The movie Jurassic World is out and a few of my friends went to see it. I have seen the trailer and some interviews with Chris Pratt who stars in the movie. I was glad to see he is a believer and I’ll leave it at that. He is a funny and an interesting guy but his humor is a bit vulgar at times. I like him though.
It was interesting to me that some of my friends started asking about and were legitimately interested in dinosaurs. This has been a topic of interest for me since I was a child. Years ago I was happy to have come across a very scientific and plausible explanation for dinosaurs that in no way conflicts with the truth and trustworthiness of the Bible… and the age of the earth. Which according to Jewish scholars is 5775 years old since creation.
I had such a vivid dinosaur dream just the other night:
I’m looking out the window of a mountain house and a T-rex comes lumbering through the yard. I lose sight of him as he passes the house and I go outside to get a better look. Brilliant, right?
I go outside to see a Triceratops slumbering under a tree and consider pouncing on him. He wakes up and see me. I run back into the house scared. Like a curious puppy dog he follows me and presses against the glass door. It bulges and I think it is going to shatter any moment. I then realize he is attracted to the lights.
I try to switch off the many many light switches and for every light I turn off another is turned on. He sees me run into an adjacent room and goes around that side of the house. I tell Catherine, we gotta get out of here. He smashes through the door and into the room and I grab Emma and Catherine and we run.
This terrifying triceratops is a whole 3 inches tall!!!
There is another part which I will spare you as there are very few people in the world who actually enjoy listening to other people’s dreams… except for my five year old Ellie who was so thrilled by the gripping tale that she wanted to hear it again and again.
So it’s fun to imagine seeing and interacting with dinosaurs for yourself, isn’t it? Would it surprise you to learn that many people have experienced dinosaurs in the past and that humans were created on the very same day as dinosaurs? (And really, most would not have been considered dinosaurs – which literally means “terrible lizard” – until they had grown up.)
Interesting Fact About Lizards:
Lizards grow throughout their whole lifetime.
This is interesting because if they grow really old, they get really big.
One thing you read about in Scripture is people living just shy of a thousand years. The oldest man on record is Methuselah who was 969 years old. He died the year the flood came… and the bible suggests it wasn’t because of the flood that he died, but that his death was a sign to the world that the flood was imminent. His name means “His death shall bring” and is part of the genealogy mentioned in Genesis 5 which, if you link all the name meanings together it spells out a Gospel orientated sentence. I’d encourage you to research this for yourself.
Before the flood, the conditions of the world were vastly different. It doesn’t matter what scientist you talk to, it is agreed that the early earths atmosphere contained about a fifty percent greater oxygen level than todays. What does this mean for living creatures? Well, it means everything grew bigger and faster and also that aging just slowed way down. Cells were able to reproduce themselves with much less defect or error. “The air’s oxygen content was 35% during this period, compared to the 21% we breathe now” (Source: A MUST READ ARTICLE on this topic) This is how a Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) with its massive size could still supply the oxygen it needs to live with what some have speculated the lungs the size of a horse and how a pterosaur with a wing span of 11 meters could still fly (It couldn’t in todays atmosphere).
So What Causes Aging?
The way I understand it, God originally created the cells within our body to reproduce themselves perfectly (ie. you could live forever). Our skin is constantly replacing itself and some parts take a great deal longer but every so often there is a point when you completely replace yourself to where you don’t contain any of the same cells you did when you were born. This in itself is noteworthy. As obvious as this point is: You are not your body. You are a spiritual being having a temporary physical experience inhabiting a body.
But, because of harmful rays from the sun, toxins, and the above mentioned lack of oxygen, our cells don’t reproduce perfectly. All biological life grows more slowly and ages far more quickly compared to those living before the flood.
So back to dinosaurs. On top of having a lush and plentiful food supply in the jungle of pre-flood earth, they also had the oxygen to thrive as well. Since they keep growing as well, it is easy to see how dinosaurs roamed the earth some 4500 years ago… and have you considered the fact that many dinosaur species are not extinct at all. They are simply just small. You can even buy a “triceratops” at a pet store today… well, at least it could be. =)
Noah did not obviously take the very old and very large lizards on the ark but healthy, young, and small specimens.
