16. CONFUSION: The Great Dispersion
Related MediaGenesis 10 occurred chronologically in accordance with Genesis 11:9. Genesis 9:19 boldly declares that the whole earth was populated from Noah’s sons. Chapter 10 tells us how; chapter 11 tells us why. We will be studying this in chronological order.
Historical Insight: One of the most amazing phenomena of human history is the strange fact that, despite the essential biological unity of all nations and “races, there are more than 3,000 different languages among men. Each language is significantly different from all others, and it is often true that the more primitive tribes use the more complex languages. All human languages are separated by an essentially infinite barrier from the sounds made by animals, although the vocal organs as such may not be greatly different. The origins of language in general and of languages in particular, are thus inexplicable in terms of evolution, and yet it is impossible to overestimate the importance of articulate, propositional (as distinct from merely reflexive or emotional) speech in the life of mankind.” Genesis 10-11 are the final chapters dealing with the nations in general as distinct from the chosen nation, Israel, and provide the only true explanation for the origin of languages. (Dr. Henry Morris, The Beginning of the World, p. 155)
Day One Study
Read Gen 11:1-9.
1. What information is given in verses 1-3? What advantages did a common speech give humankind?
2. Within 200 years, the population could have grown to several thousand, considering size of families and longevity. According to Genesis 11:4, what were four things the people wanted to do AND why?
3. Discuss God’s assessment of their behavior and what He decided to do about it. Why?
4. Read Genesis 9:19; 10:1-5; Acts 17:26. On the map below, locate the names of Japheth’s descendants mentioned in this passage. Color the area around each one blue.
5. Which of Japheth’s descendants are represented in the following verses, and what information is given about them?
· Ezekiel 27:19—
· Isaiah 66:19; Ezekiel 27:13; 32:26—
· Ezekiel 38:6—
· Ezekiel 38:2; 39:6—
· Revelation 20:8—
6. Read the information regarding Japheth’s descendants on the “Creation Answers: Civilization Restart” information pages at the end of this lesson.
Day Two Study
7. Read Genesis 10:6-20. On the map above, locate the names of Ham’s descendants mentioned in this passage. Color the area around each one yellow.
8. Which of Ham’s descendants are represented in the following verses, and what information is given about them?
· Isaiah 18:1-2—
· Jeremiah 46:9—
· Ezekiel 30:1-9; 38:1-6—
9. In Genesis 10: 8-12, what information is given about Nimrod as a man and the nation he founded?
10. Read the information regarding Ham’s descendants on the “Creation Answers: Civilization Restart” information pages at the end of this lesson.
11. Read Genesis 10:21-32. On the above map, locate the names of Shem’s descendants mentioned in this passage. Color the areas around each one red.
12. Which of Shem’s descendants are represented in the following verses, and what information is given about them?
· Jeremiah 49:34-36—
· Numbers 24:20-24—
· Ezekiel 27:23-24—
13. Peleg’s name means “division.” In Genesis 10:25, what information is given about the time period in which he was born?
14. Read the information regarding Shem’s descendants on the “Creation Answers: Civilization Restart” information pages at the end of this lesson.
Shem’s Descendants—One Branch
15. Read Genesis 11:10-26. What do you notice about the life spans of the men listed in this genealogy compared to those listed in Genesis 5? Suggest a possible explanation for the change.
Scriptural Insight: What Does the Bible Say About the Races? “The race question is certainly one of the most important and explosive issues of our time, and the same is true for the issue of nationalism versus internationalism. The existence of distinctive ‘races’ and nations and languages is obviously a fact of modern life, in spite of efforts of many modern sociologists and politicians to remove racial and national barriers…The true origin of the world’s various races and nations and the events associated therewith must be clearly understood and placed in right perspective before there is any possibility that the problems rising out of them can be comprehended and solved…The origin of races and nations is still a mystery to most scientists, determined as they are to explain man and his culture in terms of an evolutionary framework. There are numerous contradictory theories on these matters among anthropologists and ethnologists, but the only fully reliable record of the origin of races, nations and languages is found here in Genesis 9 through 11.
It is significant that the Bible never mentions race at all; neither the word nor the concept is found in Scripture. A race, in evolutionary terminology, is a sub-species evolving into a new species but, in reality, there is no such thing. That is, as far as mankind is concerned, there is only one race—the human race. The various divisions are those of nations, tribes and languages—not races. Nevertheless, there have been three major groups of nations in world history, and these are those originally established by the three sons of Noah.” (Dr. Henry Morris, The Beginning of the World, p. 141-42)
Appreciation Application:
16. The Babel builders sought to make a name for themselves by erecting their tower, a foolish thing in the eyes of God. We just studied how God rearranged the plans of the people to bring them in line with His plan. Has God ever done this in your life, and how did you respond?
Day Three Study
Appreciation Assignment:
17. You descended from at least one of Noah’s sons, perhaps all three. From which nations of people have you descended? What do you appreciate about your heritage? Draw your family tree back through four generations. Which ones were Christians and might have had a positive influence on your life? How?
Deeper Discoveries:
· Read the Fact Sheets “Civilization Restart” and “What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?” found at the end of this lesson.
· Ponder the archeological implications of the various tribes/groups radiating from Babel and having to develop their own separate cultures.
· Go to www.answersingenesis.org and SEARCH anything related to Noah and his sons, Nimrod, Tower of Babel, races, etc. Select an article to read or watch a video. Also visit www.icr.org and search.
Creation Answers: Civilization Restart
The information below is adapted from resources found on www.icr.org and www.answersingenesis.org plus others sourced at the end.
Noah and the animals left the Ark more than 371 days after the start of the Flood. What a long time to be cooped up! A couple of years later, Noah’s grandchildren began to arrive. Soon, he had 16 grandkids. Genesis 10 and 11 tell what happens to those grandkids and their families. Chapter 10 is the genealogy of who they are and where they settled. The events of chapter 11 actually came first. If this is true, what evidence would you expect to find? You would expect that the oldest civilization had developed in that area. That’s what we do find.
Leaving The Ark
Where They Settled
They moved east to Shinar (Genesis 11:1-2) and built there. Shinar is the whole region of the Tigris-Euphrates valley—the closest fertile area to the mountains of Ararat. The most ancient peoples leaving written, historical records were the inhabitants of that valley (the Sumerians) just as expected, followed by the Nile Valley of Egypt and other near-Eastern areas. This area is called Mesopotamia (middle). Interestingly enough, modern computer studies have shown that the geographical center of the earth’s land areas is located within a short distance of the mountains of Ararat. Coincidence? I think not!
What They Did
Within 100 years, they were building cities. The Bible says they made brick for stone and used tar for mortar. What do we find? That area has no stone. The people had to make their own rock by way of burning local dirt into bricks. Written records describe the building of Babylon, the city, by the same brick-making process as described in Gen. 11:3. Samples of such bricks (man-made rock) have been found. One Dallas Morning News article described how ancient Mesopotamians (before 2000 BC) made their own rock by burning local clay at very high temperatures then used the “rock” for building. “This stuff could only have been made if there had been interactions between metallurgists and potters,” surprising archaeologists that people with different skills would be working together. A second article described how those same ancient people used a sticky, coal-based “tar” as glue on wood and stone, also surprising archaeologists. But not us!!
