Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
Anthony is asking, did God create mythical creatures like the mermaid? That is a very good question. My friend Anthony, I should say, Tina.
Speaker 2
And I were like fighting over this question. We’re like, oh, we love this one.
Speaker 1
I know, I was like, please let me have it because I love mermaids. Well, I did as a kid, for sure. But as far as the Bible goes and the topic of mermaids, this is actually not the first time somebody’s asked this question. We actually had multiple people ask about are there mermaids in the Bible? And the quick answer to this question is no. There is no reference in the Bible to anything to specifically a mermaid. And I believe it’s definitely without question that God did not make any mermaids or any creatures like that. Now, as far as a creature that’s mentioned in the Bible that is similar to a mermaid, and you can check this out in more detail on Bibleass.org our website, just type in the word mermaid. And there’s actually a really interesting answer that one of our writers gave and she talks about how basically in the Old Testament there is a God of the Philistines called Dagon, and he was considered to be half man, half fish, and so his top half was a man in the bottom of the fish. And so they worshipped this idol. And there’s actually a really interesting story about it when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant.
Speaker 1
And you can read about this in First Samuel chapter five, where basically during David’s reign, they stole the Ark of the Covenant and they put the Ark of the Covenant in the sanctuary or whatever place of worship for that god, Dagon. And they said that it just kept falling over. Like every time they wake up, the statue of Dagon was falling over and then eventually the hands fell. It’s just a really interesting story. Anyway, so that’s really the only story in the Bible that has anything to do with a creature that is half man, half fish, which is just that it was a phlesstinian false god and it was just basically a statue of, again, Dagon, who’s half man, half fish. Now just really quick, I just want to say because some people are like, well, could God have made mermaids? Is that a possibility? And I would have to say no. And this is why. And I’ll just share with you two quick verses and I’ll close. And it comes from the Old Testament in Leviticus, 1919. And basically this is where God was laying out some very clear ground rules for the nation of Israel.
Speaker 1
So after God had told Abraham he would make a great nation and God began bringing it to fruition in the time of Moses and Joshua, several hundred years later, god laid out tons and tons of laws as far as how he wanted things run in the nation of Israel. And one thing was very specific about god is very clear about in Leviticus 19 and 19, and he says many other things throughout the book of Leviticus as well as Deuteronomy. And this is one thing God says you shall keep my statutes, you shall not let your cattle gender with a diverse kind, neither shall you sow your seed in the field or so thy field with mingled seed, neither shall a garment of mingled linen and woolen come upon you. So God is very clear that he wanted to make a point that he did not like it when things that were not meant to go together mixed. And I think God had a very specific reason for that. And you see this idea again even in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 22, and verses nine through eleven, basically, again going in you shall not sow your seed with diverse seeds.
Speaker 1
It’s not good to mix your fruit, different kinds of fruit seeds together. It’s not a good thing to do. In verse ten, he talks about don’t plow with an ox and a donkey together. And he reiterates the same thing of don’t wear wool and linen together, don’t mix your fabrics. And I really think that God was trying to teach an important principle, which is that we should not mix things that don’t go together, just like you don’t mix good and evil. And I think God was just trying to teach Israel to be pure and teach Israel to just have to separate themselves and be just one thing, which was God’s people, and not to mix things. And that’s why there are other verses in the Bible where God specifically tells Israel, don’t let your sons marry the daughters of foreign nations because basically it’s going to cause problems when you try to mix a believer and an unbeliever. God talks about not being unequally. Yoked, it’s not good to join two things that really don’t go together because it just causes problems and it causes confusion. And that’s basically what Babylon is. And we read about that in Revelation.
Speaker 1
What is Babylon? It’s confusion. It’s a system of mixing what seems like something good with something evil. And that is probably the worst kind of thing because it’s truly deception and we know that deception comes from the enemy. So do I think there’s mermaids? No. And I think that God definitely intended for humans to just be humans and fish to just be fish. So that would be my answer. J or Wendy. Anything else?