All the fossils were formed being rapidly buried under tons of sediment carried along by the violent waters of the flood. Coal and oil were also formed at this time as well – which consist of all the plant and animal matter buried under sediment. Think about that next time you are filling up on gas. As you drive you are burning dinosaurs and mammals and some of the perhaps more than a billion wicked people than roamed the planet prior to the flood.
How different are we as a human race then they were? How far off of God’s ideal for humanity are we right now? Are we prime candidates for another judgement? I think about this question. I pray for mercy. I pray to find my place in “the ark” that is Jesus Christ and to bring others into Christ to be spared the coming judgement. Because it is only in him that we are considered blameless like Noah was.
All the information in this blog is widely available. It’s on the internet! Of course you can trust it! Ha! But seriously, it is on the internet. And, in this case, you can trust it. (However above all else, and, because I am your friend, I would strongly advise and encourage you to place your trust first and foremost in Jesus Christ and in the book he trusted and said we could trust: the Bible.)
If you want to learn more about this topic, please visit this very interesting website: www.genesispark.com and this one: www.answersingenesis.org
Here you can read some of my other blogs on the subject:
Daniel Lovett 
it isn’t the earth that is about 6k years old… the number from jewish scholars is the number that man-creation existed on the earth -its is also the number referred to be the number of, or the time of man on the earth…
human kind did not walk with dinosaurs as many would conjecture… the weather, atmospheric conditions, the greenhouse of earth that is great for dinosaurs would boil mankind…
for the giant lizards to exist they needed an entirely different sort of biodome… the giant lizard and teh lizards of today require dramatically different habitats…
I respectfully have to disagree. God made the planet for humans and every other living thing and they did much better than we are doing now in the pre-flood biosphere. As you read Genesis one it seems there is some raw material and it is only conjecture about what may have transpired before creation. But, there was no light. No stars. no sun and moon. It’s fascinating to think about what is meant by verse 2: “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
In fact I think this topic came up the very first time I met you in Starbucks! =)
the entire creation needs to be read and understood from the jewish/ hebrew language it was written in and the traditions that came of it…
Vs 2 in the original language heavily implies an indeterminate length of time… hebrew also measures time differently than western modern understanding tradition… the story needs to be seen from that perspective, more so, than what we are familiar with in the western translation-tradition…
then add that impossible is nothing with Father God… that all kinds of other life-kind could easily have occurred here before mankind as seen in the fossil record, natural time geologic time, cosmic time measures all imply far more time had been before mankind was… the notion isn’t impossible due to the discrepancies between jewish hebrew writing by Moses and teh subsequent tradition compared to the translation traditions of western record keeping…
God measures time differently than we do… he doesn’t exist in a linear existence as we do but all-is-now existence… reading the hebrew calendar and then study ts whys and what-fors also clarifies many ‘time’ issues in the bible… instances in teh bible infer these differences using the sky the moon the stars, the equation time is as 1000yrs to one day to him… if indeed is so that changes the time scale of the creation story…
HOWEVER… in the end it is what it is… it does not change nor challenge or jeopardize our standing before Father God in Christ Jesus… and as such is not the end of the world or friendships due to the discrepancies over the time scale of the creation story…
my brother is a solid unbudgible on the time scale theory as literal to the translation traditions and as such can not discuss anything… he refuses to discuss things beyond his own solid conviction… even with hebrew insight he refuses to look passed it… getting the creation story straight or end-times doctrines correct are not the same as keeping the redemption-salvation doctrines straight, which are to be adhered to… when we sit down to chat we can hash this out even further…
James, Are you encouraging me and everyone else to not take the Scriptures at face value when Jesus clearly does? Also, it seems you believe that the fossils were not a result of the flood whereas the evidence points to the fact that they were. I have read the Bible. The conclusions you come to when you read the Bible are that all of history is accounted for. The meticulous genealogies seem to, as a rule, record father to son (contrary to what scholars sometimes suggest that some are missing from the list). Jewish scholars have taken these genealogies and known actual real history (as opposed to silly legends) and arrived at a date of 5775 years since creation. It’s my understanding that Christian scholars are still in debate about the years during the period as record in the book of Judges and therefore some allow for a couple of extra hundred years.