They planned a tower whose top literally is into heaven—meaning representing heaven, a center of worship. We find that the step-like tower known as a ziggurat originated there, acting as an artificial mountain that became the center of worship in the city. Seated in a miniature temple at the top of the tower was their god. [Side note: Perhaps they also thought a tower would protect them from the next flood should God change His mind!]
Who They Were
Ancient humans were NOT backward and ignorant savages as depicted in books and movies. Their forefathers built cities, herded livestock, played musical instruments, made tools of bronze and iron (Gen. 4:17-22) AND built an unsinkable boat! Building a city and tower required marvelous engineering skills. We know the ancient Sumerians had electric batteries and did electroplating of metals. The civilizations that shortly followed—Babylon, Egypt, Greece, China, India and in the Americas (Inca, Maya)—were amazingly advanced. This is seen in their elaborate architecture, calendars, writing, organized cities with intricate water supply systems, and amazing understanding of astronomy and seasonal changes. Awe-inspiring accomplishments without our modern day mechanics!! No, these were not savages, but intelligent men!! Yet, foolish. The builders’ sin was one of immense pride that led to open rebellion against God, declaring independence of Him. A common language enabled the rebellion.
So, God separated the people into language groups. Confused languages forced them to spread out and repopulate the earth. Genesis 10 describes how that happened. Verse 10:5, 20, and 31 all say they spread out by their clans and languages so God gave members of one clan the same language.
Did It Really Happen?
If this is true, you would expect to find: 1) evidence through archaeology, written records, and language studies that all people have migrated from that area AND 2) similarities of cultures in civilizations spread thousands of miles apart, including histories that contained traces of Creation, the Fall, and the Flood.
Two things make it hard to find evidence:
· Since the 1960’s, the idea of cultural diffusion has been nixed as a means of explaining the development of civilizations. It is politically incorrect to suggest that a culture did not develop itself independent of others. However, the evidence suggests otherwise.
· General archeology is evolution-based with assumptions of slow and gradual cultural development built right in.
You have to really glean any news to find out the real evidence that does, by the way, suggest otherwise. What do we find?
All People Have Migrated From The Shinar Area.
· First of all, the entire world could have been populated in just centuries. With just 6 kids per family, within 250 years you would have a minimum of 100,000 people on earth.
· Ice Age land bridges connected England to mainland Europe, Asia to North America through the Bering Strait, and the Malaysian Straits to New Guinea and perhaps Australia.
· How’d they travel? By foot, boat, and possibly by wagon. Two Dallas Morning News articles from the 90s revealed that there were wagon wheels 5,000 years ago and that the early presence of humans on South Pacific islands means that were able to build watercraft and sail. That they could build boats is not surprising. Much evidence from antiquity indicates that they did!
· Archaeology has confirmed that many civilizations appeared about the same time, only a few thousand years ago. Not surprisingly, the building of the Tower of Babel was carried with them as well. We find pyramidal shaped buildings in nearly all the ancient civilizations around the world, particularly in those who descended from Ham! Just as expected!
How Long Ago?
Remember that all recorded history has taken place in the past 5000 years alone. Before that is purely speculation. Man is the only reliable recorder of history, and people were already writing on clay tablets and scrolls (books), inscribing with an iron stylus on lead, and engraving in rock slabs. In fact, Job 19:23-24 confirms this shortly after the Tower of Babel time. Just as expected!
Truly verified archaeological datings (based upon written records, not radiocarbon dates) do not predate the time of the Biblical Flood— ~3000-2350 B.C. The oldest documents of Indo-European languages date from ~2000 BC. The oldest Chinese records ~2250 BC. This is really strange if men have been living on the earth for hundreds of thousands of years! A newly revised Egyptian chronology starts around 2200 B.C. rather than 3000 B.C. I’ve given you several references to check out. Just as expected if the Bible is true!
How Did It Happen?
Genesis 10 is called the Table of Nations. One archaeologist, Dr. W. F. Albright, says it’s “an astonishingly accurate document” and unique—its like simply does not exist. Many of the nations had disappeared from the historical scene centuries before the Jews were scattered and before Christ was born, making it a very ancient document indeed.
As the clans grew, individual families separated and migrated farther from one another, their languages gradually changing as well as their lifestyles. Each family group learned how to survive in the land where it had migrated.
In general, most families settling in Africa and Asia were descendants of Ham and Shem; in Europe and parts of west and northwest Asia, descendants of Japheth. Many of these early nations kept an accurate record down the centuries of their beginnings and wrote down the names of their founding patriarchs, providing us with a surprising link between the ancient post-Flood era (Genesis 9-11) and the rest of recorded history. You probably studied ancient history before, but this is the rest of the story!!
Ancient History—Now Revealed!! The first generations after the Flood lived to be very old, with some men outliving their children, grandchildren and more. (Noah lived 350 years and died only 3 years before Abraham was born.) This set them apart so that several things happened:
· People in various areas called themselves by the name of the man who was their common ancestor.
· They called their land, and often their major city and major river, by his name.
· Sometimes the various nations fell into ancestor worship. When this happened, it was natural for them to name their god after the man who was the ancestor of all of them, or to claim their long-living ancestor as their god.
So, using these clues, we can trace most of the nations that formed from Noah’s sons.
Japheth And His Kin
6 Sons Headed North To Europe & Western Asia, 1 Headed East To Persia And India
His sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meschech, and Tiras. Allowing for the gradual modification in form that always occur in such names with the passage of time, and noting pertinent references in both Scripture and early secular historical writings and on excavated archaeological monuments, we can trace most of these nations and recognize them as ancestors of the Indo-European peoples, a classification based upon common language. The Indo-European family of languages was/is spoken in nearly all of Europe and much of India, Pakistan and parts of western Asia.
Most of them went to the north and northwest. Some headed east. If you are from Great Britain, Ireland, or the Scandinavian countries, I can highly recommend an amazing book called After the Flood by Bill Cooper. It traces those ancestries to Noah and Japheth.
Gomer
Gomer’s tribe first settled in what is now Turkey. When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was writing to a people group that had been previously known as Gomerites. By New Testament times, they were called Gauls or Galatians.
· One group of the Gomerites/Gauls, migrated westward to France and Spain. For many centuries, France was known as Gaul (i.e., Julius Caesar and the Gallic wars). Northwest Spain is still called Galicia. Part of those Gomerites/Gauls migrated further west to the British Isles. The Welsh historian, Davis, records a traditional Welsh belief that the descendants of Gomer ‘landed on the Isle of Britain from France, about three hundred years after the flood’. He also records that the Welsh language is called Gomeraeg (after their ancestor Gomer).