Speaker 2
Yeah, so I was really big on Bible Lord as a kid. My mom had this book where listed all the mystical creatures in the Bible and there was a couple that always stood out to me and maybe I think you did a great job covering mermaids. And let’s talk about a couple that actually are in the Bible. First direct producer, can you put up numbers 23 22? But the King James version, this one might surprise some people. Numbers 23, verse 22 in the King.
Speaker 1
James, is this a unicorn?
Speaker 2
You got it.
Speaker 1
I read this one. It’s so cool.
Speaker 2
But yeah, yeah. So here you can see God is actually talking about strength of a unicorn. Now there’s a lot of discussion about, okay, what exactly is that unicorn? Is that a type of ox, type of deer maybe we know like is it onyx or something where it has like one horn?
Speaker 1
Rhino.
Speaker 2
Rhino is another one that I’ve heard a lot about, especially when it says the strength of a unicorn. To me. I think rhinoceros is a good candidate for that.
Speaker 1
Uni just means one and corn means horn. So it just means one horn. Who knows?
Speaker 2
Yes, but unicorns there. And then if we look at job 40 versus let’s start at verse 15.
Speaker 1
Is this Leviathan?
Speaker 2
This one’s BMAS.
Speaker 1
Bhamus. Okay, cool, sorry.
Speaker 2
Transaction doesn’t matter on this one. But yeah, most transactions here stick with the word BMF. So I just see here in King James says we hold now beemeth, which was made with the heedith brass like an ox. So some people think maybe this is referring to like a type of almost like an elephant or mastodon or something like that, eating grass. If you keep reading it talks about the strength of his hips. In verse 16, sounds like elephant. It says powers in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar. Okay, so that one doesn’t sound so much like an elephant. Moves his tail like a cedar. They have wimpy little tails. So some people suggest that maybe beemeth actually could be referring to a dinosaur, maybe like a bronzosaurus or something, who knows?
Speaker 1
And it says the stones are packed together. I mean if you think about how the nails are on, how they depict a dinosaur, I mean that almost sounds a lot more similar to like a brachosaurus, a bronze like you’re saying.
Speaker 2
Exactly. It talks about the first of his ways of God, verse 19, only he who made him can bring near his sword. So apparently it was a creature that was very difficult to kill. I mean, granted it is still the same with elephants too. The next one is when you begetina the Leviathan. Let’s look at Isaiah. So here we see mentioned Leviathan, it calls him the serpent and the dragon that is in the sea. So dragon actually comes up a lot in the Bible, but if you study carefully, it always is referring to the Viathan or the sea dragon. It’s not a land dragon flying around, it’s a sea dragon. Interestingly. So we see this creature described in detail in Job verse chapter 41. For example, at verse 19 even says that it breathes out smoke and fire. So out of his mouth go burning light sparks, a fire shoot out smoke goes out of his nostrils as from a boiling pot and burning rushes his breath. Candles coals and flame goes out of his mouth. So, really interesting, but if you jump down to verse 34, it says he is king over all the children of pride.
Speaker 2
And if you really studied this whole chapter, chapter 41, it really seems to be also analogy to Satan. And interestingly, if you go to Revelation 29, it does say and the great dragon was cast out the serpent of old called the devil and Satan which deceived the whole world. It’s hard to know if Leviathan there was also a separate dragon creature and it may have been and there’s other verses talk about Leviathan and how God brought him to an end but also then becomes ultimately the symbol for Satan and his creatures or his kingdom.
Speaker 1
And I think it’s really a cool point you bring up because so many people have been like, well, where do dinosaurs come in the picture? And it’s like, well, God obviously created them at creation. And we see accounts of these creatures that resemble dinosaurs in the Bible. And if you look at any like Ikea Peru, there are stones of man with what appeared to be dinosaurs. There are so many folklore of dragons that go back for thousands of years. Like every country has a dragon story and it’s like, well, where did they get it from? They must have seen this is their experience for sure. Exactly.
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