God himself bears witness to literal seven days of creation. Not only in the Holy Spirit inspired text of Genesis chapter one but, just in case we were confused, He etched it in stone with his own finger on Sinai. Are you suggesting that I ignore that because you “know” better? I am sorry if this comes across as harsh but we have the opportunity to allow the Holy Scriptures to relieve us of our ignorance. If you don’t agree with what the Bible has to say then how can I trust anything you have to say?
Just because Jesus stands outside of time, where a thousand years are as a day and a day as a thousand years, doesn’t mean that he is confused about what the construct of time is. Just because there is a reality beyond ours where it seems that past present and future are happening all at once (to which many NDEers attest) doesn’t mean that he hasn’t “given us time” just as the Bible says.
“But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:7-9
He has given us “time” to work things out and change our minds and come to the Truth (Yeshua is Truth – Jn 14:6)… this is the literal meaning of “repent” before the coming day of judgement.
Change our minds about what? To go from not trusting Jesus, to trusting him completely. It is interesting that when Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin that he says specifically what that one sin is: “unbelief”. That is the one and only sin that manifests itself in all manner of other sins.
I will send Him (The Helper – Holy Spirit) to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (John 16 NASB)
Regarding the gift of time:
“20But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21’I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.…” Revelation 2:21
“I gave her time to repent” Jesus says. He gives us the construct of time to repent (change you mind and therefore your behavior) as well. Just because many won’t repent and will suffer a horrible fate for it doesn’t mean he rescinds the gift. He is love and holds out hope for every last one of us. That’s what love does and God is Love. His kindness will lead us to repentance:
Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
paragraph three: questions contentions posed
Regarding the gift of time:
“20But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21’I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.…” Revelation 2:21
“I gave her time to repent” Jesus says. He gives us the construct of time to repent (change you mind and therefore your behavior) as well. Just because many won’t repent and will suffer a horrible fate for it doesn’t mean he rescinds the gift. He is love and holds out hope for every last one of us. That’s what love does and God is Love. His kindness will lead us to repentance:
Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Contentions posed: do not know what you point is here… how this plays into the debate of time periods over the span of creation… do not know how to respond to this… do not know how this fits with the topic at hand… were we not discussing Time periods and how creation might have played out… i the discussion the subject of salvation or sins and repentance and forgiveness and unforgiveness was not brought up… as I wanted to stay on topic…
What I stated:
God measures time differently than we do…
he doesn’t exist in a linear existence as we do…
but ‘all-time-is-now’ existence…
reading the hebrew calendar and then study its whys and what-fors, also clarifies the many ‘time’ period issues in the bible, particularly the old testament…
instances in the bible infer these differences using the time marks in the sky, the moon, the stars, as delineations for holidays, feasts, observances, seasons, navigation,
the equation of time: is as 1000yrs to one day to Him found in Peter
if indeed the equation is true, that changes the time scale of the creation story… to thousand day periods…
my contentions are for discussions… my discussions are for considerations… the considerations for further continued discussions… I DO NOT state nor desire that I am the only resource or source to know-all be-all and as such DO NOT demand that U must only accept my notions as so… do not give just give up on your notions just because my offered discourse…
what I do encourage is further study of a matter… many times there is a more to it than we just see in scripture [I wish to expound on this but to do so in posts leads to more confusion] I do respect your position and i do understand the whys and what-fors surrounding it, however the further study and thought on my part, found reason it is not as strict to the 24 hour calender as put forth in many denominational doctrines… it is not impossible for God to have done all in that 24 hour time frames yet…
my manner of writing is rather mater-of-fact in its stating and assertions… and should not be interpreted as doctrine or dogma or tradition or sticks in mud… simply my method writing study style…
the Holy insprired word of eth Word is fully inspired… how U stated hpw I said on that matter isn’t true… it is inspired it is His word and He had a huge part in getting it all written out… BUT there is also history and traditions and story telling sorrounding the writings associated with teh Hebrew traditions… including these things simply are resources to enrich ones understanding… just like having an understanding of the languages and culture during teh time periods the books were written it also adds to understanding…
there for do not be condemned or feel as though its an arm on you to force you change your mind… never gonna do that… to change ones mind [repent= to change ones mind on matters] is work of Spirit and revelation… all my thoughts are offered for considerations and further discussions to reach a place of fuller understanding and as such its all in an realm academic study in fellowship of a common faith NOT a study to arrive at doctrine…
http://www.fredsbibletalk.com/fb006.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_creation_narrative
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth
http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-1.htm
Here are view other sources I used to explore the Gap of Time or the Gap Theory… and further divide between ‘time that structured light and dark then was further defined with the sun, moon, stars, when the 24 hour calendar began to be formed which derived from astronomical movement…
Paragraph one: what you put forth, addressed by question and contention
James, Are you encouraging me and everyone else to not take the Scriptures at face value when Jesus clearly does? Also, it seems you believe that the fossils were not a result of the flood whereas the evidence points to the fact that they were. I have read the Bible. The conclusions you come to when you read the Bible are that all of history is accounted for. The meticulous genealogies seem to, as a rule, record father to son (contrary to what scholars sometimes suggest that some are missing from the list). Jewish scholars have taken these genealogies and known actual real history (as opposed to silly legends) and arrived at a date of 5775 years since creation. It’s my understanding that Christian scholars are still in debate about the years during the period as record in the book of Judges and therefore some allow for a couple of extra hundred years.
