How was the ark loaded? The Bible says all the animals were all loaded in seven days [Gen. 7:4].?

Question

Even if there were only 9 million species to be loaded, there would have to be an average of 30 animals per second going through the ark's one door.

Answer 1

I'd like to know how the kangaroos made it from Mt. Ararat (in Turkey) all the way to Australia. Did Noah push the ark off the mountain, then swing by and drop them off?

Answer 2

Unfortunately, after the flood, if you accept that it was brought on my massive sudden cooling of the earth's crust, they topography of this planet was radically changed. Also, it would have made sense to load only baby animals. How so? Consider the story as it is written. Noah takes about 100 years to build the ark. During that time he begins gathering the animals that will go into the ark. We don't know how many he gathered or how sophisticated the system was for doing so. He seems to have gathered only those creatures that were edible or had some other value (perhaps their usefulness as hides, labor enhancers, etc.). Also, a smart man would have built some sort of zoo to keep the animals in one place, to charge visitors to see them, and use the funds to buy materials or tools for building the ark. Even dissecting the story and making assumptions is at best speculative since the purpose of the story was not to explain a zoological and logistical exercise but to provide a theological understanding of how God both punished sin and delivered the faithful. To help you in your study, go to a seminary or a library that contains commentaries on the Bible and research the volumes on Genesis. Things to consider: The Bible is primarily theological in nature. The Book of Genesis is provided to explain to the Israelites coming out of Egypt how they came to be descendants of Adam, their human origins, the beginning of sin, the fall of man, the continuing love of God to provide for them, their continued degradation into sin, God's continuing providence in delivering those who would trust Him, the survival of the human species, the survival of many, but not all, animal species, the formation of nations and languages, and eventually the plight the Jews found themselves in and why they had to be delivered again and again from sin. Also, a textual note: the use of the number "seven" throughout Genesis was used as a number indicative of perfection and in the case of loading the animals could show that whatever Noah did he did perfectly (as in he did good!). Hope this helps. Take care.

Answer 3

Who said that it was only 9 Million Species? God brought them to the Ark, so it stands to reason that God also took care of having them go inside. Even though you are questioning, at least you have the count correct. Or do you? I will help. OF every UNCLEAN animal there were TWO of each. OF every CLEAN there were SEVEN of each. WHY? The clean were brought in by 7s because before Christ, animal sacrifices were done, AND ONLY Clean animals were allowed to be sacrificed. One of EACH Clean animal was sacrificed, and the other 6, three males and three females were used to repopulate, thus clean animals were bred so as to have them for future sacrifices, AND FOOD. Man was NOT allowed to eat meat until after the FLOOD. It is all in Genesis if you would care to read it for your self. You will find that it is VERY interesting and IF you READ it carefully AND slowly, there is a lot to learn that one will LOOK OVER if they do not take their time in doing so. Be glad to help more if you need of want it.

Answer 4

Interesting question! I wonder if the world had become such an abomination, why didn't he just recreate? One possibility, is that at that time cross breeding may not have been so infuential, and there were less breeds. In most movies that you see portraying the great flood, you see the animals entering the ark two by two, without any influence, almost as if they knew what they were supposed to do. Strange.

Answer 5

I'm not sure but God for some reason was fascinated with that number seven wasn't he? What do you suppose that was all about? The Noah that the bible was based on only loaded his live stock for market and domestic animals before the storm made him move his family on the boat. in the resulting flood he was swept out to sea where he drifted until eventually being washed ashore. When the story was repeated many times over word to mouth it eventually became a highly exaggerated urban legend. And ignorant old men added it to the Holy Bible. Just my opinion.

Answer 6

I want to know how the 2 lions didn't eat the two gazelles, the 2 antelopes and the 2 zebras - after all they were on the boat for a long time.

Hmm... is it possible... it never actually happened?

No that's silly - if it was written in an old book it must be true.

You're only counting species alive today - there are like 200 species of rhinoceros in the fossil record compared to 2 left today.

Better make it 300 species per second.

Answer 7

The ark was according to the bible as long 2 football field, and as wide as 75 yards. Birds and bugs could fly on, fish wouldn't need to be, and who is to say there wasn't more than one door. As for fitting them all on, it had multiple stories. your question is also moot, since nowhere in Genesis chapters 4-6 does it say they were loaded on in 7 days.

Answer 8

All animals of the KNOWN world (obviously not 9 million) - covering only the mediterranean & middle east areas - because other animals in the Americas, Africa, Far Eastern Asia, Northern Europe and Australia survived. Therefore the flood was NOT a world wide Phenomenon.

Answer 9

And what did they eat? 9 Million species all able to get through at 30 per second would need to be fed, have their excretement dealt with and so on....

Answer 10

What I find disturbing is God knew ahead of time there wouldn't be many people comming on the ark and gave Noah just enough instructions to build it big enough for ever how many animals he did take on.