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Lest We Forget

We have in the Bible the account of a man who was asked by God to build an ark. Noah was a reasonable man. But you can imagine some of the problems he had. He is floating in an ark in the middle of the ocean, rain is pouring down and tidal waves have occurred. He must care for 35,000 animals and 850,000 pairs of insects. God in His goodness and provision did not leave Noah alone and adrift.

The Bible sheds some light on Noah's problems and what took place during the flood. Genesis 8:1 reads, "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark..."

The word "remembered" is fascinating. We have a tendency sometimes to feel that in order to remember something we have to first of all forget it. Some people tie string around a finger, look at it later and say, Aha, I have a string on my finger, but they cannot remember why. It is a human tendency to forget things. This verse does not mean that God was so busy destroying the earth that all of a sudden it dawned on Him that Noah was down there. No, it does not mean that. The thief on the cross said to the Lord Jesus Christ,

"Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." The Lord Jesus said, "This day you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

He remembered the man and took care of his need. That is what is conveyed in Genesis. God remembered Noah and every living thing that was with him in the ark. That means God took care of them and though Noah had taken provisions for himself and the animals, I think God stepped in and slowed down the metabolic processes of some of these animals so that the roughest part of the voyage was spent in a type of suspended animation or hibernation. Animals today hibernate, some sleep through the winter and some estivate or sleep through the summer. The purpose of hibernation is an escape from a drastic seasonal change. Before the flood, conditions were uniformly tropical or subtropical over much of the earth and there would be no harsh weather to escape. It seems than that hibernation as we explain it, could be a carryover from the time these animals spent on the ark. Since there is not a great difference between those animals that hibernate and those that do not, some have continued this behavior in their new post-flood environments. Perhaps this is an evidence of God's provision during the flood.

Does it appear that I am reading into the text? I do not think so. Observe what the Scriptures say. The animals entered into the ark two by two, with the exception of those clean animals which entered the ark by sevens. The animals left the ark a year later two by two including the rabbits. Have you ever raised rabbits or hamsters? If you started with two and ended up a year later with two, it seems to me you had two male rabbits or hamsters. But God said in Genesis 8:17 to Noah, "Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; and they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth."

They were not to multiply in the ark. For population control God had to step in and slow down their life processes. God's provision was seen throughout the voyage. He remembered and took care of all the animals and their needs.