First Question: No I am not encouraging anything of the sort to ignore nor deny nor abandon scripture… Nor am I desiring to cause such wandering away from it upon anyone.. NOT my desire here But for fellowship and common discussions of general study
Contention One: the fossil record i am not denying nor ignoring it is a very real part of the natural record… whether they are entirely a result [directly or indirectly] of the flood or a series of ‘happenings’ over the range geological record…
Contention Two: what specifically are the conclusions have i arrived at? as I too have read the bible… historical, geologic, cosmic, astronomical records go beyond the scope Biblical Record… it is my contention that the bible record has several overall topic-subject arches, one being Jesus as a primary arch, also following the PURE blood line of Christ [genealogical records], also following the messianic promises, the time/topical archs of Faith and promises and prophecies, the time/topical Archs of historic Isarel, Archs of cutural Israel,etc there are several arches of topic and subject…
Contention Three: the genealogical record of Jesus starting with Adam and Eve [it is also the start to the arches of the messanic promises, following the pure bloodline, ] unto Abraham the Father of Faith who believed the promise… thru to Israel and the tribes etc… the number 5775 is also a number by hebrew scolars that say it means the creation of man that God has ‘leased’ earth to man for a period of 7000 years… however that doesn’t mean or infer the earth wasn’t here long before that…
Contention Four: that is why this is still an on going study far from conclusive… it all seems to surround the time period or periods, how it was divided up and then how it relates to the language used to convey it with…
My Contention: there appears to be a gap of time in the Natural/geologic span…
the duration is anyone’s guess however to use current carbon dating and other geologic age reporting the range is as high as 4.5 Billion years and as little as thousands of years…
2 Peter 3:8
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day…
if this is true the teh time span changes from 24 hours days up to thousand year days… so now the question is how to reconcile this to the geologic record…
Paragraph two: questions answer and contentions
God himself bears witness to literal seven days of creation. Not only in the Holy Spirit inspired text of Genesis chapter one but, just in case we were confused, He etched it in stone with his own finger on Sinai. Are you suggesting that I ignore that because you “know” better? I am sorry if this comes across as harsh but we have the opportunity to allow the Holy Scriptures to relieve us of our ignorance. If you don’t agree with what the Bible has to say then how can I trust anything you have to say?
Question one: how in what I said infers that “I know better”?… are U assuming that I am telling you to ignore and deny the validity of His word?… because that isn’t so!… so please, be gracious and not spin words to imply I am wanting to mess up your faith walk…
Question Two: how do you want me to answer this? its a double edged question and not fair to teh debate at hand… we are discussing creation and its time period or periods or gaps of time… hashing out simply to see and understand how and whys the Father did what He did… it expands understanding of HIM and I want that… discussions to debate and midrash is just a part to knowing Him better
Contention One: it is a statement unto fact by a witness “to LITERAL seven days” [I am assuming 7-24 hour time periods] that is further stated by writing on the stone of mount Sinai… how where what?…
I am FULLY aware the Holy Spirit and His grand full hand in writing the texts -why throw it in my face as a rebuke?…
I looked through the entire story surrounding the Mt Sinai affair… honestly did not see it stated as such… can U please point it out?