· The recorded ancestries (very ancient, predating Christianization) of the early Britons, Irish Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Norwegians all include their descent from Noah through Japheth. The Saxons considered Japheth, whom they called Sceaf, the son of Noah, to be the founder of the European nations and trace their own ancestry through his oldest son, Gomer. The Irish Celts have king lists that go back to Noah through Japheth via Gomer and Magog; the earliest Irish Chronicles insisted the people were of Scythian stock—the associated name Scot being a Greek and Saxon conversion from Scythian. This is not surprising since Galatia in Asia Minor was populated by a migrating colony of Gallic Celts whose relatives had spread to France (Gauls) and to the British Isles. Archaeologists and ethnologists consider many of the ancient peoples of Europe to be Celts (Greek name for them). The early Britons recorded (58 surviving manuscripts) their ancestors to be from Asia Minor (and that they traveled by sea, stopping at various countries along the way before reaching the shores of England).
· Another clan settled in today’s Armenia. In fact, the Armenians traditionally claim to be descended from 2 of Gomer’s sons—Togarmah (probably origin of the name Turkey) and Ashkenaz, whose descendants there were called Askuzas, translated “Scythians” by the Greeks. Some of Ashkenaz’s clan later migrated to Germany, giving their name to that nation since Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for Germany and German Jews are called the Ashkenazi. This group of Germanic peoples spread into Denmark (the Anglo-Saxons) and the northern islands.
· Some of Gomer’s descendants ended up in China. The Miautso People of China claimed descent from Japheth through Gomer when they were encountered for the first time by Christian missionaries. Their histories (recorded in the form of ancient couplets recited at all public occasions through the ages) included surprisingly accurate accounts of Creation and the Flood (w/ names of Noah, his wife and three sons) plus a graphic account of Babel and the confusion of tongues that resulted in nations spreading out and encircling the globe. Eleven tribes settled in the Kiangsi province of China in the seventh generation from Gomer—five remained in the Miautso nation; six later intermarried with the invading Chinese who forced the Maiutso out of their land. Modern researchers say that people who once lived in northwest China (2000-400 BC) wrote in a language that bore striking similarities to Celtic and Germanic tongues (Indo-European group)—unlike any other in that part of the world. Mummies (>100 found) of those people revealed long noses and skulls, blond or brown hair, thin lips and deep-set eyes—European features. Some looked Irish, others Nordic! Easily explained by Genesis—they were Japheth’s descendants!
· These groups formed the Celtic and Germanic language families which included Irish, Welsh, Breton, Italic (forerunner of Latin, French and Spanish), German, English, Dutch, Slavic and Baltic languages.
Javan
Javan’s kids headed northwest to present Turkey and continued west to Greece (Javan in Hebrew), Cyprus, Rhodes, and eventually Spain (the Mediterranean Sea was once known as the Sea of Tarshish, after Javan’s son) and northwest Africa. The name Javan morphed to Ionia, an ancient term identified with Greece. Javan’s son Elishah is preserved in the name “Hellas” which came to be applied to Greece as a whole (i.e., Hellenist). His descendants were the Elysians, an ancient Greek people. His son Kittim’s name is the biblical name for Cyprus.
In Greek literature, Japheth’s name is preserved as Iapetos, the son of heaven and earth, the father of many nations, and the legendary father of the Greeks. The ancient Romans perpetuated his name as Iu-Pater (meaning “Father Jove”), which was standardized to Jupiter. Here’s an incidence where the ancestor became the chief god.
Madai
Madai is the ancestor of modern-day Iranians. His descendants were called Medes by the Greeks. Every time the Medes are mentioned in the Old Testament, the word used is the Hebrew word Madai (maday). After the time of Cyrus, the Medes are always (with one exception) mentioned along with the Persians. They became one kingdom with one law —’the law of the Medes and Persians’ (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15). Later they were simply called Persians. Since 1935 they have called their country Iran.
· The Medes also settled western India and Pakistan. The name Japheth is found in the literature as Pra-Japati (Father Japheth), the reputed ancestor of the Aryans of India (Aryan is a form of the word “Iran”), deemed to be the sun and lord of creation for those descended from him. Archaeologists discovered that from ~2600-1900 BC, the Indus civilization flourished in what is now Pakistan and western India. The city layouts were efficient, though not elaborate, with buildings built of baked bricks (sound familiar?). The culture was very organized and mostly nonmilitary. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, they buried their dead without jewels, furniture and weapons—very simply. They practiced millet cultivation similar to that done in Africa (common source?), but their ancient script is thus far undecipherable.
Magog
He went north forming the nations around the Caspian and Black Seas all the way to Russia. The people of the region of modern Romania and Ukraine were known as Magogites until the Greeks called the area Scythia (people, the Scythians). The early Irish Celts traced their own lineage from Japheth through the line of Magog.
Tubal
The descendants of Tubal were known as the Tabali, then the Thobelites, and later as Iberes. The Romans gave the name Iberia to their land which covered what is now Georgia (whose capital to this day bears the name Tubal as Tbilisi). From here, having crossed the Caucasus Mountains, this people migrated due northeast across the Caucases mountains, giving their tribal name to the river Tobol, and hence to the famous city of Tobolsk.
Meshech
This is the ancient name for Moscow, both the capital of Russia and the region that surrounds the city. To this day, one section, the Meschera Lowland, still carries the name of Meshech, virtually unchanged by the ages.
Tiras
Tiras’s people were called Thirasians, changed to Thracians by the Greeks. Their homeland reached from Macedonia on the south to the Danube River on the north to the Black Sea on the east. Tiras was worshipped by his descendants as Thuras, or Thor, the god of thunder. Another incidence of an ancestor becoming a chief god.
Noah’s Prophecy About His Son Japheth
Genesis 9:27 — The prophecy for Japheth was to be enlarged which carries with it the idea of enticing/persuading so the thought may be one of mental enlargement; open-mindedness The Japhethites (especially the Greeks, Romans, and later the Europeans and the Americans) have stressed science and philosophy in their development.
“Dwell in the tents” is a common figure of speech meaning “have fellowship with him.” It could apply to sharing in Shem’s inheritance. As Shem and Japheth had united to show respect to their father and their father’s God, so they would unite to worship “the Lord God of Shem.”
There is abundant evidence that all forms of paganism have come originally from the ancient Babylonian religion. The various gods and goddesses of Rome, Greece, India, Egypt, and other nations can be essentially identified with the original pantheon of the Babylonians. (See Rev. 17:5.) Note: It is especially to the descendants of Japheth that the term “Gentiles” was applied.
Ham And His Kin
4 Sons Stayed Central Or Headed South And West
Ham’s sons were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Some of his descendants remained in Babel and Assyria. Most went south into Arabia or west and southwest to Canaan, Egypt and the rest of Africa. The Bible often refers to Africa as the land of Ham. Yet, some headed towards China, eventually populating the Americas. “Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad (Genesis 10:18).”
Cush
Cush is identified with Ethiopia in the Bible. The Cushites apparently first migrated southward into Arabia, then crossed the Red Sea into Ethiopia.
Mizraim
Mizraim is the ancestor of the Egyptians, some writers suggesting that the semi-legendary founder of Egypt’s first dynasty, Menes/Mamenses, was the same as Mizraim (likely a plural form of the name of his tribe).
