“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.” (Genesis 6:15 NKJV)
The Fairy Tale Ark Room and Real Sized Ark by Lee and Dan
*
*
Birdwatching On The Ark Encounter – Provisions II
*
“These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.” (Psalm 104:27)
Wood Thrush. Nest ©Audubon Society
*
*
The Door of the Ark by Lee
This is the third article in the Birdwatching On Board the Ark Encounter. Below are links to the other articles. This time I would like to share some of the ways they showed how critters and birds were provided with provisions to sustain them. [All the bolding is added emphasis by me.]
In Genesis 6, the God was instructing Noah about building an Ark with all the directions or instructions. Then He informs Adam that his family and the critters are to be onboard also. They were to “keep them alive.”
Genesis 6:18-22 KJV
(18) “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
(19) And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
(20) 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.
(21) And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
(22) Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
How Could They…?
That is a huge undertaking. How would they do that? On the Ark Encounter, it was interesting to see how they visualized this part of their commission to keep the critters alive, especially the birds. That is what this is concentrated on. Also, that same command was given again in:
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:3 KJV)
They Went In the Ark
They went in:
“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” (Genesis 7:11 KJV)
And came out:
“And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 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; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.” (Genesis 8:13-17 KJV)
Now if we do the math, Adam, his family, and the critters were in the ark at least one year and 10 days. That is a lot of provisions to have on board! So, let’s see how the Ark Encounter stored their provisions and provided for all on board.
Here are some of the ways thy stored water and grain:
Now that they have provisions stored, the next photos are food preparations for the humans, I suspect:
In the first articles of the series, you were shown the birds and their cages, but now, they have to be fed. Here are some of the photos from the Ark Encounter suggesting how some of this could have taken place. [Please forgive the photos, they were shot in low light, after all the Ark didn’t have modern lights and fluorescent lighting like today.] I tried to get as many close-ups of the signs as I could. Reading their signs is how the different operations are explained.
As I have been putting this together, it appears we will need a part II. Stay tuned!
*
See Also:
Birdwatching On Board the Ark Encounter – The Doves
Birdwatching On Board the Ark Encounter – More Birds
Avian Kinds on the Ark – Introduction
Avian Kinds on the Ark – What Is A Kind?
Avian Kinds on the Ark – Birds Embarking
*
“By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.” (Psalms 104:12 KJV)
Birds Singing from BeliefNet
*
*
“He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” (Psalms 107:29 KJV)
Flocks Settling at the Shore by Lee
Praise the Lord, Hurricane Matthew is departing our area and the seas are calming back down. Thanks for all the prayers. Our Haitian and Bahamian friends need much prayer as they try to rebuild their lives.
*
*
“I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” (Psalms 55:8 KJV)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) In Rain ©Flickr Nicole Nicky
*
*
“They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.” (Psalm 104:11)
Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) Drinking from lake ©WikiC
*
*
“He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Thy works.” (Psalm 104:13)
Orioles at Feeder ©Wildbeaks.com
*
*
“That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.” (Psalm 104:28)
Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica) ©WikiC
*
*
Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? (Luke 12:24 NKJV)
Raven Feeding ©Flickr Josh More
*
*
The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. (Psalms 145:15 KJV)
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) close-up ©©joule_e
*
*
Endemic Treasures of the Cook Islands:
Atiu Swiftlet and ‘Gospel Day’ Holidays
James J. S. Johnson
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:3-6)
Atiu Swiftlet (Aerodramus sawtelli, a/k/a Kopeka) ©WikiC
The Atiu Swiftlet (Aerodramus sawtelli, a/k/a Sawtelli’s Swift), known locally as the “Kopeka”, is a small member of the swift family, only known to dwell on the Pacific island of Atiu, one of the Cook Islands.
Like other swifts it is sooty-brown in color, with its upper side being darker than its lower side. Those who have studied the Atiu Swiftlet report that it nests in limestone caves, yet ranges over farmed lands and areas dominated by ferns.
Because it appears to only reside in one place, in the wild, it is said to be “endemic”, i.e., endemic to the island of Atiu. However, some taxonomists think the Atiu Swiftlet is only an inbred variety of swift that is conspecific with the Polynesian Swiftlet (Aerodramus leucophaeus, a/k/a Tahitian Swiftlet), the White-rumped Swiftlet (Aerodramus spodiopygius), and maybe even the Australian Swiftlet (Aerodramus terraereginae). Regardless of taxonomic “lumping” or “splitting”, the Atiu Swiftlet is mainly distinguished from other swifts by its troglodyte nesting habits and its limited range.) But for now we may assume that the Atiu Swiftlet, as a separate “species” or as an endemic “subspecies”, is unique to the Cook Islands. Most who read these sentences, before today, had never heard of an “Atiu Swiftlet” – but the Atiu Swiftlets are not worried about their relative obscurity, because God’s caring providence is what they need (Matthew 5:26), not acclaim or fame from folks around the world.
