I'm sure it is no surprise to anyone who has a Christ-related Instagram account that every now and again you will get angry atheists who apparently lack any sense of propriety in expressing their opinions. Today, I was the target of such an account: @religionfree. Since they felt the freedom to post a screenshot of my account, I think it's only fair that I am allowed to share my experience with them.
I woke up with morning with a bombardment of angry messages, much of the content was profanity. I am absolutely astounded how atheists hide behind science but then when I present the science, they either insult my education, my God, or ignore ANY science that could support Biblical accounts. One commentator even said "I don't believe in gravity". The same person discredited Dr. Walt Brown from MIT because according to him, you CAN'T be a scientist AND a creationist. I think this comment speaks for itself.
But this account did have questions about the specifics on Noah's Ark...specifically caring for so many animals aboard the Ark for an extended period of time. I am sure, as with most atheists, they all assume the world was then as it is today. The Bible says "not so!". Pre-diluvian Earth was very different from today; it speaks of a uniform weather across the Earth. No extreme weathers such as deserts or the Arctic. Anyway I found that it was a good enough question to make an entire post about it.
So, how DID Noah care for so many animals? I found an amazing article by John Woodmorappe, who is a scientist and researcher in the areas of biology, geology and paleontology. His credentials: two bachelors and a masters in Geology. I wanted to quote directly from his article because his explanation simply cannot be paraphrased any better by me!
"According to Scripture, Noah's Ark was a safe haven for representatives of all the kinds of air-breathing land animals that God created. While it is possible that God made miraculous provisions for the daily care of these animals, it is not necessary—or required by Scripture—to appeal to miracles. Exploring natural solutions for day-to-day operations does not discount God’s role: the biblical account hints at plenty of miracles as written, such as God bringing the animals to the Ark (Genesis 6:20; 7:9. 15). It turns out that a study of existing, low-tech animal care methods answers trivial objections to the Ark. In fact, many solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems are rather straightforward.
How Did Noah Fit All the Animals on the Ark?
(This is quoted from my previous post)
"Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 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 6:14-21 NKJV)
First thing is first: how long is a cubit? Well, there are two answers to that. Typically, a cubit was based on the distance from the elbow to the fingertip. This, of course varies slightly. There are two cubit measurements that appear in the Bible. The first "short" cubit is about 17.5 inches long, while the less common "long" cubit is about 20.4 inches long. Using the short cubit as our reference, Noah's ark would have been measured approximately 437.5 feet long, 72.9 feet wide, and 43.8 feet high. The ark was instructed to have 3 decks, spaced 15 feet apart, giving the ark a total surface area of 95,700 square feet. This is approximately the size of 522 train cars. In the book, The Genesis Flood by Henry Morris and John Whitcomb, they calculate the ark's occupancy capacity to be 125,000 animals. Based on the information the Bible provides us, there were less than 17,600 species; God instructed to have two of each, one male and one female. This brings the total of 35,200 animals. In addition, God instructed to have 5 of each clean animal so now this brings the total occupancy to approximately 79,000 animals. This is well within the limits of the Ark's capacity. Curious fact: there is a British battleship, the HMS Deadnought with very similar proportions to Noah's Ark.
(Back to Woodmorappe's article)
"According to the Bible, the Ark had three decks (floors). It is still necessary to take account of the floor spaces required by large animals, such as elephants and rhinos. But even these, collectively, do not require a large area because it is most likely that these animals were young, but not newborns. Even the largest dinosaurs were relatively small when only a few years old"
How Were the Animals Cared For?
We must distinguish between the long-term care required for animals kept in zoos and the temporary, emergency care required on the Ark. The animals’ comfort and healthy appearance were not essential for emergency survival during one stressful year, where survival was the primary goal. Studies of nonmechanized animal care indicate that eight people could have fed and watered the creatures. The key is to avoid unnecessary walking around. As the old adage says, “Don’t work harder, work smarter.”
Therefore, Noah probably stored the food and water near each animal. Even better, drinking water could have been piped into troughs, just as the Chinese have used bamboo pipes for this purpose for thousands of years. The use of some sort of self-feeders, as is commonly done for birds, would have been relatively easy and probably essential. Animals that required special care or diets were uncommon and should not have needed an inordinate amount of time from the handlers. Even animals with the most specialized diets in nature could have been switched to readily sustainable substitute diets. Of course, this assumes that animals with specialized diets today were likewise specialized at the time of the Flood.