Put
Put is identified with North Africa west of Egypt, including Libya.
Canaan
Canaan’s descendants settled in and around the land of Canaan and in Asia Minor (the Hittites, possibly being from Canaan’s son Heth), and a remnant seems to have later migrated eastward to the Far East. Of all the names in the Table of Nations, it does seem that two sons of Canaan—Heth and Sin—are the most likely to have become ancestors of the Oriental peoples.
· Heth—Archeologists have noted a number of similarities between the Hittites and the people of Mongolia (the art of smelting and casting iron plus the breeding and training of horses). Native Americans have their ancestry in the Mongolian peoples. The Biblical Hittites were known to the Sumerians as Khittae and Assyrians as Khatti which may be the origin of Cathay (the English translation of the tribe visited by Marco Polo in northern China).
· Sin—Biblical and secular references also mention a people in the Far East named “Sinim,” Sinae” suggesting some of the descendants of Canaan’s son Sin migrated eastward. The Assyrians knew the Biblical Sinites as the Siannu. It is significant that China and the Chinese people have always been identified by the prefix “Sino-” (e.g., Sino-Japanese War), and the name “Sin” is frequently encountered in Chinese names. Recent research of the genetic makeup of Chinese people shows correlation with the people in Africa. Just as expected!
Onward To America
Scientists generally believe that the Americas were first settled by humans who migrated across a land bridge that connected Asia with what is now Alaska. That land bridge disappeared when the sea level rose following the last ice age. So, Ham’s descendants in Asia crossed the land bridge to Alaska. From Alaska south were 2 corridors free of ice and open to travel. Migration campsites have been found along the way, some indicating they also had boats and were capable of offshore fishing. (No surprise!) The animals had preceded them by several hundred years. Hunters killed bison, mammoths, mastodons, camels and giant sloths for meat as they traveled.
· An ancient spear unearthed in Siberia (under a layer of volcanic ash!) looks nearly identical to the Clovis point, a flint spearhead first unearthed in New Mexico and used to identify the earliest Americans who supposedly invented the points as hunter-gatherers traveled from campsite to campsite. By the way, all Native Americans have 4 special genetic markers that appear to trace back to modern Siberians and Mongolians. (Dallas Morning News article)
· According to archeologists, about 3,000 years ago, the first civilization developed in the Western Hemisphere—the Olmec culture in Mexico and Central America. This occurred around the same time that the Shang Dynasty of China fell to enemies, forcing thousands of refugees to flee across the “Eastern Sea.” Interestingly enough, researchers have recently recognized at least 100 ancient Chinese language symbols embedded in the motifs that decorate Olmec art! The Shang society and Olmec society shared much in common including transportation skills, worship of earth and ancestors on similarly built mounds, human sacrifice, veneration of the same animals, and art carvings. Just as expected!
Noah’s Prophecy About His Son Ham
Genesis 9:25 — The prophecy to Ham through the name of his son Canaan. The translation “servant” does not mean “slave.” All of Ham’s descendants have not been continually in slavery. The word can just as well be translated “steward,” someone who gives material service to mankind, providing physical needs. The Hamites have been the great pioneers that opened up the world to settlement, to cultivation, and to technology. Among the many ways in which the Hamites have been the great “servants” of mankind are the following (from The Genesis Record, Dr. Henry Morris):
1) They were the original explorers and settlers of practically all parts of the world, following the dispersion at Babel.
2) They were the first cultivators of most of the basic food staples of the world, such as potatoes, corn, beans, cereals, and others, as well as the first ones to domesticate most animals.
3) They developed most of the basic types of structural forms and building tools and materials.
4) They were the first to develop most of the usual fabrics for clothing and the various sewing and weaving devices.
5) They discovered and invented a wide variety of medicines and surgical practices and instruments.
6) They invented most of the concepts of basic practical mathematics, as well as surveying and navigation.
7) The machinery of commerce and trade—money, banks, postal systems, and so forth—was developed by them.
8) They developed paper, ink, block printing, movable type, and other accoutrements of writing and communication.
If one traces back far enough, he will find that practically every other basic device or system needed for man’s physical sustenance or convenience originated with one of the Hamitic peoples. Truly they have been the “servants” of mankind in a most amazing way. Yet the prophecy was fulfilled also in that the Hamites have usually been able to go only so far with their explorations and inventions, and no farther. Sooner or later, the Japhethites and Semites have taken over their territories and their inventions. Some Hamites have been actual slaves.
Shem And His Kin
5 Sons Headed East, North And South From Babel.
Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
Elam
Elamites settled east of Babel, later merging with the Medes to form the Persian Empire.
Asshur
Asshur’s name is preserved in his descendants, the Assyrians, whose culture also included the Hamites (Nimrod and company). Unfortunately, Asshur was one of the earliest men to be deified and worshipped by his descendants.
Arphaxad
Arphaxad may have settled in Assyria, the earliest known settlement is 4 miles east of ancient Nineveh. Of particular interest, he’s father of the Chaldeans, and his descendants were adept astrologers, magicians, and mathematicians. He is better known by his son, Eber, whose name is possibly preserved in his descendants—the Hebrews. (Was Hebrew the original language? It is likely that it was!) Arphaxad’s grandson, Peleg, may have been born shortly after the time of the dispersion. According to Genesis 11:25, “in his days the earth was divided” which combined with Genesis 10:5, 32 clearly refer to a linguistic and geographical division.
Lud
Lud is historically associated with the Lydians, in Asia Minor, who were reputed archers and spoke an Indo-European language.
Aram
His name is the Hebrew word for Syria. His sons became the Arameans, equivalent to Syrians. Their language was adopted as the trade language for the ancient world, commonly spoken even among Jews in Jesus’ day. Some Arameans migrated to Arabia where Job later lived.
Noah’s Prophecy About His Son Shem
Genesis 9:26 — The prophecy for Shem included the covenant-keeping name for God—Yhwh, suggesting a love for the Lord and faith in God’s promises. Shem’s blessing seemed to be related to his spiritual nature. Interestingly enough, the Semites throughout history have been dominated by religious motivations centered in monotheism—the Jews, the Moslems, and the Zoroastrians, etc. Through Shem, God’s greatest blessing for mankind, the promised Seed of the woman, would eventually come into the world.
A Corrupted Witness To The Truth
Paul said in Acts 14:15-17, “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn…to the living God…In the past, He let all nations go their own way. Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain…crops…plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Popular thought supposes that the nations of the world only became aware of the God of Genesis after they were populated by Jews or evangelized by Christian missionaries, not considering the possibility that pagan man was indeed aware of God and of His attributes, and that this awareness had existed and flourished for centuries without any exposure at all to the scriptures.
As people spread out, they took the story of Creation, the Curse, and the Flood with them. Flood legends (over 300), predating any contact with outsiders (especially missionaries), are found in almost every culture around the world, about 30 of them in writing. Some are remarkably close in their details to the story told in the Bible. Of those legends, 66% say that the Flood was caused by the sinfulness of man, 95% say that the whole world was covered by water, 86% say that there was a favored family which was told to build a boat so that the animals could be saved. Just as expected! The details are different, but the essence is the same. It becomes clear that the original is, in fact, the Bible story.
