WHEN FAITH MEETS GOD [3]

JOB 40

Pastor Rick Jackson

I. RIGHT ANSWERS, RIGHT QUESTIONS [v. 1-5]

1. To Argue with God Requires Omniscience [v. 1-2]

The story is told of a person who passed out. As a woman tried to help the unconscious person a man pushed her out of the way declaring, “That’s okay lady, I’ll help them. I’ve had CPR training!” The woman replied, “Fine. When you get to the part where you call the doctor- I’ll be standing right here.”

2. The Appearance of God Reveals Sin [v. 4, Ex. 3, Is. 6, Luke 5:8]

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

3. The Appreciation of Silence can Show Wisdom [v. 5, 23:3-4, 31:37]

II. RIGHT QUESTIONS, NO ANSWERS [v. 6-14]

1. Should a Man Try to Outdo God? [v. 6-8]

2. Can a Man Be God? [v. 9-13]

3. Can a Man Save Himself? [v. 14]

III. RIGHT QUESTION, WRONG INTERPRETATION [v. 15-24]

1. The Creation of Behemoth [v. 15, Gn. 1:24-25]

2. The Power of Behemoth [v. 16-19]

v. 19 suggests this was the largest land animal God had made.

3. The Care of Behemoth [v. 20-24]

*If people saw dinosaurs, you would think that ancient historical writings, such as the Bible, should mention them. The King James Version was first translated in 1611.16 Some people think that because the word “dinosaur” is not found in this or other translations, the Bible does not mention dinosaurs.

It was not until 1841, however, that the word “dinosaur” was invented.17 Sir Richard Owen, a famous British anatomist and first superintendent of the British Museum (and a staunch anti-Darwinist), on viewing the bones of Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, realized these represented a unique group of reptiles that had not yet been classified. He coined the term “dinosaur” from Greek words meaning “terrible lizard.”18

Thus, one would not expect to find the word “dinosaur” in the King James Bible—the word did not exist when the translation was done.
Is there another word for “dinosaur”? There are dragon legends from around the world. Many dragon descriptions fit the characteristics of specific dinosaurs. Could these actually be accounts of encounters with what we now call dinosaurs?
Just as Flood legends are based on a real global Flood (Flood of Noah)— dragon legends are possibly based on actual encounters with real animals that today we call dinosaurs. Many of these land-dragon descriptions do fit with what we know about dinosaurs.

In Genesis 1:21, the …Hebrew word here for …“whales” … is the word translated elsewhere as “dragon” (Hebrew: tannin). So, in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God may be describing the great sea dragons (sea-dwelling, dinosaur-type animals) that He created.

So what kind of animal was “behemoth”?
Bible translators, not being sure what this beast was, often transliterated the Hebrew, and thus the word behemoth (e.g., KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV). However, in many Bible commentaries and Bible footnotes, “behemoth” is said to be “possibly the hippopotamus or elephant.”22 Besides the fact that the elephant and hippo were not the largest land animals God made (some of the dinosaurs far eclipsed these), this description does not make sense, since the tail of behemoth is compared to the large cedar tree (Job 40:17).
Now an elephant’s tiny tail (or a hippo’s tail that looks like a flap of skin) is quite unlike a cedar tree. Clearly, the elephant and the hippo could not possibly be “behemoth.”
No living creature comes close to this description. However, behemoth is very much like Brachiosaurus, one of the large dinosaurs.


*from Answers in Genesis