Dinosaur!
Text: Job 40:15-19; 41:1,14-17; Psalm 104:26
Props: a picture of a dinosaur, especially Apatasaurus or Kronosaurus; or a plush toy.
Summary: Jesus made the dinosaurs. The Bible speaks of two creatures in particular.
Can you tell me what this picture is? [picture of dinosaur] Have you ever seen a live dinosaur at the zoo? [no] The dinosaurs have all died, or become extinct as far as we know. If you could change the world, would you bring back the dinosaurs? Some movies try to tell us that humans evolved from non-living stuff. That has never been observed. They pretend to make dinosaurs from dead tissue. That has never been done.
God created us in the beginning. In fact, Jesus created all creatures, including the dinosaurs. The Bible speaks of God creating gigantic beasts and huge sea creatures in one of its oldest books, the Book of Job. We know these creatures really lived at one time because we found their fossils. Fossils are what is left in the dirt. The dinosaurs were taken on Noah’s ark, but they could not adapt to the new world after the flood. After many years (perhaps a thousand), they all died off. In the last 350 years, almost 400 species of creatures have disappeared. We also know that dinosaurs lived after the flood, because the Book of Job was written after the flood and it describes two creatures in particular.
The Bible speaks of behemoth (BEE him oath) and leviathan (lee VI eh thawn). The behemoth is most likely the dinosaur scientists refer to as Apatasaurus. Listen to what the Bible says in describing behemoth. [Read Job 40:15-19] Some people have mistaken this description as belonging to an elephant or hippopotamus. Now I ask you, does an elephant’s tail look like a cedar tree? No, of course not. But look at this Apatasaurus picture; his tail is as big as a cedar tree!
The Bible says God made the dinosaurs with man. They both lived peaceably, side-by-side, and were vegetarians. Neither man nor the animals were meat-eaters until after the flood. The terrible T-Rex may have become a meat-eater after the flood (and God’s curse on the ground). The dinosaurs didn’t live for millions of years before man as evolution says. Dinosaurs have never ruled the earth; mankind was given that task by God.
The leviathan was a sea creature most closely resembling a Kronosaurus (KRONE oh SOR us). It seems this creature was still alive when King David wrote in Psalm 104:26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These creatures were all part of God’s marvelous creation. We can praise our mighty God who makes all things well.
©1998 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.