dinosaurs and man together

About Peleg and Job, in response to the previous questions.

First, the catastrophe of Peleg's time was not the same as Babel. They are separated by two or three generations. Genesis 10:25 tells us that Peleg received his name because in his time the earth was divided. The Hebrew word used for 'earth' there is 'eretz' -- the same word used in Genesis 1:1 ("In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"). 'Eretz', however, does not mean the round globe of earth as we think of it, but rather, literally, 'that which is firm'. Thus, the meaning can be anything from atoms (vs. space) to continents to planets, etc. One thing 'eretz' does NOT mean, however, is people, or populations (unless it is referring to the place where they live). So, in Peleg's time, something firm was divided.

The name 'Peleg' gives us a clue. It is from PLG, and the root gives us a number of words we know well, such as 'archipelago', 'pelican,' and the ancient word for the Mediterranean: "Pelagos." The root word means to divide by rushing waters. That there was also volcanic activity is indicated by the fact that the name 'Pele' or 'Pelee' remains as a named volcano in the Caribbean and the Hawaiian volcano goddess.

Where does Job fit in? Look at Peleg's brother in Genesis 10. His name is Joktan (which means 'to diminish, make small, kill, destroy'). The very names themselves indicate something was going on! Joktan's thirteenth son is Jobab. Jobab means 'to cry out.' His brothers have names that mean 'to pull out or pluck off' (Sheleph), 'separation and ruin' (Hazar-Maveth), 'devastation/desolation' (the root of Sheba), and 'twist, writhe' (Havilah). Job is a shortened form of Jobab. Is it the same person? In the ancient Alexandrian LXX, there is a bit more to the book of Job than our modern translations (based on the Masoretic) have -- it lists Job's age at the time of his death as 248. This fits exactly with the time just following Peleg's life and does not fit anywhere else in the genealogies.

A second clue is also given when comparing Genesis 10 with Job 1. Job lived in the land of Uz. Uz was his great, great, (maybe one more great...) uncle. Job lived in his territory. The fit is hard to escape.

So let's take a look at some of the catastrophes Job lived through (I have lifted the following from some of my husband's lecture notes, thus the different type of writing):
Note: the text was too long for one post so I have divided it and it will continue on the second response.

Job 9:5‑7
"God removes the mountains and overturns them in His anger;
He shakes the earth out of its place and its core trembles;
He commands the sun & it does not rise; and He blots out the stars…”

1. VOLCANISM, RIFTING, MAGMA ‑ Job 28:9,14:18.
As crust tears apart in Jordan rift – during ice-age – many catastrophic events.
Explains passages like this:
The mountains fall and crumble away
And rock is moved from its place ...

For God overturns the mountains from their roots
And cuts out channels through the rocks,
... And underneath it is turned to fire,
Whose stones are the source of sapphires
And contains gold dust.​

Job and friends – observed molten rock flowing from volcanic vents – knew gems crystallized out

1. VOLCANIC FIRESTORMS ‑ Job 27:20‑22.
Volcanic effects of rifting in Jordan valley – massive volcanic storms – tornadic winds

"A storm steals him away in the night.
A burning [fiery] wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
It hurls against him and does not spare.
These effects there in first chapter of Job 1:16, 19.

"Fire has fallen from heaven
and burned up the sheep and servants and
consumed them…
and suddenly a great wind from the wilderness
struck the four corners of the house,
and it fell on the young men...

Volcanic fire - tornadic winds - fell from skies – destroyed flocks/houses/people.
Not ordinary fire or wind – too large-scale in effects.

1. TSUNAMIS & STORMS ‑Job 12:15; 14:11; 30:14
Job mentions - massive ocean movements – associated with rapid continental drift.

"God withholds the waters, and the sea dries up;
He sends them out, and they overwhelm the earth.”
“For the waters fail from the sea,
And the [ocean] flood dries up.”
"They come as broad breakers,
As the wide breaking in of ocean waters;
Under the ruinous storm they roll along."

Also interesting is the comment in Job 7:12 that they set a watch over the sea.
Warn of tsunami activity – give people time to escape giant waves coming in.

 

ICE‑AGE ‑ Job 38:29‑30
"From whose womb comes the ice? ...
The ocean waters harden like stone,
And the surface of the deep is frozen."

What? In the Middle-East?
Yes! During Pleistocene ice-age – immense ice-sheets covered Europe.
In Palestine – hail/snow/storms prevalent – sea froze in winter.
In ice-age - large body water – in Jordan rift – Red Sea – up thro Galilee –
to Mediterranean – LakeLisan.
This arm of the ocean – since been cut off – freeze over in winter in ice-age.
Possible some of Mediterranean did so too.

Usually – Middle East relatively dry.
But during this ice-age period – massive rains and rushing water – often frustrated
successful agriculture.
Job mentions this in 14:19

“The waters wear away the stones.
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth,
And thus You cause destruction of a man’s hope.”

CAVEMEN ‑ Job 24:7‑8,30:3‑7
One group from a generation earlier (fathers ofthe children taunting (Job) 30:3‑7.
One about poor people of Job's own day 24:7‑8 ‑ society becoming established.
Just possible ‑ one ofthese groups ‑ Neanderthals

"They were gaunt with want and famine,
And plucked mallow by the bushes,
And broom tree roots for their food ...
They lived in the clefts of the valleys,
Their houses were the caves in the rocks,
And they lived under the wild bushes... "

"They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.”

Eyewitness accounts to dramatic events – fits in with the general scenario.
Giant creatures mentioned in closing chapters of book – typical of period.

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Hope that helps a bit. Read Job looking for evidence of these catastrophes and you get quite a different picture of the time!

It was Job’s catastrophe which destroyed the giant, humid river valleys where the large dinosaur and dinosaur-like animals were able to live (and where the ongoing geological activity was burying some of them and fossilizing them). This is the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary which is marked as the 65 million years ago atomic dating as a massive extinction. It was definitely not the Flood of Noah and certainly not the catastrophe which sparked the language changes and massive migrations of the time of Babel.

 

Samuel, you cannot bury your head in the sand like that. Either the Bible is trustworthy or it is not. The answers are there. It takes study, but they are there. Laziness is not an excuse. My husband, like many other scientists, is a God-fearing man, a wonderful Christian, and has found that the data itself leads straight to a young creation without any need to make excuses, avoid difficult questions, or ignore passages we don't currently understand. God knows how to communicate and that is exactly what He has done in His Word. We can trust it. If we could not, then how could we trust Christ Himself, who is revealed in the Bible?

 

Deacon, the Bible does not allow long ages. Both Exodus 10 AND 31 reiterate that creation took six days.

If you subscribe to the gap theory, then you are saying there was death before Adam and Eve, and that the animals were NOT vegetarians, but that nature was truly 'red in tooth and claw.'

This is not the creation as presented in the Bible.

You really do have to make a choice. Either the Bible is telling the truth or it is not.

The data point toward the truth of the Bible. It is man's interpretations of the data which do not. There is no war between true science and faith. God has not lied in His creation.