The Bible says that Noah was the grandson of Methuselah, the son of Lamech, and the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He was a godly man in an ungodly world. Scripture plainly states that the reason the Lord sent the Flood was because people had become so evil that their sins required Divine punishment. God told Noah that He was going to destroy the world with a giant Flood. Noah told the people and the people refused to believe him. I can imagine how they taunted and jeered at Noah. Here he was, building a boat on dry land with no sign of water anywhere around. Why would anybody need a boat? They probably thought that Noah was crazy, shrugged off his warnings, and went on living as they wanted to live.
God is practical. He is the origin of order and practicality, as well as the Creator of all things beautiful and good. He told Noah exactly how to build the Ark, the dimensions, and what it was supposed to be made of. This was not a ship with sleek lines nor even the ability to be guided through the water by its captain. This was a floating box, a place of refuge, a vessel built to hold many animals, a few people, and to withstand tremendous pressures of wind and water. It was built to the Lord’s specifications and it carried out its purpose beautifully.
I don’t believe that Noah went out and rounded up all the animals. I believe they came to him. God must have given some instinct to the animals. They must have sensed that danger was coming. Even today, tame as well as wild animals, seem to act strangely before an earthquake or a storm. They sense things that people don’t. So, I believe those animals were willing to come to that huge boat. They knew that it was a place of safety. I have often wondered how the animals were able to stay in this one place for such a long time when they were used to roaming freely. The Bible doesn’t state this but it seems rational to me that these were young animals and when they were on board that dark Ark, they were in a state of semi-hibernation, thus not requiring as much food or exercise as usual. Now, the Bible does not say this. This is just what seems logical to me. You may or may not agree. That’s okay.
The story of Noah is such a fascinating one, that I’ll continue with it tomorrow. The biblical account of the Flood underscores how God looks on continual, unrepented sin, and also His care of those who believe Him and obey.
The animals entering Noah’s Ark, from the Book of Genesis, Old Testament. From The Children’s Bible, published c. 1883 (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
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