In fact, the Cook Islands host another unusual, not-so-famous, “endemic” treasure – a set of “Gospel Day” holidays, commemorating how God provided the Gospel of Christ (via British missionaries) unto that group of islands in the South Pacific.
In particular, the Cook Islands – for many years – have officially celebrated, with pageantry and gratitude to God, the arrival of Bible-based Christianity (in the early AD1800s), with the various component islands having specific days for recognizing “Gospel Day” as a memorial of the British missionary outreach that blessed their respective islands.
Here are the days that have been (historically) celebrated as “Gospel Day” in the Cook Islands archipelago: March 13th (Penrhyn Gospel Day); May 25th (Palmerston Gospel Day); June 15th (Mangaia Gospel Day); July 19th (Atiu Gospel Day, Mitiaro Gospel Day, and Mauke Gospel Day); August 8th (Manihiki Gospel Day), August 15th (Rakahanga Gospel Day); October 26th (Aitutaki Gospel Day); December 6th (Pukapuka Gospel Day); — plus there is a “National Gospel Day” collectively celebrated in the Cook Islands on October 27th.
Wow! What godly tradition! What other nations show such respect for Christ?
As part of celebrating Gospel Day, in the Cook Islands, elaborate and expressive “nuku” dramas are acted out, by actors wearing colorful costumes who dramatize mankind’s opportunity to be redeemed, in Christ, from sin (sometimes even enacting New York City’s 9/11 Twin Towers disaster, to illustrate the global war between good and evil). Hymn singing – and lots of it! – and dancing and music-making dominate much of the day, as well as feasting (coconut, arrowroot, pawpaw fruit, chicken, salt-meat, etc.), prayer, and interactive Bible-based worship activities.
The missionary efforts of John Williams (“Apostle of the South Seas”, born near London), an English missionary to the Pacific, is recalled with thanksgiving, as well as the historic themes of Christianity. John Williams (of the London Missionary Society) was murdered (and cannibalized) in AD1839 on the beach at Erromango, in Vanuatu, after a fruitful season of faithful missionary outreach to South Pacific islanders.
[For more details on how Gospel Day is celebrated in the Cook Islands, see http://www.cookislands.org.uk/gospelday.html and, especially for diary-like details, see youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN9S9m1pNes .]
The tradition continues, although the calendaring aspects of this multi-island tradition have changed, in recent times, due to a governmental effort to standardize the holiday (for the Sunday closest to the original Gospel Day, for each island), and to coordinate with a new public holiday called “Ra O Te Ui Airki” (on July 6th), according to a news report (dated October 19, 2011) saying:
“From next year, October 26 will be the only public holiday to celebrate Gospel Day as all individual outer island gospel days, including that of Rarotonga, will be celebrated on the closest Sunday to the date of Christianity arriving to the respective islands. The change in the public holiday status of the island Gospel Days is due to a new public holiday on July 6 to be known as the Ra O Te Ui Ariki out of respect for the countrys aronga mana, its ui ariki, ui mataiapo, ui rantagira and taunga [whatever that means!]. Next year churches will have the opportunity once again put their Bible story telling skills on display again when the nuku is organised to commemorate the national Gospel Day.” [Quoting from http://www.cookislandsnews.com/item/32483-no-nuku-on-gospel-day/32483-no-nuku-on-gospel-day ].
Regardless of whatever day the arrival of the Christian Gospel is celebrated in each of the Cook Islands (as well as the historic day when each one of us, individually, received the Gospel), every day should be a day of appreciating the precious Gospel truth — and a time of joy (Luke 10:20) in knowing that God cares to reach and to forgive us, in His Son, the Lord Jesus (Philippians 1:3-6), if we willingly receive Him (John 1:12). ><> JJSJ
*
Photo Credits:
[ Fair Use photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atiu_swiftlet#/media/File:Kopeka_bird.jpg ]
[Fair Use credit: http://www.pacificresort.com/Images/WhatsOn/national-gospel-day-public-holiday-pacific-resort-rarotonga.jpeg]
[Fair Use image credit: http://www.cookislands.org.uk/image/gospeldays-CORRECTED.jpg]
*
More:
*
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 