Documented Evidence
· From Greece—an ancient document The Sybil: “When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven; but the gods…gave everyone his peculiar language…After this they were dispersed abroad, on account of their languages, and went out by colonies everywhere…took possession of that land which they lighted upon, and unto which God led them;…There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited the islands.”
· From the British Isles—The Irish Chronicles record Irish remembrance of Creation and the Flood as relatively recent and definitely historical events and reveal that they reckoned the dates of other subsequent historical events by counting the years since the Creation (4000 BC). Anglo-Saxons and the early Britons believed in a recent creation and flood as well. Two versions of the Anglo-Saxon chronicles say that 5200 years covered the time from Creation until the year AD 6.
· From Denmark—The epic poem Beowulf contains many references to Genesis 1-6 (including Cain, giants and a flood) with an abrupt cutoff at that point. Preserved by the northward migrating peoples, then interwoven with later Germanic history before the coming of Christianity to either Germany or Denmark (it contains no elements of Judeo-Christian teaching), the account was then brought to England from Denmark by the Anglo-Saxons in 400-500AD. Beowulf himself (a historic person) was a descendant of Saxon kings who claimed their ancestry from Noah through Japheth.
· From Mexico—Found in the histories of the Toltec Indians of ancient Mexico (Ham’s descendants?) is a story of the first world that lasted 1,716 years and was destroyed by a great flood that covered even the highest mountains. Their story tells of a few men who escaped the destruction in a “toptlipetlocali,” which means a closed chest. Following the great flood, these men began to multiply and built a very high zacuali,” or a great tower, to provide a safe place if the world was destroyed again. However, the languages became confused, so different language groups wandered to other parts of the world. The Toltecs claim they started as a family of seven friends and their wives who spoke the same language. They crossed great waters, lived in caves, and wandered 104 years till they came to Hue Hue Tlapalan (southern Mexico). The story reports that this was 520 years after the great flood. Likewise, the Mayans of Central America measured time from the beginning of their culture after the Flood—~3113BC.
· From China—The ancient Chinese preserved the truth about man’s earliest history in their ancient (~2000 BC) writings which refer to a violent catastrophe that happened to the Earth. The entire land was flooded with water reaching the highest mountains and completely covering all the foothills, leaving the country in desolate condition for years afterwards. This history records that one man, his wife, three sons, and three daughters escaped a great flood, were the only people left alive on earth, and repopulated the world afterwards. The accounts of Creation, the Fall, and the Flood are revealed in ancient Chinese characters (which combines pictographs to form new ideas) for “to forbid” (combines 2 trees and to command, God), “to sacrifice” (ox + sheep + unblemished + spear), “righteousness” (lamb + me, with the lamb placed over the me), and “boat” (vessel + 8 + person)—none of which make any sense apart from the Genesis record. The characters (found on early bronzes and ancient drums) were well-established (creation of new pictographs had ceased by 800 BC) and already exported to other oriental countries before the earliest Christians influenced China, ~640 AD.
What Happened To The Truth About God?
Someone forgot to teach the next generation! The Bible tells of the attitude of men before the Flood in Job 22:15-17 “Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod? They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood. They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’” That attitude prevailed in some of Noah’s descendants as well. And they said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’” Gen. 11:3-4
The long war against God gained steam from Babylon outward. Excavator Stephen Langdon of Oxford University has determined that the history of man’s religion— steadily going from monotheism to extreme polytheism and widespread belief in evil spirits—is in a very true sense the history of the fall of man.
Ham’s grandson Nimrod is credited with instigating the Great Rebellion at Babel and founding the worst features of paganism, including the practice of magical arts, astrology and human sacrifice. Worshipped from earliest times (by Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians), Nimrod was worshipped by the Romans as Bacchus (son of Cush). Various sites in the ancient world were named after him—Shinar was known as the Land of Nimrod. Ancestor worship also began in this area and, combined with other aspects of paganism mentioned above, was carried by tribes forming new nations—Assyria, China, the Saxons—resulting in the spread of polytheism and idolatry. Degrading from there, the forces of nature were given names (pantheism) so that some people considered everything to be a god—Mother Nature, Father Time, natural selection (evolution itself).
According to The Book of the Dead, dealing with life and beliefs in ancient Egypt by E.A. Wallis Budge, the Egyptians originally believed in one God (as did Greece and China) with His attributes eventually being recognized as pointing to many gods. The pharoah Akhnaten sought unsuccessfully to bring all Egypt under the persuasion that there was but one god instead of the many that the Egyptians worshipped by then. As God said in Romans 1:25 “they exchanged the truth for a lie.” And so three streams of nations dispersed to form their own nations as they repopulated the earth.
One Blood, The Biblical Answer To Racism
As they migrated out from Shinar and became individual nations, each group developed its own physical characteristics peculiar to each ethnic group. The Bible never talks about races but about tribes and nations. We are told in the Bible that we are all of one blood, one flesh (I Corinthians 15:39). There is really only one race—the human race! The modern concept of “race” is based on evolutionary thinking; racism is an idea used by man to divide people and justify social stratification.
Modern genetics shows that when a large, freely interbreeding group is suddenly broken into many smaller groups which from then on breed only among themselves, dominant characteristics unique to each group will arise very rapidly. There are 4 genes for skin color from which a whole range of skin shades may be produced in the offspring from light to dark. All skin color in humans comes from a pigment called melanin. Everyone has the same color, but some just have more of it (intensity). A person with a lot of melanin will be very dark; a little melanin renders her very light. All the information for the variations of skin shades goes back to the original parents—Adam and Eve. A recent news article stated that only one woman’s mitochondrial DNA survived to the present day in all of us. Just as expected!
“Primitive” And “Stone Age”?
No Primitive Man
No group of human beings today (or, in the past) speaks a “primitive” language even those in isolated cultures. Each language has nouns, verbs, etc. The observable evidence tells us that by 2000 BC all the people had broken up into these different language groups already. Just as expected!
Archaeologists confirm that many civilizations appeared about the same time, only a few thousand years ago. After short periods spent hunting and gathering, highly developed civilizations sprang up all over the world. A pattern seems to have been repeated:
· A tribe moves to a new area, sets up a temporary camp until a more permanent site for their village or city could be established once the area was determined capable of supporting the people—game for hunting, water, and farmland.
· Temporary homes could have been made of stones, hides, or sticks; even caves were used. Remains of these original occupation sites naturally suggest to evolutionists a “stone age culture” when actually they reflect only a very temporary situation.
· Some groups have continued the simple style of living up to the present time; most have progressed to urbanization.
· As soon as material for ceramics and metals could be found, the “stone age” at the site was succeeded by a “bronze age” or “iron age.”
· Groups farther away from Babel may have lost much cultural ‘know–how’, including the loss of previous written, as well as spoken, language. Thus, it is not surprising that they would soon develop an alternative style of writing.
