What Do We Know About the Animals That Went Into The Ark
What Do We Know About the Animals That Went Into The Ark
Scripture:
“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”(Genesis 6:19-20).
“You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth” (Genesis 7:2-3).
“On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.”– Genesis 7:13-16
Dinosaurs:
Were the dinosaurs on the Ark with all of the other animals? The answer is “Yes!” Since Noah was told to “bring two of every sort,” this would certainly include the dinosaurs that existed at the time. We have abundant evidence in the historical and biblical record (see Job 40:15-19) suggesting that dinosaurs existed alongside human beings after the Flood, meaning that they were on the Ark (along with “all flesh”) during the Flood!
You might ask, “But how did they get the BIG ones on the Ark?” It is true that some dinosaurs, such as the Apatosaurus, were quite large (over 70 feet long in some cases); but remember a couple of things: first, the average size of an adult dinosaur was about the size of a rhinoceros; second, the Bible does not say how old the animals were that were on the Ark. It is very likely that the animals on the Ark were young, maybe even babies! This would change the space and food requirements drastically!
Species/Kinds:
Scientists claim that there are over 11 million living species on the planet. Some argue that there would not have been enough space on the Ark for all of these animals; but is this true? First of all, the concept of a “species” is not the same as the word used in the Bible (Moses used the word “kind” in Genesis 6:20). This means, for example, that instead of having one of every single variety/species of dog on the Ark (coyote, wolf, domestic, jackal, and varieties such as the German Shepherd, Labrador, Beagle, etc.), Noah would have simply had representatives of the dog kind, from which came the variety we see today.
Also, among these 11 million species of animal life in existence, only a fraction of those would have actually been on the Ark. After we eliminate plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and all of the animals that don’t fit the Bible’s descriptions, we are left with only a few thousand different “kinds” of animals! All of the animals that we see today have come from those that were on the Ark, and there would have been plenty of space for them on this massive vessel!
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