Somethin's Fishy!

“…ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee…and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?” Job 12:7-9

Have you stopped to think about how much God chose to put in His Word about the realm of water in His creation? Of five different themes that we have developed for ministry (jungle, wilderness, dinosaur, mountains, and sea/water) in a variety of settings, our sea theme is certainly the “deepest”! Just think--“water” was the very first thing God used as He began creating things.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:3

Or think about the connection between forgiveness and the depths of the sea!

“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19

In addition, consider God’s choice out of all of His creation in communicating to Jeremiah the need for people to fear and tremble before Him!

“Fear ye not me? saith the LORD. Wilt ye not tremble at My presence, which have place the sand for the bound of the sea…” Jeremiah 5:22

In short, the more we truly consider the multitudes of ways in which God uses His creation, the more we will understand that the study of nature—God’s creation—is not solely an exercise in apologetics to answer evolutionists! There’s SO much more!

THE FISH

At least 50 times throughout Scripture, the words “fish” or “fishes” occur. “Fish” is the first creature referenced in God’s dominion mandate to mankind (Genesis 1:26), and in the account of Jonah, God prepared a “great fish” to swallow his disobedient prophet (1:17). In Corinthians, God included a striking argument against evolution with a reference to different “kinds” of flesh:

“All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men another flesh of beasts, another of fishes…” 1 Corinthians 15:39

If but for this one verse, the idea of “transitional forms” (which evolutionary thought requires) is totally and completely wrong! On a side note, one may wonder: “Was Jonah swallowed by a fish or a whale? If Jesus referred to the creature as a whale but the book of Jonah mentions ‘fish,’ isn’t it a contradiction in the Bible?” In short, the answer is “no.” There actually are other water-dwelling creatures with “fish” in their name (e.g. cuttlefish) that aren’t typical fish. Cuttlefish are in the family called “cephalopods” which include octopus and squid. Couple this with the fact that long ago the whale was called “whalefish,” and you have no true contradiction in the Bible. Jesus, the Creator, prepared that fish to swallow Jonah, and he lived to tell about it! Also, there is no need to claim that God made a unique sea creature just for Jonah, since there have been rare accounts in history of people who had been swallowed by a whale and who lived to tell about it! Jesus, the Creator, simply used this particular whale for His purpose:

“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth …” Matthew 12:40

THE FALSEHOOD

A video clip we include in our “Something’s Fishy” message came from a TV documentary about the dissection of a Great White shark. During the program, infamous evolutionist/atheist Richard Dawkins examined the fact that these fearsome fish called sharks have “tiny teeth” all over that make up its skin, and he offered his idea about how shark teeth came to be:

“It looks as though, probably what happened, that the shark’s skin became its teeth.”

In fact, the documentary shows the researchers examining the teeth of a Great White and noting unbelievably that they were “wobbly.” Now, if the teeth originated from the shark’s skin, why are they “wobbly”? Why would a leading, internationally-known “scientist” and evolutionary atheist assert such a hypothetical idea about the shark’s skin as scientific?! Perhaps one day, “millions of years ago,” a shark was going too fast, and something big like a whale got in its way. It had to stop quickly and some of its skin slipped up to its mouth (!). This idea would be just as scientific as Dawkins’ statement! Someone can believe this took place, but it is NOT science and should never be taught to children as such! At the very end of the program, the scientist who was leading the project, said: “You may have heard of ‘ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” (scientific terminology referring to the idea that any creature—including humans—goes through evolutionary stages while developing inside its mother). “Well, there is actually some truth to that statement. During our development, we actually have gill slits…we actually were once fish.” What?! Humans were fish? Is this a scientific statement based on observable, testable, or repeatable data…or just a belief? In the recently-released documentary, “Evolution vs. God,” Evangelist Ray Comfort interviewed a scientist from CA who asserted, “Of course humans are fish.” (!) Something false and fishy is being taught to young people all across our country.

THE FIGHT

We are in a war over world views. Creation formerly was taught in public schools across our land, but it wasn’t until the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” that evolution was given public credence. Never mind the fact that all of the points that were used to favor evolution at the time have been disproven. The “evolution side” was represented by lawyer Clarence Darrow, who at one point asked the “creation representative,” William Jennings Bryan, about the possibility that the days of Creation Week were indefinite periods of time. Bryan could not give solid Bible answers about the days of Creation Week or “Cain’s wife.” In short, the Scopes trial was a pivotal point in American history regarding the teaching of creation versus the evolutionary world view. Though creation won the case legally, evolution won in the court of public opinion. Now, evolutionary fairy tales (illustrated by the previously-mentioned ideas about sharks) are taught as science, while creation and the Bible are presented as fairy tales. In many ways, those of us who believe the creation account are working outside to reach those on the inside. Using the analogy of castles in olden days, we creationists are outside the walls and moat as we seek to reclaim a culture which sliding more and more into evolutionary atheism and related beliefs and actions. We need to WAKE UP to what has been happening in our nation, understand what to do about it, and DO IT!!

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do… 1 Chronicles 12:32

We have been involved in creation ministry since 2000, and have been privileged to meet pastors all across our country. I can honestly say, that after nearly 14 years in this work, I’ve met only a handful of Baptist pastors who understand this fight and what Bible believers need to do about it. We are losing ground every day in spiritual, religious, moral, and political realms of our nation; therefore, we MUST get busy spreading TRUE science which counteracts and exposes FALSE science. However, just sharing the truth will never deal with the fallout that an evolutionary belief system has caused. From the Holocaust to the modern (seemingly innocuous) cartoon, “Dinosaur Train,” evolution has devastated and is devastating millions of unsuspecting adults, teens, and children with LIES. When people base their lives on that which is foundationally false, we need to work from that foundation to expose and remove lies and replace them with truth. The next step is one that we can do nothing about: the hearers must believe it. This is where it all boils down to a spiritual warfare and an individual’s willingness to accept the fact that there is a Creator Who says: Thou shalt and Thou shalt not. Let us resolve NOT to simply “hold our ground.” Rather, as David, we must ask ourselves “Is there not a cause?” (1 Samuel 17:29) and RUN TOWARD the “Goliath” of evolution with the TRUTH of God’s creation!!