One People, Several Tribes — Where Neanderthal And Cro-Magnon Fits!
After the first bones were discovered in 1856 in the Neander Valley of Germany (thus, the Neanderthals), the first anatomist to examine them concluded he was homo sapiens (modern man) with rickets caused by a vitamin D deficiency. In the early 1900’s, a French paleontologist devised the modern concept of a stooped-over brute.
Modern researchers conclude Neanderthal walked upright (stood ~5’7”) but some had arthritis causing a stooped posture. Since then discoveries have been made (over 200 skeletons) in Palestine, Iraq, northwest Africa, and throughout Europe. Though evolutionists once used the fossils to support human evolution, today they are classified as fully human who lived 30,000 to 300,000 years ago.
Long-age ‘progressive creationists’ such as Hugh Ross, in order to reconcile their belief in the evolutionary ‘millions of years’ with the belief in a literally created Adam, are forced to claim that the Neandertals were ‘spiritless quasi-humans’. How much easier to take Genesis as written which leads to the conclusion that they were fully human descendants of Adam. They had a simple culture but NOT an animal culture.
· A recent Time magazine article stated “they wielded simple tools, wore body ornaments, had religious rites, and ceremoniously buried their dead.”
· Recent archaeological discoveries show that Neanderthals also built houses, decorated their bodies, and contained their fires in hearths.
· Musical instruments have been found with their bodies, and they painted on cave walls.
Neanderthals were part of Japheth’s Indo-European language group who migrated away from the Tower of Babel. They found themselves in harsh Ice Age circumstances in northern Europe particularly (average temperature estimated to be 14˚F lower than now), and some were forced to live in caves. Add to this heavy cloud cover (blocking vitamin-D producing ultraviolet light), the need to wear heavy clothing, and poor diet (the only significant dietary sources of vitamin D are fatty fish and egg yolk, seldom consumed by Neanderthals) and the result is rickets (a deforming bone disease caused by lack of vitamin D) and arthritis.
By the way, many of the features we now call “Neanderthal”—heavy brow ridge, teeth crowding forward, deterioration of the chin, excessive wear on the teeth—are actually features of very old people. And why not? Post-flood patriarchs lived 100’s of years—Shem 600, Eber 464, Peleg and Reu 239, Abraham 175.
Dr. Jack Cuozzo, a Neanderthal expert studied Neanderthal children, concluding that they didn’t achieve maturity until much later than children of today. His book reveals that although Neanderthals had massive features and somewhat larger skulls than is common in mankind today, they would go unnoticed if dressed in modern clothing.
His research has also determined that skulls thicken with age, increasing in width and length but without vertical change. The results should be seen as noticeable changes in skulls that were at least 200-300 years old. Using computer extrapolation of skulls at old ages, the expected shapes at 200-300 years resembled Neanderthal skulls! By the way, the heavy brow ridges and sloping forehead found in Neanderthal skeletons are found in people living today.
Neanderthals are now considered to be a people group living at the same time as other human people groups elsewhere, having reached Europe first during the worst part of the Ice Age then crossed the Mediterranean Sea at the Rock of Gibraltar to live in northwest Africa. They probably intermarried with another tribe of people called Cro-Magnon (named after the cave in France where the first remains were found)—many fossils show such a mix of traits. In fact, there was great variation among both Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon tribes. Cro-Magnon people consumed fish routinely so were able to avoid rickets. They were probably those humans living at the end of the Ice Age when the climate became more normal. The human fossils found in Western Europe are generally more Neanderthal-like than those found in southern Europe, North Africa, or western Asia. Both groups were fully human. Just as expected!
Conclusion About Noah’s Descendants
A total of 70 “families” forming nations is mentioned in Genesis 10! These three streams of nations are not three “races.” We all have the same color; some just have more of it than others. There are dusky and black people found among all three groups of nations. The Bible does not mention “race” only nations. The modern concept of “race” is based on evolutionary thinking. And, Increasingly in recent years has archeology been confirming that civilization appeared more or less contemporaneously in all parts of the world, only a few millennia ago. Just as expected!
Sources For Further Study
1. Babel, John Whitcomb, Creation magazine 24(3), June 2002 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i3/babel.asp.
2. Why the Electric Battery Was Forgotten, David Down, Creation magazine 16(2), March 1994 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v16/i2/battery.asp.
3. The Sixteen Grandsons of Noah, Creation magazine 20(4), September 1998 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i4/noah.asp.
4. The Mystery of Ancient Man, Steve Cardno, Creation magazine 20(2), March 1998 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i2/ancient.asp.
5. In the Days of Peleg, Larry Pierce, Creation magazine 22(1), December 1999 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i1/peleg.asp.
6. How Does Man’s History Fit with the Biblical Timeline? Bodie Hodge at www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/2006/0630.asp.
7. From Ararat to the Americas—in a Few Thousand Years? Bodie Hodge at www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/2006/0922.asp.
8. Searching for Moses, Technical Journal 15(1), April 2001 at www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i1/moses.asp.
9. Archaeology Q&A at www.answersingenesis.org
10. Timing Is Everything, Tas Walker, Steve Cardno and Jonathan Sarfati, Creation magazine 27(3), June 2005 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v27/i3/down.asp.
11. American Genesis: The Cosmological Beliefs of the Indians, Bill Johnson, Impact #369 at www.icr.org.
12. Towering Change: Were all of today’s thousands of languages separately created? And if not, have languages evolved? Carl Wieland, Creation magazine 22(1), December 1999 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i1/towering_change.asp.
13. The Origin of Languages, Wayne Spencer, Creation Answers monthly newsletter, July 2007 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v22/i1/towering_change.asp.
14. The Neandertals: Our Worthy Ancestors, Part I, Marvin Lubenow, Answers online, November 29, 2006 at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/worthy-ancestors.
15. The Neandertals: Our Worthy Ancestors, Part II, Marvin Lubenow, Answers online April 11, 2007 at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n1/worthy-ancestors-2.
16. One Blood: the Biblical Answer to Racism, by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland, and Don Batten, online book at www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/OneBlood/index.asp.
17. Where Did the ‘Races’ Come From? by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland, and Don Batten, online book at www.answersingenesis.org/radio/pdf/races_booklet.pdf.
18. Associates for Biblical Research at http://abr.christiananswers.net/home.html.
19. Digging Up the Past at www.diggingsonline.com.
20. Genesis according to the Maio People, Impact #214, April 1991 at www.icr.org.
21. Man-made slabs offer new insight into Mesopotamia, Robert Cooke, Dallas Morning News, July 6, 1998, page 10D.
22. Success without the splendor, John Noble Wilford, New York Times News Service
23. Artifact generates questions, Associated Press
24. Babel, John Whitcomb, Creation magazine 24(3), June 2002 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i3/babel.asp.
25. Pre-Flood Relics on the bottom of the Black Sea? Tas Walker, September 14, 2000 at www.answersingenesis.org/docs2/4377news9-14-2000.asp.
