Provocative thoughts . . . Is the Bible more than a religious tome?
Copyright 2017 by Joan Berry
Generations past and present were/are taught that the Bible is only a book about the Jewish nation and moral laws that apply to all regardless of the age in which we live, and that its contents are a precursor to the arrival of the Messiah. All mentioned is true, but not complete. It is common knowledge that some clergy, archaeologists, anthropologists, and related scholars have asserted that the Bible is not a book to be relied upon for science, accurate history, or some concepts of religion. The Bible contains poetry, songs, history, prophecy, parables, diet, laws, what the people of God experienced and what they saw and recorded; all inspired by God.
Following is an example of a little mystery in Job. Those who take the Bible literally may pick up on what the following verses in Job are describing: God said to Job (Ch. 40)–
“Look now at
the behemoth, which I made along
with you;
He eats grass like an ox.
16 See now, his strength is in his hips,
And his power is in his stomach muscles.
17 He moves his tail like a cedar;
The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.
18 His bones are like
beams of bronze;
His
ribs like bars of iron.
The conclusions that many scholars have arrived at is that the beast may be a metaphor, an elephant, hippopotamus, ox, or a crocodile. However, ‘the tale of the tail’ says otherwise. “He moves his tail like a cedar” — The crocodile neither grazes on grass nor lifts its tail up high as do some reptiles. An elephant, hippopotamus, and ox do not have tails like cedars. The tails are short and fat. However, there was an animal that does fit the description in the family of the sauropod dinosaurs. Specimens of this dinosaur were found and some of the tails were as large as a tree trunk. The animal had a long neck and the huge tail helped balance the sauropod. Some descriptions include a description of the hips. That dinosaurs existed with mankind should not be a surprise. Fossils of human and dinosaur footprints sites were found in recent years in Texas where the prints were side-by-side. It has also been suggested that the animal was a stegosaurus dinosaur.
What do you think is being described?
