Reading Notes: Week 4, Part B (The Inmates of the Ark)

Wow, this story was full of things that I had never heard of in relation to the flood and Noah and the Ark. I I think it's because I have only ever heard the story of Noah from Genesis, but this story of "The Inmates of the Ark" was from a different perspective and written by a person, Louis Ginzberg, in "The Legends of the Jews." 

This story focuses on the process that Noah had to go through in picking out the animals that would make it on the ark. Noah was to have no less than 32 species of birds and 365 of reptiles he had to take along with him. God ordered the animals to go to the ark, leaving Noah to not have to do more than stretch out a finger. More animals came to the ark than were needed, so God instructed Noah to sit at the entrance of the ark and watch the animals as they approached. If the animals laid as they approached the ark, they were the ones that could come on the ark, instead of the ones that just stood there and waited to be let on. the animals assembled outside of the ark seven days before the flood began, and the ones that were turned away remained outside of the ark until the flood began. When the days leading up to the flood were over, the humans around Noah approached the ark, asking him if they could get on the ark in fear of the flood and all that it would bring. Of course, Noah did not let them on the ark because he knew they were lying about turning back to God just to try and save themselves on the ark. The people became furious and stormed the ark, but the animals that were outside waiting attacked the humans, killing some of them and leaving the others to die by the flood. The story goes on to talk about how nothing that Noah did for himself got him and his family on the ark, but instead it was all out of the grace of God and His faithfulness to His people. 

Picture of a giraffe

(Taken by Sian Cooper on Unsplash)

"The Inmates of the Ark," Louis Ginzberg, "The Legends of the Jews"