How Did the Animals Breathe?
Based on my two decades of research, I do not believe that anything more was needed than a basic, non-mechanical ventilation system. The density of animals on the Ark, compared to the volume of enclosed space, was much less than we find in some modern, mass animal housing used to keep stock raised for food (such as chicken farms), which requires no special mechanical ventilation.
It is reasonable to believe that one relatively small window would have adequately ventilated the Ark. Of course if there were a window along the top center section, which the Bible allows, all occupants would be even more comfortable. It is also interesting to note that the convective movement of air, driven by temperature differences between the warm-blooded animals and the cold interior surfaces, would have been significant enough to drive the flow of air. Plus, wind blowing into the window would have enhanced the ventilation further. However, if supplementary ventilation was necessary, it could have been provided by wave motion, fire thermal, or even a small number of animals harnessed to slow-moving rotary fans.
Animal enclosures with sloped, self-cleaning floors, emptying into a manure gutter or pit.
What Did Noah and His Family Do with the Animal Waste?
As much as 12 U.S. tons (11 m. tons) of animal waste may have been produced daily. The key to keeping the enclosures clean was to avoid the need for Noah and his family to do the work. The right systems could also prevent the need to change animal bedding. Noah could have accomplished this in several ways. One possibility would be to allow the waste to accumulate below the animals, much as we see in modern pet shops. In this regard, there could have been slatted floors, and animals could have trampled their waste into the pits below. Small animals, such as birds, could have multiple levels in their enclosures, and waste could have simply accumulated at the bottom of each.
The danger of toxic or explosive manure gases, such as methane, would be alleviated by the constant movement of the Ark, which would have allowed manure gases to be constantly released. Secondly, methane, which is half the density of air, would quickly find its way out of a small opening such as a window. There is no reason to believe that the levels of these gases within the Ark would have approached hazardous levels.
Alternatively, sloped floors would have allowed the waste to flow into large central gutters. Noah’s family could have then dumped this overboard without an excessive expenditure of manpower. The problem of manure odor may, at first thought, seem insurmountable. But we must remember that, throughout most of human history, humans lived together with their farm animals. Barns, separate from human living quarters, are a relatively recent development.
While the voyage of the Ark may not have been comfortable or easy, it was certainly doable, even under such unprecedented circumstances.
A Look Inside the Ark
This is a cross-section view of a possible design of the interior of the Ark.
Genesis 6:16 instructs that the Ark is to be made “with lower, second, and third decks” (NKJV). In this version of the Ark’s interior, there are two levels that do not extend across the entire width of the ship. These half-floors are not separate levels.
Animal Housing
Genesis 6:14 instructs Noah to “make rooms [nests] in the ark” (NKJV). These rooms or nests would simply be stalls and cages for the animals.
This scale model shows below the effective design of Noah’s Ark. This second-floor model shows the extra half-floor within the three deck structure that could have been used for possible storage or animal housing.
Stairs
Several staircases and ladders could be fitted throughout the Ark to gain quick access to another deck. Ramps near the ends of the hull could be used to get animals and heavy loads between decks.
Food & Water
Mezzanine levels improve access to food storage, utilizing gravity to supply grain and water to the animal enclosures below. Water could be directed in pipes (metal, wood, leather, bamboo, etc.) from tanks on upper levels.
Light & Ventilation
The central skylight provides lighting and ventilation to the center section of the Ark. Slatted floors maximize airflow to the lower decks.
Of course I know rattling off numbers is difficult to get a comparison of the size of the Ark so I have included this photo for comparison.
Photo Credit
You make your own conclusions. Of course my last post just proves my point again! Jesus was here, walked among us and did many wonders and still people did not believe. My aim with this website isn't to convert anyone. I can't do that. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
My point is this: in spite of the evidence and even if Jesus Himself came down, atheists would still refuse to believe. Only God knows why. So even though I was discouraged this morning with all the hateful messages, many of you took the time to send positive messages and prayers my way. THANK YOU! I can't tell you how much it was uplifted me! Atheists will only accept evidence that will reinforce their belief and shut out anything that contradicts it by calling it "pseudoscience" or any number of profane things. But I rest assured, I do this for the honor and glory of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not for me, and certainly not for them. So keep it coming...all you will get in return from me is a very positive: "May God bless you".
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