How Only Eight People Cared for All the Animals on Noah’s Ark

previously on the Genesis account of Noah's Ark we posed and answered several questions such as what's the difference between animal kinds versus species what were the biblical kinds of animals that were needed on board and how many kinds were there on Noah's Ark join us now as we discuss how many individual animals were on the ark and continue answering the numerous objections to the idea of how only eight people cared for all of the animals on board in part 7 of The Genesis account of Noah's Ark clarifying the difference between our modern animal classification systems word species versus the Biblical term kind is helpful to narrow down the biological payload that needed to be on board the great watercraft but it still leaves the question how many individual animals were on the ark and that question almost always leads to then how could they possibly all fit on board and be cared for by Noah and his family consisting of just eight adults it's important to understand that Bible Skeptics often paint the Genesis account of Noah's Ark in the worst possible light frequently straw Manning the text introducing negative depictions of it dismissing legitimate Arguments for it or simply hand waving it away so as to not have to deal with it and this is why the team at the ark encounter did so much heavy lifting so to speak when it came to the details surrounding the account as they knew that a literal life-size representation of the event would invite much criticism and scrutiny however for those that are willing to keep an open mind the analysis of the text combined with the assessment as to the feasibility of the biblical account shows it is extremely trustworthy observe the following chart that outlines their conclusions now it's worth noting that the numbers included here are only initial estimates drawn from currently available information on the other hand a hypothetical 3D digital Arc created by the arc encounter design team complete with all enclosures interior structural elements food and water storage showed that everything fit extremely well with a little space left over as you can see the ark encounter team projected that there were fewer than 7 000 animals on board the ark the wide discrepancy between the number of Arc kinds and Arc individuals is due to the relatively large number of flying and clean kinds each estimated at 14 animals apiece for This research it's important to realize the considerations that were made in assembling this chart which includes the following question how big were the ark animals as mentioned previously people often wonder how all the animals could have fit on the ark particularly when considering the massive dinosaurs and other huge animals most people have seen so many children's illustrations of large creatures packed tightly onto a little boat but this image is mockingly inaccurate as we've seen Noah's Ark was much larger than it's usually depicted and many of the animals were probably much smaller than and shown in the popular pictures this it makes more sense to think that God would have sent to Noah juveniles or smaller varieties within the same kind rather than fully grown versions consider the following advantages to Bringing juveniles or smaller versions of a creature they take up less space they eat less they create less waste and they're often easier to manage and they're generally more durable and in the case of juveniles they would have had more time to reproduce After the flood indeed even when the giant dinosaurs and elephant-sized creatures are factored in the ark animals were probably much smaller than frequently assumed as a main reason creatures were preserved in the first place is to have them survive and reproduce After the flood was over it wouldn't have made much sense to bring Grandma and Grandpa on board the ark it would have made much more sense to have brought younger more vigorous Representatives better suited to procreate easily and effectively according to Arc encounter estimates it's projected only 15 percent of Arc animals would have achieved an average adult Mass over 22 pounds or 10 kilograms this means that the vast majority of Arc animals were smaller than a beagle with most of those being much smaller starting with a mass category of .035 to 0.35 ounces or 1 to 10 grams the animal groups were distributed into eight logarithmically increasing size classes amazingly the size range with the greatest projected number of Arc animals was 0.35 to 3.5 ounces so between 10 to 100 grams one common explanation proposed for how Noah and his family could have cared for so many animals is that the animals hibernated during the voyage however while this certainly would have been convenient for the family we're not told from scripture that this was the case so when the ark encounter design team considered Food Water waste management needs Etc they once again applied their worst case scenario approach and assumed that all of the animals were awake and active now is this actually the case inside the ark well we just don't know dark closed in spaces do tend to induce inactivity in many animals particularly reptiles who will often fall into a state of inactivity called torpor so while many of the arc animals may have hibernated or been largely inactive for part of the flood year it's likely that Noah and his family couldn't count on this Behavior being the norm and would have planned accordingly after all God told Noah and you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten and You Shall Gather it to yourself and it shall be food for you and for them Genesis 6 verse 21. and that includes the animals of course so the foregone conclusion is that the animals would be awake to eat those Provisions now some people mistakenly assume that the ark animals were free to roam the ark but there are obvious problems with that idea first it wouldn't be safe for the animals on a vessel that surely walked and pitched in the stormy seas second there's no guarantee that all of the Ark animals were vegetarian and finally and most importantly the Lord told Noah to make rooms in the Ark in Genesis 6 verse 14. now some Bible translations use the term nests instead of rooms but the intention is clear