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GOD SENDS THE ANIMALS!

(c. 2349 B.C.)

The Ark was finished, with hundreds of tons of food stowed inside. But what about the animals?

Once the Ark’s massive hull was complete, it may have taken several more years to finish the cavernous interior. To help keep the animals safe and more easily managed on the violent ocean, Noah and his family constructed rooms,1 and probably stalls, cages, coops, and aviaries, plus their own living quarters.

A few animals required large spaces, but the average size of a creature was about as big as a sheep.2 Since God created animals to eat plants — and we know from the fossil record that the earth before the Flood had a lush abundance — those He sent3 to the Ark probably did not prey upon one another.4 In addition, because God only selected representatives of each kind,5 not of each species, there was plenty of room on the Ark for all of them, and for the food and other supplies.6

Many reptiles7 and some mammals8 grow throughout their lives, so God may have directed to the Ark the youngest of those that were able to reproduce. The Bible says that God sent9 pairs of every kind of bird and at least two of every land dwelling, air-breathing animal,10 which obviously would have included a pair of each of the dinosaur kinds since dinosaurs were land animals.11

Noah surely used many of the pre-Flood world’s amazing innovations as well, such as clever ways to capture, store, and distribute water. He also had to build waste disposal systems, ways to maximize light, and ways to flow fresh air throughout the huge ship.

In preparation, it was necessary to purchase or plant, harvest, and store huge stocks of grains, hay, and other foods. Noah’s family likely dried berries, crushed grapes for jams and wine, and pressed olives and other fruits and vegetables for oils. They must have also taken many different spices, sweeteners like honey and syrups, and seeds to re-establish agriculture. They brought bedding, clothing, tools, and written records, including the history of Adam plus much more.12

Then, when everything was ready, seven days before the Flood began God did something that surely amazed any mocking onlookers. From near and far, by God’s supernatural call, male and female of every kind of air-breathing land animal and bird arrived.13 The procession plodded, crawled, scurried, hopped, flew, and perhaps slithered through the door,14 possibly for days.

In striking parallel to how God calls men and women to receive the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ,15 God chose each specific animal to escape the impending judgment. There was no coaxing, capturing, or gender checking needed. God called them and they responded from all over the earth’s only original continent, and they entered the Ark of salvation.16

The procession may have caused shocked scoffers to stand in astonishment, and wonder if the Flood that Noah had been warning about was about to take place!

The Bible tells us in Genesis 6, that after the animals entered the Ark, Noah’s family kept them alive.17 With simple innovations that would make caretaking easier, such as ways to keep them fed and cages free of waste for extended periods, the family of eight could certainly have tended all the animals.18

Scientists who have studied how many different kinds of land animals and birds there were before the Flood, agree that the creatures would require only about one-third of the Ark. This would leave sufficient room for food, supplies, and possibly, to prove to others that there was room for them as well, if they had repented.

The worldwide Flood was about to start!19 Yet even with clear warnings that judgment was imminent, the people did not repent.

Sadly, that is how it will be before Jesus suddenly returns, like a thief in the night!20

PRIMARY PASSAGES

Genesis 6:1–7:16

KEY VERSE

“Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.” Genesis 7:8–9

WRAP UP

“Father, thank You for rescuing Noah’s family and all the animals that You sent to the Ark. The whole world was against You, but You decided to start over with just righteous Noah and his family and that huge treasure chest of animals! Lord, please guide me to live for You as Noah did. Please help me to obey You and share about Your mighty works to my friends and loved ones.”

1 Genesis 3:14

2 Morris and Whitcomb, The Genesis Flood (Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1961).

3 Genesis 6:20, “. . . will come to you to keep them alive.”

4 After the Flood, per Genesis 9:2–3, man was given permission to kill animals to eat. However, animals (and man) would answer to God for killing people. See www.christiananswers.net/dinosaurs/j-lost3.html as viewed online February 2017.

5 The created “kind” was roughly equal to the category we call “family” today in most instances.

6 Ark food storage estimate — regarding weight, it is common for a small adult elephant to eat about 125 pounds of hay per day; 373 days on board x 125 pounds per day x 2 elephants = 93,250 pounds (46.625 tons). However, the average size of an Ark animal is estimated to have been that of an adult sheep, which eats only about 4 pounds of hay per day; 373 days x 4 pounds of hay per animal x 2 animals per pair = 2,984 pounds; 1.492 tons x 3,500 pairs = 5,222 tons of hay. Regarding food volume, at 300 cubic feet per ton for dry chopped hay, a formula for determining how much space 5,222 tons would require is as follows: if 3,500 pairs of animals, then 300 cubic feet per ton x 5,222 tons = 1,566,600 cubic feet. Volume of ark 510 x 85 x 51 = 2,210,850 cubic feet. 1,566,600 / 2,210,850 = .71 or 71% of ark. Plenty of room for animals, food, humans, and a warehouse of goods.) Alternatively, a grain concentrate, such as corn, would require less than half the volume of hay. Further, animals which are severely restricted in terms of physical activity tend to sleep more and consume less.

