October 4, 2025

One of my favorite books as a child was Danny and the Dinosaur, and I’m not the only one who liked it, for it has sold more than ten million copies since 1958. I read it again recently to reminisce, and to my surprise Danny’s talking dinosaur commented that he’d been around for one hundred million years.

I didn’t remember that part! Call me crazy, and many have, but I don’t believe for one second that dinosaurs (or the earth for that matter) date back millions of years. For me it’s the theory of evolution with its sloppy generalizations and blind faith that has some serious ‘splainin’ to do, but perhaps I’ll take this up in more detail another day. For now I simply want to discuss how dinosaurs intersect with the biblical story.

The English word dinosaur, which combines two Greek words, “terrible” (deinos) and “lizard” (sauros), didn’t even make its debut until 1842. The recent discovery of pictographs from Africa and North America as well as budding fossil evidence demonstrate the existence of these very large reptiles. Since the Bible says that “God made the beast of the earth … cattle … and everything that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:25), then I can summarily dismiss atheism unless you would prefer to dismiss the Bible as many do so easily these days, which sadly reminds me of the blunt, but true assessment of King David in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

So God made the dinosaurs and all the land animals on the sixth day of creation, and sometime shortly thereafter “Adam gave names to all cattle … and to every beast” (2:20). We can be sure that Adam had a name for the dinosaurs long before any nineteenth-century British paleontologist. So what name did he choose? Some Bible teachers have proposed that the behemoth of Job 40:15-24 describes an extinct land dinosaur, such as a brachiosaurus, a diplodocus or an apatosaurus. Others identify the behemoth as a hippo, crocodile, elephant or fictional creature and Leviathan as a serpent, dragon, crocodile, whale or likewise a fictional creature. That the behemoth “moves his tail like a cedar” (40:17) tips the scale for many who argue in favor of a dinosaur though the identification of the behemoth eludes consensus. It’s not hard, however, to say with specificity that dinosaurs existed, that God created them, that Adam named them and that these massive creatures roamed widely on the earth at the same time as man.

This latter point has been dismissed by most evolutionists as absurd and akin to the theory that the moon is made of cheese or that you’ll find leprechauns dancing around a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. For the most part they refuse to engage with any argument for the co-existence of men and dinosaurs by calling it pseudo-science. Even so there are obviously many pictographs that clearly depict dinosaurs if one will let his eyes overrule his pre-determined theories, and for the ancients to have painted a dinosaur must mean that they had actually seen a dinosaur.

Trivia (answer below)

Thomas Cook, a former Baptist preacher, is credited with being the first person to offer packaged tours to the Holy Land in what era?

Life in the Land:: Yom Kippur

written 10/1/25

With tonight’s sundown comes the holy day of Yom Kippur (“The Day of Atonement”), described in Leviticus 16. Historically on this day the high priest of Israel entered the Holy of Holies in the temple to sprinkle the blood of a bull from a sin offering on the Ark of the Covenant as a covering for his sin and that of his household and then a second time to sprinkle the blood of a goat from a sin offering on the ark as a covering for the sin of the people. You may remember too that a second goat, called the scapegoat, was released into the wilderness unharmed, symbolizing the removal of the people’s sin far away from them. Jews today no longer practice this biblical instruction, for obviously there is no temple, no formalized priesthood and no ark. Instead, the high priest’s actions have been substituted with community-wide repentance, prayer and good deeds.

The Day of Atonement is the only holy day on which the people were required to fast in addition to their suspension of work. Lev. 16:31 reads, “It is a Sabbath … and you shall afflict your souls,” a reference to fasting as confirmed by David’s usage of the same verb in Psalm 35:13, which reads, “I afflicted myself with fasting” (ESV). In addition to fasting, many Jews today take the expression, “afflict your souls,” to mean that they must refrain from bathing, wearing leather shoes, initiating physical intimacy with their wives or using perfumes and lotions as an act of self-denial.

As with all the biblical holy days, Christians believe that Yom Kippur points to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but then on this day there is added meaning, for although the high priest performed the necessary sacrifices annually, Jesus died for our sins once and for all. Jesus is seen as both our sin offering and the one who graciously removes our sin far from us.

Scripture Study: Doubting Thomas

Recently I was moved by a passage that I’ve read too many times to count. But that is part of the beauty of Scripture. The Lord can show you something new every time you read it or help you to appreciate a new facet of something even if you are already familiar with the content.

Let’s look again at John 20:24-29, “Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”

What hit me hard this time was the phrase in v. 26, “eight days later.” Thomas was one of Jesus’ beloved disciples, a man who truly loved the Lord and was zealous for Him! He was not there when Jesus appeared the first time, and I think that he was lost in his sorrow and depression. That’s why he didn’t believe, to whatever degree, that Jesus appeared.

But he had to walk around the city for over a week, living life in his deep sorrow with the fact that the Lord supposedly showed Himself to the other disciples, but not to him. Can you imagine what that would have been like for Thomas? How lonely that must have been. “Jesus appeared to everyone else–supposedly–but why not to me?” Those must have been the hardest eight days for anyone. How dejected and hopeless he must have felt!

But then what happened? Jesus did not abandon His beloved disciple! He loved him enough to come back. Thomas needed to be corrected, for sure, but he also needed to be comforted. Jesus loved Thomas enough to both comfort and to correct him. I must admit that more and more in recent months, I am just laid low and even brought to tears when I think about the moments of tenderness that Jesus has for His loved ones.

There are many Bible verses about God’s love that I could share, but I will leave you with this one—Matthew 11:29, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

– Adam Keim

Ten of My Favorite Places in Israel: #7, Jericho

“So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city” (Joshua 6:20).

You don’t even need the name of the city in Joshua 6:20 to know the location. That legendary city—Jericho. Pictured is Tel Jericho from the Old Testament, Canaanitic period. New Testament Jericho is a short distance away where Jesus encountered Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). The ruins of Herod the Great’s palace, his place of death, are accessible there.

Jericho is a fascinating place. Important digs took place in the twentieth century, but no major excavations have been undertaken in a while. As a result, much of the city—even as Joshua left it—lies under the dirt. What remains is exactly what you would expect from a reading of the biblical account. You can see a distinct burn layer (charred remains of the city) in the excavated areas, at the same height all around, which shows the city’s destruction by fire at Israel’s hand (Joshua 6:24). Also, you can dig with your own hands just about anywhere and uncover shards of pottery. In fact, large jars of scorched barley have been found, the same food that the people of Jericho brought into the city to withstand an expected siege. You can even see the bricks left over from the walls that God brought down. In contrast to skeptics who try to explain away God’s handiwork, the bricks have all fallen outward from the city, just as they would have in the miraculous crashing.

I have many fond memories—and great stories to tell—about Jericho. I long to once again explore this amazing place where Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus Himself once walked, and to finish my day with a delicious meal and some good, strong coffee at the Green Valley restaurant.

Adam Keim

Answer to the Trivia

B. 1870s