Behemoth

June 1

“Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.

“He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?

(Job 40:15-24) ESV

Dinosaurs are classified into two main types based on hip structure: Ornithischia and Saurischia. Hip structure relates to their origin in Hydrosphere vs. Atmosphere.

Behold now Behemoth. Is there any doubt that this passage is about a dinosaur such as a Brontosaurus? If it’s merely poetry then the picture it paints for is of a massive sauropod dinosaur, lumbering around, taking it’s time, eating everything in sight. Neither an Ox nor and Elephant have a tail like a cedar. If it’s more than simply poetry then it shows us that the people of Abraham’s day, in the region around the Jordan River, were familiar with the animals that we refer to as dinosaurs.

You may or may not remember that we discussed Dragon Taxonomy in May. We were classifying Leviathan at the time. The issue that we encountered is that creation wasn’t phylogenetic: based on the inheritance of traits from generation to generation. It was spherogenetic: based on the firmasphere (fourth day), hydrosphere and atmosphere (fifth day).

The sixth day is when God populated the biosphere, or dry ground. As a result the broad diversity of terrestrial animals comes from two different spheres: some are derived from progenitors in the hydrosphere while others are derived from progenitors in the atmosphere.

1. Hydrospheric progenitors came out of the oceans onto the land. We could anticipate that this would be the origin of quadrupedal forms. They would need to have four legs underneath them to support the mass of large bodies which were formerly supported by the buoyancy of water.
2. Atmospheric progenitors were adapted for flying with periods of roosting, and so they had smaller lighter bodies without the need for such strong limbs. We may simplistically expect that the terrestrial derivations of atmospheric progenitors would be have an upright stance, even be bipedal.

Childlike Simplicity

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

(Mark 10:15) KJV

For many years dinosaurs have been classified into two main types based on their hip structure: Ornithischia and Saurischia. It seems childishly obvious that this is because one group are derived from hydrospheric, the other from atmospheric progenitors.

Manifest in Them

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

(Romans 1:18-23) KJV

Some things are obvious. An example is that God created the universe. It’s self evident. If God created the universe, and God cannot lie, then the Bible is true. If the Bible is true then it should be able to account for everything that we can observe. Some things take a lot of work to figure out but, if we’re diligent, we can begin to see that the patterns we observe in nature are indeed EXACTLY what we would expect if the Bible is true.

It’s not necessary to belabor the point, nor do we need to hash out the whole pattern of biological diversity. It would be impossible anyway because of the damage done by evolution and the devastation wrought by habitat loss. It will be much more productive to focus on something else: This month we are going to see what we can learn about the most elusive aspect of human life: the soul. Today’s image is from here.