I apologize for how I came across. I debated about what I said and perhaps I was a bit of a jerk. I wasn’t being fair or respectful and realized I was talking to more of a straw man than really you. I wouldn’t be so unkind in person.
I don’t know what happened before the earth was leased to man, (or if there even was any raw material of earth at all) but whatever it was it had no light, no sun, no stars. I don’t pretend to know anything other than what’s been clearly revealed in Scripture which Jesus said we could trust.
Etched in stone tablets by the finger of God:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20 NKJV
So yes, based on the testimony, again, of the LORD regarding the details of creation, I believe in a literal 7 day creation because that’s what it says. If we want to remain intellectually honest with ourselves we must capitulate to Scripture and conform to what it says. Also, does anyone believe the seventh day was an eon of time? That isn’t possible. So why should any of the other days be anything other than what Genesis one says, “morning and evening the first day… etc..” We are told Adams age when he died. It doesn’t seem like he was an eon older than his contemporaries.
James, will you forgive me? I never want to be a bully and I sort of was. Why should anyone listen to a bully? I need to love and respect you and everyone else and the tone of my comments did not show that.
concerning the time periods:
I can concede from the point of the sun and moon and stars being in place, the 24/7/365 calendar started -hence the literal time interpretations…
but my contention of a thousand years is God a day as stated in 2 peter 3:8 [But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ] that equation must play a role where and how and what it means is something we can further study out…
my brother is very literal 7 days down the line… it is very difficult to discuss anything with him… its to such a degree he prayers for my deliverance from false doctrines and dogmas and for my salvation from hell and my disobedience to God…
as it is my contention 7-24 hour days, 7 One Thousand year days, or an indeterminate period of time between verse 2 and verse 3… and as such should not threaten or change anything in relation to Jesus and who we are in Christ…
concerning the apology: as U have observed I am not a straw man… as I have substance to offer… not just rhetoric and a dismissive hand… therefore I accept your apology with a long reach through to punch you on the arm… and then U owe me a coffee and some time at starbucks to hash something out… it doesn’t have to just creation… we can hash out something less muddy… mind you I will challenge you… even to points of extreme considerations.. impossible but maybe plausible…
The straw man is everyone who, in the face of clear biblical evidence, still refuses to change their minds. I don’t know why I’m so dogmatic about this (not perhaps as much as your brother). It has a lot to do with the fact that the religion of evolution is a plague on humanity. It’s evolutionist thinking that fueled the Holocaust. My contention is that the Bible is trustworthy and true and when he spells out “days” of creation or anything else out in Scripture (homosexuality comes to mind) so very clearly we should just *!$%ing believe him!!! It boils my blood at how outrageously arrogant we all are in our ignorance. (I have my areas in which I’m ignorantly arrogant as well. I don’t pretend to be immune.)
I did go to starbucks today to see if you might be there. Why does my arm hurt? Yes, sometimes I can be an ass… but isn’t that true of us all?
sorry my commentaries offended you and threatened the stability of your faith… as it sounds I was making you feel very uncomfortable insecure and uncertain as to how all this played out… all is life In Jesus for those who believe on Him… my salvation is still certain yours is too… my dissertation shouldn’t have felt like a challenge to doubt…..
hoping for honest fellowship, dialogue, debate, academic discussions about the Lord and all things related…
Further Note: there is something very perplexing about this site as my cursor never seems to stay on line… creating very jumbled statements… if U do not want me around anymore I understand…
the stupid cursor jumped again; what I said
“as it is my contention 7-24 hour days, 7 One Thousand year days, or an indeterminate period of time between verse 2 and verse 3… and as such should not threaten or change anything in relation to Jesus and who we are in Christ…”
what it ought to have said: all time periods purposed and discussed and studied and talk about they are what they are and make for conversation and discussions academically… a position on either one is a position of what makes most sense and faith to you… this is one thing in scripture that no matter which ‘theory or take’ one believes… it doesn’t matter… its Jesus that matters everything about Him that truly matters… we will all get a personal tour in heaven as to all it was until then… it up for discussions…
hopefully I wasn’t being muddy here…
yep, and you wouldn’t believe the kind of stuff I entertain as a “could be” that isn’t clearly defined or denied in Scripture.