-
†. Gen 6:21-22 . . For your part, take of everything that is eaten and
store it away, to serve as food for you and for them. Noah did so;
just as God commanded him, so he did.
Noah was every supervisor's dream. He did just what he was told and all
without nary an argument; nor a single protest.
God didn't specify precisely how much food to load aboard. He only
instructed him to store things that are edible; but not their quantity. Nobody
can be sure whether or not Noah knew just how long the Flood was going to
last. If he didn't, then of course he would have no idea how much food he
needed to bring along.
It began to rain on the 17th day of the second month of the 600th year of
Noah's life. The Earth was dry on the 27th day of the second month of his
601st year. So, reckoning time according to prophetic months of 30 days
each, and not counting the final day, Noah's crew and passengers were
aboard the ark for a total of 370 days; which is roughly 5 days over a solar
year, and 10 days over a prophetic year.
So what about the carnivorous animals that came aboard with Noah-- the
lions and tigers and hawks and eagles and meerkats and alligators and
crocodiles? Carnivores can be domesticated when the situation calls for it.
Take for example Daniel in the den of lions. None tried to eat him. And
according to Isa 11:6-9 and Isa 65:25, there's a day coming when the
nature of carnivores will be changed to that of herbivores.
Some have proposed that the animals hibernated so they wouldn't have to
be fed very often nor require much room for exercise nor would they
generate much manure to clean up. That's actually a very plausible
explanation. For example: arctic ground squirrels can lower their body
temperature below freezing and avoid serious head injuries while hibernating
for as long seven months. Why the little guys don't freeze to death is a
mystery.
Others have proposed that Noah didn't actually load an entire year's supply
of food aboard the ark. Just a minimum amount that God then miraculously
sustained. That too is a very plausible explanation.
For example: there are incidents in the Bible where small amounts of food
stuffs were miraculously multiplied. One example is 1Kgs 17:8-16 where a
tiny bit of flour and oil nourished Elijah and a widow woman, and her son,
for a good many days during a time of prolonged drought.
Another incident is at 2Kgs 4:1-7 where a certain widow's husband died and
left her deeply in debt. God multiplied her last pot of oil sufficiently to sell
enough to pay off her debts, thereby saving her two sons from slavery.
At 1Kgs 19:5-9, when Elijah was running away from that horrible Jezebel, he
was fatigued and napping under a bush when a messenger of God woke him
up to eat a single biscuit and drink some water. Elijah survived on the
nourishment of that measly little snack for the next forty days.
I'm not insisting that God sustained everyone aboard the ark via hibernation
and/or like He did Elijah and the widows. But in the light of nature's
examples, and the Bible's examples, it isn't unreasonable to believe that's
exactly what happened. Many details remain a mystery and apparently God
didn't feel it was important for everybody to know how He and Noah did it.
Well; that's His decision and I respect it; but I still wish Genesis told us
more.
Another logistics problem was feeding everybody when the Flood was over.
What would they eat then? Well, that was no problem. The olive leaf that a
dove had in her beak at Gen 8:10-11 indicates that earth's flora was spared
mass extinction by the Flood.
The Hebrew word for "plucked-off" at Gen 8:10-11is from taraph (taw-rawf')
which means: recently torn off; in other words: the dove didn't pick up an
old dead leaf lying around on the ground; no, it was fresh-cut and green
right off the tree. But didn't God predict the mass extinction of all life on
earth? Yes; He did; but the prediction was limited to creatures within whom
was the breath of life. (Gen 6:17)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 6:21-22 . . For your part, take of everything that is eaten and
store it away, to serve as food for you and for them. Noah did so;
just as God commanded him, so he did.
Noah was every supervisor's dream. He did just what he was told and all
without nary an argument; nor a single protest.
God didn't specify precisely how much food to load aboard. He only
instructed him to store things that are edible; but not their quantity. Nobody
can be sure whether or not Noah knew just how long the Flood was going to
last. If he didn't, then of course he would have no idea how much food he
needed to bring along.
It began to rain on the 17th day of the second month of the 600th year of
Noah's life. The Earth was dry on the 27th day of the second month of his
601st year. So, reckoning time according to prophetic months of 30 days
each, and not counting the final day, Noah's crew and passengers were
aboard the ark for a total of 370 days; which is roughly 5 days over a solar
year, and 10 days over a prophetic year.
So what about the carnivorous animals that came aboard with Noah-- the
lions and tigers and hawks and eagles and meerkats and alligators and
crocodiles? Carnivores can be domesticated when the situation calls for it.
Take for example Daniel in the den of lions. None tried to eat him. And
according to Isa 11:6-9 and Isa 65:25, there's a day coming when the
nature of carnivores will be changed to that of herbivores.
Some have proposed that the animals hibernated so they wouldn't have to
be fed very often nor require much room for exercise nor would they
generate much manure to clean up. That's actually a very plausible
explanation. For example: arctic ground squirrels can lower their body
temperature below freezing and avoid serious head injuries while hibernating
for as long seven months. Why the little guys don't freeze to death is a
mystery.
Others have proposed that Noah didn't actually load an entire year's supply
of food aboard the ark. Just a minimum amount that God then miraculously
sustained. That too is a very plausible explanation.
For example: there are incidents in the Bible where small amounts of food
stuffs were miraculously multiplied. One example is 1Kgs 17:8-16 where a
tiny bit of flour and oil nourished Elijah and a widow woman, and her son,
for a good many days during a time of prolonged drought.
Another incident is at 2Kgs 4:1-7 where a certain widow's husband died and
left her deeply in debt. God multiplied her last pot of oil sufficiently to sell
enough to pay off her debts, thereby saving her two sons from slavery.
At 1Kgs 19:5-9, when Elijah was running away from that horrible Jezebel, he
was fatigued and napping under a bush when a messenger of God woke him
up to eat a single biscuit and drink some water. Elijah survived on the
nourishment of that measly little snack for the next forty days.
I'm not insisting that God sustained everyone aboard the ark via hibernation
and/or like He did Elijah and the widows. But in the light of nature's
examples, and the Bible's examples, it isn't unreasonable to believe that's
exactly what happened. Many details remain a mystery and apparently God
didn't feel it was important for everybody to know how He and Noah did it.
Well; that's His decision and I respect it; but I still wish Genesis told us
more.
Another logistics problem was feeding everybody when the Flood was over.
What would they eat then? Well, that was no problem. The olive leaf that a
dove had in her beak at Gen 8:10-11 indicates that earth's flora was spared
mass extinction by the Flood.
The Hebrew word for "plucked-off" at Gen 8:10-11is from taraph (taw-rawf')
which means: recently torn off; in other words: the dove didn't pick up an
old dead leaf lying around on the ground; no, it was fresh-cut and green
right off the tree. But didn't God predict the mass extinction of all life on
earth? Yes; He did; but the prediction was limited to creatures within whom
was the breath of life. (Gen 6:17)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=