Jurassic Earth
Bob Yandian
Did dinosaurs really exist? When did they live? Did they roam through the garden of Eden? Did Adam have to name them? Are they extinct today because Noah could not fit them on the ark? If the earth is only six thousand years old, how can science tell us these creatures are millions of years old? Can science be trusted?
Having been the pastor of a church, I was asked these questions. Many parents are afraid to buy their children toy dinosaurs for fear they represent demons. The Bible is not here to cause fear but remove it. I may not be able to answer all your questions in this short article, but perhaps enough to whet your appetite to search out God's word for yourself.
“Jurassic” is a scientific term referring to the time period when dinosaurs roamed the earth before disappearing and becoming extinct. The bones we have found are real and tell us that the earth used to be different than it is now.
How Old is the Earth?
The Bible does not really answer this question in detail or with accurate figures. One thing is obvious to anyone who is observant about the earth and the Bible, the earth is older than six thousand years. The Bible does confirm this. Because Adam was placed here six thousand years ago does not mean he was the first creation to occupy this planet. God's first commandment to him was, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28). God said the same to Noah after he and his family came out of the ark (Genesis 9:1). This is one of our first indications that something was here before Adam just like something was here before Noah.
Look At The Stars
The universe itself is obviously older than six thousand years because we can see the stars. This may not seem important but stop to think - the light from most of those stars took many millions of years to get to your eye. If one ceased to exist today, we would not know it on earth for many millions of years. In fact, many of the stars we see each night might not exist anymore. They may have disappeared long ago, and we will not know it in our lifetime. The universe we see each night was here centuries before Adam was created. Here is another obvious fact from scripture, the earth was created at the same time as the universe. This places the age of the earth beyond our imagination.
When Was The Beginning?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was (became) without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:1-2)
Lucifer fell from heaven long before Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden of Eden. This puts the age of the universe and earth at much older than six thousand years ago when Adam and Eve were created. In the Hebrew we are told “the earth became without form and void.” Something drastic happened to the earth that changed it from a beautiful creation, to something without form and void. It was not created originally in that condition. Isaiah tells us this, “Thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited…” (Isaiah 45:18).
Where Isaiah saw the creation of the original earth as beautiful, Jeremiah saw it after the fall of Lucifer when it was desolate. “I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger” (Jeremiah 4:23-26). Isaiah and Jeremiah both use one or both Hebrew words found in Genesis 1:2, “form” and “void.” Isaiah saw the original earth created not in vain. Jeremiah saw the fallen earth without form and void. There was no man or animals left and the cities had been broken down. All this was before Adam.
When Was Lucifer’s Fall?
“How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will also sit on the mountain of the congregations on the farthest sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Lucifer went into heaven to overthrow God and take His throne. He was then thrown out by God and fell from heaven. When you fall, you fall down. Wherever Lucifer fell to was under heaven because he tried to ascend into heaven. Next, he fell to the ground. The Hebrew word is earth. When he looked up to God's domain in heaven, he looked above clouds and at stars. His throne and domain were on the earth. This is where he led praise and worship to God. Creatures in heaven and earth were intended to form an antiphonal to God as the universe echoed with praise from both worlds.
Notice that Lucifer's world was inhabited. When he fell to the earth, he weakened the nations. The Hebrew word is “gog” or “heathen.” Verse 17 goes on to tell us, “He (Lucifer) made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed it’s cities...” This earth was filled with cities and nations. Like the angels who fell with Lucifer, these nations must have fallen prey to his seduction and turned to destruction and chaos. Besides becoming destructive, the creatures became evil and grew out of proportion. Jurassic earth was under Satan's control and in rebellion toward God.
Lucifer’s fall was a very long and unknown period of time before Eden was recreated and Adam and Eve ruled from the same place Lucifer had ruled from before God destroyed the pre-Adamic world in which Lucifer lived and had ownership of all the riches of the earth (Ezekiel 28:11-15). Lucifer lost his place of rulership, Eden, and ownership of all of earth’s riches. They were both given to Adam and Eve until they sinned and forfeited them.
Jesus confirmed that Satan’s rebellion against God and loss of rulership in Eden was before Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden. He told His disciples that He personally, as God, witnessed Satan’s fall from heaven like lightening (Luke 10:17-18). In the Garden, Lucifer was already Satan.
God Began All Over Again
After a long period of chaos and rebellion, God took control of the earth and judged it. He flooded the earth with water, destroyed all life which was here, removed the light, and froze the entire planet for a unknown and long period of time. We don’t know how long, but long enough to turn all the pre-Adamic creatures into oil, fossil fuels. The ice ages reshaped the earth into the present form until God sent the Holy Spirit to bring warmth, melt the ice and restore life.
The first verse of Genesis one is the original earth. The second verse is the earth under judgement. The third verse is the restoration of earth for man. There is no such thing as evolution. There is no missing link. God destroyed the prehistoric earth and began all over again after a long, long period of time, perhaps many millions of years. The original earth was created in an instant. After an unknown and long gap of time, the restoration of the earth took six days. What happened to the old creation back then? We do not know. Where the Bible is silent, we must be also.
Why is the Bible so silent about the pre-historic earth, releasing only a small amount of information? Because “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; and all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God does not want to speak about the time when Satan ruled the earth and all life on it, any more than he wants us to glory in our life when we were under the control of Satan and a child of his kingdom. Our real life truly began when Jesus became our Lord and Savior.