26. Ancient Chinese Flutes bring back sounds of old, Alexandre Witze, Dallas Morning News, September 27, 1999, page 7-8D.
27. Anthropology and Apeman Q&A at www.answersingenesis.org.
Creation Answers: What Happened To The Dinosaurs?
“They Died, But Not So Long Ago”
The information below is adapted from resources found on www.icr.org and www.answersingenesis.org plus others sourced at the end.
Our culture’s fascination w/ dinosaurs serves to promote evolution and to indelibly inscribe on the mind of each person that 1) the earth is very old, 2) that evolution is a fact, and 3) that no man has ever seen one. The facts really are on the side of the creationist interpretation, though. What do you want to know?
1. Did Dinosaurs And People Live Together? Did They Go On The Ark?
First of all, scripture says that God created all the marine and flying creatures on Day 5 such as plesiosaurs and pterodactyls plus land animals on Day 6 which included dinosaurs. Human and dinosaur footprints are found together in Texas and in Turkmenia, formerly part of the Soviet Union, plus other places.
The universe was changed when Adam disobeyed and took a bite of the fruit that God had forbidden him to eat. Before that sad event, death wasn’t part of God’s beautiful creation. Violence and death entered the physical world as animals fought and killed each other.
Dinosaurs got on the Ark. God told Noah to take all land creatures on the Ark which included dinosaurs. It is likely Noah took juveniles. Those outside the Ark were buried by the Flood. A number of fossil graveyards are known in which dinosaur skeletons are found buried together in jumbled heaps with evidence of mass drowning. Dinosaurs got off the Ark, multiplied and spread to all parts of the world through the land bridges.
They died out. Lots of animals have died out from this earth, and the memory of them has faded or been corrupted. The name “dinosaur” wasn’t even coined until the 1800s several years after the first bones of these creatures were found and studied scientifically.
2. Were Dinosaurs Really As Vicious As They Were Depicted In Jurassic Park?
How do scientists really know anything about dinosaurs? From its remains: bones, teeth, claws, spikes, horns, bony plates, footprints, imprints of skin (very rare); eggs (sometimes containing unborn babies), dung and stomach contents (also very rare). From fossils alone, scientist can only guess how the animal really looked or lived. The Tyrannosaurus looked vicious but may not have been. Very few fossils of this creature have been found. It’s more exciting to picture it as a great monster, though, not as a big lizard.
Although Genesis 1:29, 30 tell us they were created to be plant eaters before the Fall, enough is known of dinosaurs to strongly suspect that at least some of them occasionally ate meat by the time of the Flood. Fish and lizards are found in the stomach contents of some dinosaurs and flying reptiles. Were they vicious? Several types do have sharp teeth, sharp claws, spikes, armor plates perhaps used for offensive or defensive purposes, but many animals today that have sharp teeth use them for strictly peaceful ends—panda bear, fruit bat. After the Flood, God begins holding the animals accountable for the lifeblood of man so that man-eating dinosaurs may have been punished by God through death. But, they were not forbidden to kill other animals for food.
3. Are They Mentioned In The Bible?
All the nations of antiquity wrote about dinosaur-like animals they called dragons. The Biblical writers, inspired by God, wrote about creatures described by the Hebrew word tanniyn which is translated “dragons” in over 20 passages. Up until this century, that word was translated into English as dragon. They are depicted as dwelling in different types of habitats and as being of various sizes (Isaiah 34:13; Micah 1:8; Malachi 1:3). Modern translators of the Bible choose not to use the word “dragon” because modern man has never seen a creature that fits the description of some of the creatures mentioned in the Bible. So they translate the word tanniyn as jackal, whale, serpent, etc. but the Hebrew word means “dragon” or “monster,” not jackal.
· Leviathan—A sea dragon is called a leviathan (“water monster”) in Isaiah 27:1, Psalm 74:14; 104:26 and is described by God Himself in Job 41:1-34 as a living, fearsome, fire-breathing monster who lived in the sea and on land, had huge teeth, and a scaly hide that could not be pierced with sword or spear, was absolutely without fear and could not be trapped or domesticated. Neither whales nor sharks nor crocodiles fit this description but a marine reptile or dinosaur called Kronosaurus does. Psalm 104:24-26 tells us that leviathan was initially formed to frolic in the sea. Something happened; the description doesn’t sound like frolicking!
· Behemoth—God also drew Job’s attention to a huge land dragon called a behemoth (“beast par excellence”) that was a large grass eater, had a tail so large it was compared to a cedar tree, had great muscles and extremely strong bones, was not afraid of anything, and was “chief in the ways of God, “impossible to capture. Neither a hippopotamus nor an elephant fit the description. The description clearly fits that of a large sauropod such as Apatosaurus, a gigantic plant-eater with great muscles and very strong bones or Diplodocus which had leg bones so strong that he could have held three others on his back. The Egyptians knew of behemoth and leviathan. Both creatures are also named in Babylonian and Sumerian literature.
Why did God make such fierce creatures? Psalm 148:7 says they praise Him; Isaiah 43:20 says they will glorify Him who provides for them. In Isaiah 27:1 and in Job, God declares that He is more powerful than all of them, able to defeat them because He made them. He assured Job that He was well able to defeat Satan, too!
4. How Long Did They Live After The Flood?
Evidently the dinosaurs gradually died out or were hunted to extinction. Their existence has been preserved for us by people all over the world through the many legends of dragons, the descriptions of which closely resemble dinosaurs. Dragon legends are best understood as the faded and/or embellished memories of real human encounters with dragons.
We Know About Them Through Legends
Dinosaur-like animals have been drawn, written about and told about since the beginning of recorded history on every continent.
· People in India worshipped huge hissing reptiles they kept in caves.
· In the 10th century, an Irishman wrote of his encounter with a large beast with “iron” nails on its tail that pointed backwards and a head shaped like a horse. Stegasaurus? An ancient carving in an Angkor Cambodian temple also looks like a Stegasaurus.
· A Scandinavian legend describes a reptile-like animal that had a body the size of a large cow; two long, strong back legs; two very short front legs; with very large jaws. Perhaps a T-Rex!
· The city of Nerluc, France was renamed in honor of a slain dragon that was bigger than an ox and had long, sharp pointed horns on its head. Triceratops?
We Know About Them Through Drawings Left Behind
Many drawings of dragons look very much like known dinosaurs or composite drawings of various types.
· An ancient Native American drawing found on a Grand Canyon wall looks very much like an Edmontosaurus.
· The ancient Incas sketched creatures that look just like Triceratops and other dinosaur creatures.
· Thousands of dragon stories and pictures can be found in ancient Chinese books and art. Chinese kings used dragons for pulling royal chariots.
· In the 1500’s, a European scientific book listed several animals, which to us are dinosaurs, as still living back then, though relatively small and extremely rare.
We Know About Them Through Written Accounts
Flying reptiles have also been seen and described in written form by respected writers (Herodotus, Aristotle, Strabo) in ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, India and Arabia.
· In 1856 France, a flying reptile was blasted out of a tunnel and died. It was studied by a scientist, declared to be a pterosaur with a 10’ wingspan.
