†. 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 Noah 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.
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. 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.
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 like He did
Elijah and the widows. But in the light of those Bible 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
somehow spared mass extinction by the Flood.
The Hebrew word for "plucked-off" at Gen 8:10-11is from taraph (taw-rawf')
which means indicates a leaf 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.
Common Objection : No vegetation should have survived. God predicted the
mass extinction of all life on earth.
Response : The prediction was limited to creatures within whom was the
breath of life. (Gen 6:17)
Common Objection : Animals cannot choose to hibernate, they must have
the physical ability to do it. Rhinos, Elephants, Horses etc do not have the
ability to hibernate.
Response : Do donkeys have a natural ability to speak?
†. 2Pet 2:15-16 . . Balaam son of Beor, loved the wages of wickedness. But
he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-- a beast without speech -
who spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
The incident to which 2Peter refers is located at Num 22:21-30. It shows
that animals can be altered by their architect in order to do things for which
they were not designed.
FAQ : So, are we to ignore the fact that the carnivores had nothing to eat?
Answer : All animals were originally vegetarians. (Gen 1:29-30) and will
again be vegetarians in the future. (Isa 11:6-9)
If people would just use their imaginations, and think outside the box on a
grander scale than the pee-wee scale of science and empirical evidence,
they might find the Flood a simpler event to accept than they thought
possible.
To begin with the Flood was a miraculous event. Miracles can be roughly
defined as events and circumstances absolutely contrary to nature. When
skeptics try to analyze the Flood from a strictly scientific perspective, they
invariably fail to understand how it could have possibly happened. People
who don't believe in miracles-- who don't believe there is a supernatural
somebody out there with enough power to manipulate the physical universe
at will --always have problems with the Bible. But when a person believes in
miracles, then Noah's experience, though I do not fully understand it,
doesn't perplex in the least.
Cont.
/
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 Noah 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.
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. 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.
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 like He did
Elijah and the widows. But in the light of those Bible 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
somehow spared mass extinction by the Flood.
The Hebrew word for "plucked-off" at Gen 8:10-11is from taraph (taw-rawf')
which means indicates a leaf 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.
Common Objection : No vegetation should have survived. God predicted the
mass extinction of all life on earth.
Response : The prediction was limited to creatures within whom was the
breath of life. (Gen 6:17)
Common Objection : Animals cannot choose to hibernate, they must have
the physical ability to do it. Rhinos, Elephants, Horses etc do not have the
ability to hibernate.
Response : Do donkeys have a natural ability to speak?
†. 2Pet 2:15-16 . . Balaam son of Beor, loved the wages of wickedness. But
he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-- a beast without speech -
who spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
The incident to which 2Peter refers is located at Num 22:21-30. It shows
that animals can be altered by their architect in order to do things for which
they were not designed.
FAQ : So, are we to ignore the fact that the carnivores had nothing to eat?
Answer : All animals were originally vegetarians. (Gen 1:29-30) and will
again be vegetarians in the future. (Isa 11:6-9)
If people would just use their imaginations, and think outside the box on a
grander scale than the pee-wee scale of science and empirical evidence,
they might find the Flood a simpler event to accept than they thought
possible.
To begin with the Flood was a miraculous event. Miracles can be roughly
defined as events and circumstances absolutely contrary to nature. When
skeptics try to analyze the Flood from a strictly scientific perspective, they
invariably fail to understand how it could have possibly happened. People
who don't believe in miracles-- who don't believe there is a supernatural
somebody out there with enough power to manipulate the physical universe
at will --always have problems with the Bible. But when a person believes in
miracles, then Noah's experience, though I do not fully understand it,
doesn't perplex in the least.
Cont.
/
