Question: Were there dinosaurs in the ark? How could all those animals fit inside the ark?

Answer: It seems that people are forever doubting the Bible's teaching. Many will not believe a thing unless it harmonizes with their own preconceived notions, or their particular form of rationale, regardless how flawed their thinking and logic are. An example of this refusal to accept God's word unless it is consistent with one's own thinking involves the animals of the antediluvian world and the ark. The Bible tells us that Noah took two of each animal (except for the clean animals) into the ark (Genesis 7). Man says this proves the Bible's unreliability because no boat could transport so large a volume of animals. Some among those who profess to believe the Bible claim there was a second creation following the flood. This is necessary, they say, because the ark was inadequate to accommodate such a large number of animals.

Modern man often has the same foibles as the Greeks at Corinth. They took great pride in their wisdom and ability to think (1 Corinthians 1:4). In their human wisdom, they counted as foolishness the preaching of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:21). In doing so, "the world by wisdom knew not God..." (vs.21). Indeed, we are endowed with thinking and reasoning ability that is superior to the rest of God's creation. God expects us to use this ability. "Of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:11-14) However, man's intellect is often defeated because of his proclivity for doubting, and attempting to disprove, the Bible. Could it be that our thinking regarding Noah and the ark has failed to completely consider the facts?

Facts relative to Noah's task, the animals, and the ark. Noah was a righteous man, a man who did what God asked. "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did." (Gen. 6:22) "And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly." (2 Peter 2:5). Noah, by faith, accepted God's commission. "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." (Hebrews 11:7)

The ark's dimensions are recorded in Genesis 6:15-17. "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." The ark's volumetric carrying capacity has been calculated as equal to 522 standard railroad stock cars, with the ability to transport 125,000 sheep. One item often missed in the rush to disprove the biblical account of the animals and the ark is that only land animals had to be placed on the ark. The ark was also constructed in three stories. There were stalls, or rooms, to accommodate the animals.

Some suggest there are only 17,600 actual species (kinds) of animals. Using a number of factors and calculations, they have concluded there were about 50,000 animals on the ark (compare the 125,000-sheep statement). Of course, scoffers seldom take the time, or do sufficient research, to establish the total number of species and the volumetric carrying capacity of a ship with the dimensions of the ark. The ark's size and its ability are also consistent with the universal scope of the flood (not just local flooding, as some contend).

Some object to the Genesis account, claiming Noah could not have gathered all the animals. This argument could be valid if we consider only Noah's ability. However, the Bible tells us the animals came to Noah. "Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive," God told Noah (Genesis 6:20). Intelligent reader, God is not obligated to placate our thinking ability and objections. When God says something, we must accept it, even if we do not understand how or why. However, in many cases, if we lay aside our prejudices and honestly consider the matter, research does nothing but further establish the Bible's truth.

Have we forgotten that with God, ALL things are possible? "Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." {Genesis 18:14} "For with God nothing will be impossible." {Luke 1:37} God enabled the 100-year-old Abraham and his 90-year-old wife, Sarah, to have a son. God arranged for a virgin, Mary, with the Holy Spirit's assistance, to give birth to His son, Jesus Christ. Couldn't God make it possible for Noah to gather ALL kinds of animals into the ark? It's a matter of faith.

In conclusion, there really is no reason to doubt the Genesis account of the animals and the ark. In fact, the more we study the Bible, the more we trust God. Consider what the Psalmist wrote: "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:103-105). Again, "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." (Psalm 119:89)

All my life, I have been bombarded with these types of questions. Where did Cain get his wife? How did God stay the sun for a day? How could a great fish swallow a man and then vomit him out on dry land? How could Jericho's walls fall, simply because Israel marched around them? How could Peter be in prison one minute and a free man the next, on the city street? How could Christ be God and, at the same time, man, yet keep each separate from the other? All these questions have the same answer--with God's help, nothing is impossible! We forget Moses' words in the book of Deuteronomy, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." {Deuteronomy 29:29} Whatever God did not reveal, we do not need to know. We do well if we learn the things He did reveal--that takes a lifetime! (KMG)