Noah's Zoo - Genesis 6-9
How could we have a month of animal stories of the Bible and not look at Noah? Animals galore. Seriously, two of every kind of animal that we have on the earth. Can you imagine being Noah’s neighbor as the animals began to converge? Wow, that would have a been a noisy stinky mess. And yet they would have had to eat and drink and bathe while waiting. Maybe they didn’t wait at all or gather in advance, as we humans would do. Maybe when the time came, God sent them moseying along, each at the pace necessary to walk right up to the ark and in. Wow. That makes it even more incredible to consider. What a logistics feat!
So, there were two of every kind of animal, male and female. There were also seven pairs of all the clean animals and birds. There were eight adults and the seeds and all food that was edible (Gen 6:21). John Woodmoreappe believes there would have been over 16,000 animals in all on the boat and they would have only taken half the space available (His book, Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study is now on my ‘to be read’ list.). Over 500 railway cars would have housed that they needed and all that God commanded them to bring.
Then we get to the actual time on the boat. Yes, the knee-jerk answer to that is 40 days. But it was actually longer than that. A lot longer than that. How long did it take the rabbits and mice to overrun the decks? Apparently the rabbit breeding cycle is only one long. How long before the two-by-two or the 14-by-14 became more or even double that? I can only imagine that the smell and the food stores were taken care of by God. A good swift wind and the multiplying grains would help toward cleanliness. Water wouldn’t be a problem, just hold a bucket out the window for a few minutes or scoop over the side.
So, back to the time on the boat. Genesis Chapter 6 gives us the background of the wicked world and the evil that resided there. Most of us need only watch the news to see how close we are to such a condition. Chapter 7 says that Noah did all that was asked, and the flood came for forty days and forty nights. It must have been very dark. Verse 24 says that the waters covered the earth for 150 days, five months. Now we are up to 190 days, over 6 months and on to Chapter 8. The ark rests on the mountains in the middle of the seventh month. The waters continue to decrease, and at the tenth month, the tops of the mountains can be seen and still Noah could not disembark. The animals could not disembark.
It has been over ten months and they cannot leave the boat. Would 500 train cars be enough space to keep them all and keep them sane? Zookeepers may have some idea of the needs of all these animals and the work that must have been done daily to maintain the pens, feed the animals and keep them clean. What appetites everyone likely had with all the work to each day to also feed the people. Another 40 days pass before Noah checks, sending out a raven to the earth. Then he sends a dove. And still time passes. Another breed of rabbits pop out.
The estimate is that Noah was in the ark one year and ten days (Gen 8:18 AMP). How many animals came out with them when they finally disembarked. I can see why they would then spread out over the earth the way they did, some to tundra, some to desert, some to forests. Each needed his own space.
Now, I do mention the animals breeding. For that matter, it is interesting that Noah’s sons do not seem to have children during this time. I think we only have the example of the sons that would indicate perhaps things were difficult enough and God closed the womb of the animals as he did those of the wives during this time. But that will need to be answered definitively when we get to ask someone who was there.
The end of the story is the rainbow; the covenant that God makes following the flood encompasses the animals as well (Gen 9:10). The animals too shall know that God will not destroy the earth and the creatures upon it through a flood ever again. It is telling that the covenant is established with the animals as well, they clearly know God: who He is, the power He has, the compassion He shows. The rainbow is the sign of the covenant with all living creatures, including the animals. He cares for the least of these, he cares for us. He took them from evil and established them anew. He does this still today, taking us from evil and establishing us anew.