essentially Noah was to make enclosures for the ark animals and cage or pen systems were likely the easiest way to ensure every animal remains safe and receive the care they needed which leads to a more problematic question Skeptics often ask which is how did they care for creatures with specialized needs now it's true that many animals today require special care in order for them to survive well in captivity and hippopotamuses are frequently cited as one so we'll use them as an example as they have skin it must be kept wet much of the time but is it really unrealistic to believe that Noah and his family could have kept a pair of hippos alive on the ark the ark had plenty of water so it's possible that Noah's family developed a system to regularly deliver water to keep the hippos moist but on the other hand these creatures may not have been as difficult to tend to as many people imagine you see there are actually two species of Hippo kind in the world today the animal most people think of is the common large hippopotamus seen in movies and documentaries but there's also the pygmy hippo now the pygmy hippo is more terrestrial than the common hippo albeit still semi-aquatic and they're most similar to the fossil hippos found in the early post-led Rock layers so it could very well be that the ark's hippos were likely smaller and more terrestrial and therefore easier to care for than the large common hippos of today remember just as shorter parents can have very tall children so too could they have contained the genetic variation within them required to produce the larger hippos we see today when pondering the reality of caring for such a large amount of creatures the question no one must have considered is how much food would need to be gathered of course once a number of important data points are logged for example the number of animals average animal masses and metabolic rates per kind Etc a simple formula can be used to estimate the food requirements on the ark based on information collected by Arc encounter researchers the minimum bulk food volume needed on the ark was 17 125 cubic feet assuming 80 dry matter and that equals over 400 tons scripture doesn't record for us if Noah was given all of this information so how could he know how much food to store well not necessarily knowing how long their Voyage would be it's possible that the family simply loaded the ark with as much food as it could take allowing space for other necessities such as the animal enclosures workspaces and living quarters and while constructing the half Arc model for an exhibit in the ark encounter researchers discovered that everything fit quite nicely because although NOAA may not have known how much food they'd need God surely did it's also important to consider what types of food would need to be gathered after creating everything in the beginning the Lord stated that people and animals were to eat vegetation in Genesis 1 29 and 30. and it wasn't until after the flood that God permitted man to eat meat Genesis 9 3 after sin entered into the world we can't be sure when certain animals began to eat meat it may have been immediate or it could have been more gradual although the fossil record provides strong evidence that carnivorous occurred prior to the flood if carnivorous activity was prevalent in the pre-flood world as is implied in Genesis 6 12 it's still possible that the individual animals the Lord sent did not eat meat however some of the ark's animals did require eating meat there are several methods of preserving or supplying their food meat can be preserved through drying pickling salting or smoking certain fish can pack themselves in mud and survive for years without water and these could have been stored on the ark mealworms and other insects can be bred for both carnivores and insectivores in any case most of the animals were vegetarian and could survive as vegetarians for a period of time without special provision to provide food for all of these animals Noah's family could have grown or purchased vast doors of grains grasses seeds and nuts in preparation certain vegetables with a long shelf life could have been brought aboard as could dried varieties of several fruits and vegetables as well placing food in large silos bags or other corruptible containers could have resulted in an unacceptable degree of spoilage and waste alternatively using sealed Earthen vessels perhaps stored in shelving units are bundled together with ropes would have provided better moisture stability and reduced the likelihood of infestation and while Noah's family could have used other storage methods for example barrels and crates Firth and wear makes a lot of sense given the Simplicity of production and the requirements for keeping Goods free of contaminants and strategic placement of food would minimize the effort needed to retrieve and distribute it now as robust as the research has been in the end for Christians the most important reason to believe that all the right food and animals fit has nothing to do with spreadsheets and 3D models as helpful as they can sometimes be they just help us understand the hows and the whys of the narrative we find the real reason in the Bible in the book of Hebrews where the writer says by faith Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household by this he condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness that comes by faith just as Noah trusted God concerning unseen things so too should we trust God in the things we can't presently witness since God provided both the ark specifications and the creatures sustained within the vessel as per Genesis 6 20 Bible Believers can know just as surely as Noah that they all fit and were spared the watery judgment join us next time as we dive deeper into some of the numerous more involved objections to the idea of how only eight people cared for all of the animals on board the Earth including practical considerations as to how drinking water was provided how waste management was handled and how light requirements could have been achieved all in part 8 of The Genesis account Noah's Ark [Music]

Channel: Ark Encounter

Views: 44,608

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Length: 12min 33sec (753 seconds)

Published: Fri May 26 2023