. However, this is what the scientists have told us, but what do the facts say? Well, let's take a look and see if the Bible mentions anything about them.
       At first glance, there is no mention of them. Of course the word dinosaur would not be in it because dinosaurs were not "discovered" until the early 1800's. However, there is something interesting written about two specific creatures in the book of Job. In chapter 40 starting in verse 15, Job talks about a creature called Behemoth. Modern day dictionaries and even the American Standard version's dictionary say this is simply a hippopotamus, a large but not giant animal that is or at least was common in this area. But there is a problem with this by the description Job gives. This animal eats grass like an ox (hippos do not), his tail is like a cedar (a hippos is more like a reed), his bones are like tubes of brass and iron, and the mountains bring him food. He does not fear floods (which is the only likeness to a hippo), and there is no animal that he is afraid of. After reading this description, Job is clearly not speaking about a hippo, but something much, much larger. In fact, if you describe a Brontosaurus, it would sound much like Job's description would it not?
       In the same book in the next chapter, Job begins describing a sea creature called Leviathan. Again, modern interpretations say this is a crocodile, a creature commonly found in the middle-east. In Job's description, notice he never mentions this animal being on land, where a croc spends much of his time. Leviathan is very large, can't be caught with a hook or rope, and has mighty scales that can't be broken. In verse 30 his underparts are "sharp potsherds", whereas a croc's is tough, yet penetrable. This animal also lives in the deep, much like a whale, which of course does not have scales nor tough skin. Job's leviathan appears to be uncatchable, a monster that man can't tame. Although crocs are large, mean, tough and cannot be tamed, Job not only calls it by a different name, but does not fit the description as given by the patriarch. Both animals appear to be something different than what we are familiar with today, possibly animals that are extinct.
       All scholars believe Job is the oldest written book in the Bible, probably written before Moses, Abraham and even Noah, seeing as though none of them are mentioned in his book. So, if these were dinosaurs, they would be a just a few thousand years old, not millions. This could also mean that most of these beasts died during the great flood, could it not? If that were the case though, didn't Noah save at least a pair of each? The answer is yes, but we don't know when these animals died off either. Recently, a statue was found in Peru that was believed to be about 900 years old and was made by the local Indians. In the middle of this statue, with many other animals depicted all around it, was an obvious stegosaur, which of course would be "unknown" for around 1100 more years, and millions of years since their "extinction". How could it be possible that Peruvian Indians knew of these creatures unless they had seen one? Maybe, just maybe, scientists are wrong about when they died off and how.
       First, the how. There are many different theories as to how dinosaurs became extinct, with the most popular being a meteor strike. That does not hold water though when considering that it only killed off "some" and not all of the animals on earth. After all, alligators, birds, insects and most mammals survived, and no crater large enough has ever been found. Disease is always a possibility, but again, there were other reptiles that were not affected. When you also consider that there may not have been near as many dinosaurs as we think, a simple dying away, something that happens very often, could have been the culprit. That, coupled with a worldwide flood that evidence of has been found on all continents, could have been the doom of these great animals.
       What about the when? Scientists have convinced most that millions of years have passed since the last dinosaur walked the earth. How did they get that number? Mainly by using carbon 14 dating, which there is a long mathematical calculation that has to be considered. In this calculation, it must be determined how much C14 is forming in the atmosphere against how much is decaying and so on. To understand the whole process, please visit sites like anthropology.msu.com, livescience.com and others. According to Michigan State University, there is a major problem with C14 dating. The rate at which C14 is decaying is much larger than originally thought, almost 35% more, meaning that their numbers on dating could be off by extremely high numbers. In other words, no one can possibly know for sure how old anything is. This explains why trees on Mt. St. Helens known to be planted in the 1940's were dated 350,000 years old, because the decay was much larger than normal.
       So what does all this really mean? Scientists are no closer today disproving God than Darwin was when he came up with his theory. They constantly must change their theories and calculations because as new things are discovered, they are forced to backtrack. Yet the truth of God and what He has told us never changes, and still is the only plausible reason. Why do men continue to try to prove the Bible is wrong? Because they don't believe in God, and many people simply follow along without doing due diligence themselves. You can do as I did and review all this yourself, and use the Bible in reference, and come up with the same conclusion. God is the true creator of all things, and no man or unproven theory will ever be able destroy Him. Grace be with you.