“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.
(Genesis 6:20)
Most weekday mornings Linde and I sit outside and visit before the craziness of the day begins. The other day we noticed the geese flying southward in great flocks, filling the air with their obnoxious honking as they went. “Why do they make so much noise?” Linde asked. I mused, “Maybe they are gloating over us, saying in effect, ‘so long suckers!’” Whatever the case, it reminded me of something I heard Dr. Whitcomb share many years ago. A friend who worked at Florida’s Mayo Clinic invited him to take a tour of the place. In the tour, his guide showed him the state-of-the-art animal testing facilities. In passing he mentioned that there still remains two great mysteries of the animal kingdom, namely, migration and hibernation. No one really understands what draws animals thousands of miles across the globe, sometimes to destinations they have never been before. Similarly, no one understands how or why animals like black bears gorge themselves during the fall only to waddle into a cave and practically drop dead! Amazingly, after several months of sleeping, these creatures awaken in the spring, hungry, but very much alive. Perhaps something like this occurred at the time of the flood. Today’s verse passage indicates that Noah did not have to go searching for every kind of animal and then struggle to load them onto his ark, rather, God irresistibly drew certain animals to the ark for salvation. Once on board, they may have gorged themselves on the food Noah was instructed to provide (Genesis 6:21) and simply fell asleep. The year-long voyage on the ark therefore may not have been the floating chaos we sometimes imagine it to be. With most of the animals asleep, Noah’s family may not have been working nonstop to keep them alive. In any case, the discussion of migration and hibernation always reminds me of the Gospel and of our call to believe it. As the animals were drawn to the ark, we were drawn to Christ. “No man can come to me,” declared Jesus, “except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44a). Whereas the LORD drew only a portion of the animals to the ark, Christ draws all men to Himself (John 12:32). Whereas the chosen animals were drawn irresistibly, men have been granted the ability to refuse God’s call. They resist the Holy Spirit, (Acts 7:51), drawing back to perdition (Hebrews 10:39), thereby rejecting the will of God for themselves (Luke 7:30; 1 Timothy 2:4). Praise God, our story is different. We are safe and secure in Jesus as the Lord’s precious living cargo was safe in the ark. As hibernating animals revive after the winter months have passed, we also, by God’s amazing grace and matchless power, shall re-enter the land of the living even after we’ve tasted death (John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15).
God bless you,
Pastor John
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