· Stories of giant man-eating birds are common among many other Indian tribes of the American Southwest. In Utah’s Black Dragon Canyon there is a beautiful pictograph of a pterosaur. These were called “thunderbirds.”
The most remarkable descriptions of living dinosaurs are those that the Saxon and Celtic people of Europe have passed down to us. The British Isles have historically been the habitat for lots of reptilian monsters. Over 80 places have been recorded where men, women and children have personally encountered them. Not just in the past 100 years and not just Loch Ness (or any other Scottish lake from which have been numerous sightings). The written accounts of many of these creatures include detailed descriptions of their skin and scale colors and refer to multiple witnesses.
· Flying reptiles were a feature of Welsh life until surprisingly recent times. In fact, country people predicted the weather for centuries based upon their movements.
· One church at Llanbadarn-y-Garrag in Wales contains the carving of a local giant lake-dwelling reptile whose features include large paddle-like flippers, a long neck and a small head.
· One refers to a creature that spat poisonous venom at its victims. Another describes the creature as “being vast in body, with a crested head, teeth like a saw, and a tail extending to an enormous length.” It liked to eat sheep, and shepherds; local archers tried to kill the beast, unsuccessfully, due to its impenetrable hide.
· At Carlisle Cathedral in England, a 15th century bishop’s tomb has brass carvings of creatures that look like dinosaurs.
The Saxon poem Beowulf describes three specific creatures: a flying reptile (the description of which matches a pteranodon), a sea dragon (common in harbors, depicted on Viking ships) and a land monster called a grendel.
· The grendel was larger than a human, bipedal with small and puny forelimbs; it growled angrily and slayed with its mouth or jaws—swallowing the body of its victims rapidly in large gobbles!
· He hunted alone and at night, approaching human settlements and waiting silently in the darkness for his prey to fall asleep. The Danes employed a giant watcher to watch for the approach of grendels.
· A large carved stone in an old Saxon church (in England) shows such a creature biting the necks of other quadrupedal creatures.
· Woodcut illustrations in medieval European books also show bipedal, scaled reptiles with large mouths. Too many incidents like these are reported down through the centuries and from all sorts of locations for us to say that they are all fairy-tales.
Even the stories of fire-breathing dragons may be true.
· God describes leviathan to Job as follows: “His sneezings flash forth light,…out of his mouth go burning lights; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.” Job 41:18-21—A creature with a flame-throwing capability? Far-fetched?
· Not when you examine the bombardier beetle. When threatened, the little beetle sprays a vapor, made from two chemicals stored in twin chambers at the rear of his body—hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide—instantly heated to 212˚F. High-speed cameras have recorded both audible pops and puffs of smoke when the beetle sprays.
· Some dinosaur skulls have been found with chambers in them as well, particularly the duck-billed or crested ones. Scientists have supposed they were echo chambers for making sounds, perhaps mating calls. They could just as well be for storing and mixing chemicals that ignite when projected. The little bombardier beetle is a mighty argument for creation. His system is so complex and exacting; nothing works until everything works! It is purely evidence of design and defies evolution!
5. What Happened To Them?
They died. Lots of animals have died out from this earth. The world after the Flood was much different than before. The environmental conditions, with the sparse vegetation, the destruction of the pre-Flood vapor canopy, and the temperature extremes during the ensuing Ice Age would have caused many animal types to become extinct, a process which continues today. Plant life and birds did not experience such extinction but many land creatures did. Though the pictures of dinosaurs choking to death from the cataclysmic dust of a meteor impact is a commonly touted idea, it does not explain why flowering plants or birds survived the holocaust!
· Hunters wiped out mammoths and mastodons; perhaps they wiped out dinosaurs as well. Had there been zoos, maybe some could have been saved. In Wales, the flying reptiles were reckoned to be as bad as foxes for poultry so were routinely killed. Various accounts describe how the marine reptiles hanging around harbors were hunted and killed.
· Some marine “dragons” survived because sailors have throughout history, even up to the present, reported “dragons” at sea. It may be that some are still alive in isolated parts of the oceans and deep lakes of the world. Numerous native accounts tell of a sauropod-like animal in the swampy interior of the Congolese rain forests.
· Most creationists believe that dinosaurs have coexisted with man from the beginning, only becoming extinct in the Middle Ages. Evolutionists have difficulty explaining away dragon legends, cave drawings, and even modern sightings. They completely ignore human footprints in dinosaur strata and even inside dinosaur footprints. They can’t explain the evolution of dinosaurs or their demise. All they can do is get you excited about their imaginative recreations of a world that only exists in their minds.
6. Can Dinosaurs Be Cloned?
Can large animals be cloned using DNA from other species, like frogs? In order to clone dinosaurs, researchers need perfectly preserved and complete dinosaur DNA (which we don’t have) and a living mother dinosaur to provide the living egg cell (which we also don’t have and aren’t likely to have). Don’t lose any sleep over cloned dinosaurs!
Conclusion:
Dinosaurs did NOT live millions of years ago; they DID live beside people; they DID go on Noah’s Ark; they are mentioned in the Bible: they DID live after the Flood (Job 40-41). There is MUCH evidence that they have lived up until quite recently. God CREATED all animal types. Dinosaurs did NOT evolve, and there is really NO mystery about what happened to them.
It is important to defend the book of Genesis to our children and ourselves. After all, if the first book in the Bible can’t be trusted in our eyes or in their eyes, why should any other? As one woman once asked, “When my church told me that I had to accept evolution, and that Genesis couldn’t be believed as written, I must then ask, ‘When does God start telling the truth?’” Our God tells the truth from the very first verse!
Sources For Further Study
1. Dinosaurs Q&A at www.answersingenesis.org.
2. Bishop Bell’s Brass Behemoths!, Phillip Bell, Creation magazine 25(4), September 2003 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/bishop.asp.
3. Evidence of Dinosaurs at Angkor, Kenneth E. Cole, January 15, 2007 at www.answersingenesis.org/docs2007/0115angkor.asp.
4. After the Flood, by Bill Cooper, New Wine Press and online at www.ldolphin.org/cooper.
5. Dinosaurs by Design, Duane Gish, Master Books.
6. Dinosaurs and Dragons: Stamping on the Legends, Russell M. Grigg, Creation magazine 14(3), June 1992 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i3/dinosaurs.asp.
7. Messages on Stone, Dennis L. Swift, Creation magazine 19(2), March 1997 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i2/stone.asp.
8. Thunderbirds, Bill Johnson, Creation magazine 24(2), March 2002 at www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i2/thunderbirds.asp.
9. Utah’s Testimony to Catastrophe, Andy McIntosh, May 8, 2007 at http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i2/thunderbirds.asp.
10. What happened to the Dinosaurs?, Don Batten, Ken Ham, Jonathan Sarfati, and Carl Wieland at www.answersingenesis.org/home/Area/AnswersBook/dinosaurs19.asp.
11. Could Behemoth Have Been a Dinosaur?, Allan K. Steel, TJ Archive, August 2001 at www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i2/behemoth.asp.