7 Such as crocodiles and turtles.

8 Such as kangaroos and elephants.

9 Genesis 6:20 (“will come to you”), 7:9 (“two by two they went in to the ark to Noah”), 7:15 (“they went into the ark to Noah, two by two”).

10 Two of every unclean land animal, and seven of every clean land animal (of which there were few), and seven of every bird of the air (Gen. 7:2–3).

11 Somewhere between about 50 and 90 different kinds of dinosaurs have been discovered in the fossil record. Sexually mature juveniles would have been easily facilitated on the Ark. Since dinosaurs were land-dwellers themselves, representatives of each of the dinosaur kinds clearly were included with the other land animals that God saved during the Flood.

12 Genesis 5:1. “… the Hebrew Bible says in Genesis 5:1 that the history of Adam was written! The word for “book” used here, sefer, always means the account is written.” per archaeologist Dr. David Livingston at http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/cave-dwellers.

13 After the animals arrived at the Ark, they may have entered on their own — without the need to be led, carried, or coaxed by humans. See Genesis 7:9 and 7:15. Also see Genesis 6:20 in the ESV and YLT. The more literal English translations indicate that the animals did not simply arrive. At the proper time, they went “in” to the Ark to Noah by themselves to be kept alive by Noah’s family. YLT says “two of every [sort] they come in unto thee, to keep them alive,” Likewise, the ESV says “two of every kind shall come in to you to keep them alive.” Such miraculous choosing, calling, and direction straight from God to the animals would undoubtedly have made loading much easier and faster.

14 The popular perspective as to when God closed the door and sealed Noah and his family inside the Ark is seven days prior to the beginning of the Flood. However, this “sit-and-wait-a-week” view does not appear to be necessary, based upon the Hebrew text itself (Gen. 7:1–16). See Dr. Steven W. Boyd’s Answers Research Journal article, “The Last Week Before the Flood,” in which he argues that the animals came aboard during the seven days immediately before the Flood began. https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/last-week-before-the-flood/ This view — where the animals began to come through the door of their own volition (Gen. 7:15) immediately after God’s Genesis 7:1–10 statement, and were all on board by the time He initiated the Flood seven days later , in keeping with both the text and a multi-day “caging/situating” timetable based on about 3,500 pairs of animals. What is clear from Genesis 7:7–10 is that God told Noah that the Flood would come in 7 days, Noah and family went in, the animals came, God closed the door, and the Flood overwhelmed the earth. Consider this estimate of the time required for the animals to enter. If there were roughly 1,400 biblical “kinds” yielding a combined total of 3,500 clean and unclean pairs of animals and an average of one minute between each of 3,500 pairs (3,500 pairs/7,000 animals from 1,400 “kinds” estimated by researchers for Ark Encounter/Answers in Genesis in May 2016), the procession would have required over 58 straight hours (2 days and 10 hours) with no breaks for Noah’s family to eat or sleep. If the animals came in only during 10 hours per day and there was still an average of 60 seconds between animal kinds to situate each pair, the procession would have lasted just under 6 days: 3500 pairs x 1.0 min = 3500 min / 60 min = 58.33 hours / 10 hours per day = 5.83 days. Alternatively, if there were 1,400 kinds with a total of 3,500 pairs and an average of only 10 seconds between each pair, the cavalcade would have lasted less than 10 hours — 3500 x .1666 min = 583 min / 60 min = 9.72 hours.) Regardless, sometime after the last animal pair entered the ark, God closed the door (Gen. 7:16). The eerie and awesome supernatural closing of the large and heavy Ark door may have been soon after the last animal, or it may have occurred sometime on the seventh day (Gen. 7:4 and 7:10). Exactly when the door was closed is not precisely revealed. However, at some point on the seventh day, the Creator and Savior of humanity unleashed all the fountains of the great deep and opened the floodgates of the heavens (Gen. 7:11). The greatest judgment ever to visit planet earth began, and “the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” (2 Pet. 3:6; NKJV).

15 Romans 8:29.

16 Genesis 6:20, 7:15–16.

17 Genesis 6:20 — animals will come to you to keep them alive.

18 “Caring for the Animals on the Ark,” by John Woodmorappe, Answers magazine vol 2.2 (published by Answers in Genesis), and online at http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/caring-for-the-animals. Many animals have a latent ability to hibernate or for their bodily functions to nearly stop for a time. The Bible does not reference such created capabilities, but if employed by God during the Flood, the daily workload of Noah’s family would have been even less.

19 Genesis 6:3. Also consider that there were other righteous people living during the 120 years leading up to the Flood, at the very least Methuselah and his son Lamech. Lamech died about 5 years prior to the Flood, and his father Methuselah — whose life spanned from about 240 years prior to Adam’s death, to the 600th year of Noah — died the same year as the start of the Flood. Methuselah’s death may have even occurred just prior to the start of the Flood.

20 2 Peter 3:7–13, 17; 1 Thessalonians 5:3.