“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.” (Genesis 8:13 KJV)
Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus philippensis) ©Flickr Billy Lopue
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They Came By Pairs – Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) ©WikiC
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. 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. 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. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Genesis 6:19-22 KJV)
When Noah was preparing the Ark, he was informed that the animals and birds (fowls) after their kinds would come to him to keep them alive. Again, notice in Genesis 7:1-3 that the clean beast and the birds (fowls) all come by sevens (pairs) also. Clean or unclean, the birds came by seven pairs. There is no distinction made with them.
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 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 7:1-3 KJV)
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) ©© Pair ramendan
In Birds of the Bible – Foundation #3 Updated, I made this remark “Noah did not have to round up the animals, they came to him. Because not every animal we see today came on board but the main kinds (for instance the “bird kinds” may have had a “warbler kind” but not have black and white warblers, yellow-rumped warblers, hooded warbler, etc.), which ever ones they were, there was plenty of room for them. I have an idea that because the LORD sent the animals, birds, and critters, that their DNA’s were of the highest quality. (That is my opinion)”
At the time that comment was made, I was not aware of this article from Dr. Jean Lightner, about the Avian Ark Kinds. This series is based on her’s and other’s research into the Avian Kinds that came on board the ark.
“Kinds” or created kinds are called “baramins” and they used different methods to try to find the original kinds. This part of her article is rather technical, and honestly, I don’t understand some of the terms and methods discussed. Yet, the findings, is what I would like to share with you. Those, we can understand. (You can read her article HERE)
Most of us are aware that the many variety of dogs we see today came from an original “dog kind.” No matter how much interbreeding they do, the results are still dog kinds. Cats and dogs don’t interbreed, so no evolution is involved. Variation within the dog kind has occurred, just as it has in the “bird kinds”. In the Bird Kinds, they have come up with approximately 196 putative bird kinds and most of those break down to our modern-day Families in our taxonomy. Yet, in the I.O.C. their are 239 families and two Incertae Sedis families which make 241 families. The next articles will show how those Families compare to today’s families.
By the way, my math was off in that first article. I forgot the two Incertae Sedis Families. That makes for 45 extra families to account for.
Mountain Bluebird, male (R)- female (L) ©Mickey Barnes / from Birds & Blooms
Two quotes from Dr. Lighner’s article: “There is tremendous variety seen today in animal life as creatures have multiplied and filled the earth since the Flood (Genesis 8:17). In order to identify which modern species are related, being descendants of a single kind, interspecific hybrid data is utilized. When hybrid data is lacking, a cognitum approach is preferred; this identifies natural groupings based on human cognitive senses. Generally the cognitum at the family level (which is usually fairly strong) is preferred when hybrid data is lacking, though obvious cognita surrounding this level are noted.” (emphasis mine)
“As in mammals and amphibians, the state of avian taxonomy is in flux. Despite the ideal of neatly nested hierarchies in taxonomy, it seems groups of birds are repeatedly “changing nests.” This is partially because where an animal is placed depends on which characteristics one chooses to consider. While many had thought that molecular data would resolve these issues, in some cases it has exacerbated them.”
One thing we can see from all this. We will never know exactly who, what, or which one belongs to this family or that order or kind until we reach heaven and ask their Creator.
Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. (Psalms 148:5 KJV)
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Avian Kinds on the Ark – Introduction
Birds of the Bible – Foundation – The Ark
Birds of the Bible – Foundation #3 Updated
An Initial Estimate of Avian Ark Kinds,
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Dinosaur footprint ©WikiC
“Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee” (Job 40:15)
Since evolutionary “scientist” believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs, I thought I would introduce you to a few articles and a video about the tracks the Dinosaurs left behind.
Dinosaur tracks can be found on every continent! But just how did they form?
Here are a few of the many articles about Dinosaurs from the Institute for Creation Research. I will cover the Dinosaur-to-Bird issue in another article.
New Dinosaur Tracks Study Suggests Cataclysm – Article
/article/new-dinosaur-tracks-study-suggests
Brian Thomas, M.S. – … observers are not the only ones who puzzle over dinosaur footprint origins. After all, other animal tracks in mud are not fossilized today because erosive processes rapidly erase them. If a rock layer requires thousands of years to…
Dinosaur Footprints in Dallas – Article
/article/dinosaur-footprints-dallas
Various Authors – … slowly receded, it revealed a reshaped shoreline—and dinosaur tracks. What kinds of creatures made these marks? Local news interviewed area paleontologists who made casts of the dinosaur tracks. The paleontologists will not reveal the…
Regarding some of the trickery that evolutionists engage in, to prevent the truth about dinosaurs from becoming exposed, see
Dinosaur DNA Research: Is the tale wagging the evidence? – Article
/article/dinosaur-dna-research-tale-wagging
Various Authors – … J.D., Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D., and Brian Thomas, M.S.* Dinosaurs are a popular topic of study, whether in the public imagination or in scientific research. The scientific community, however, has a dirty little secret regarding the manner in…
Regarding the kind of noise that dinosaurs appeared to be known for, see:
Sound Science About Dinosaurs | The Institute for Creation Research – Article
article/8508
James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. … there any clues about dinosaur sounds in Scripture or science? In both … and science provide trustworthy evidence that dinosaurs were anything but… ”
Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. (Genesis 2:19 NKJV)
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Landscape with Noah’s Thank Offering (painting circa 1803 by Joseph Anton Koch)
We will continue on with the Birds of the Bible – Foundation series.
If you have not read the previous blogs:
Foundation #1 – Updated, – Foundation #2 – Updated – Foundation #3 – Updated
The last article in this series left the world, Noah, his family, the animals, birds and creeping things in a rough situation. All the world was violently rearranged by the global flood and all air-breathing creation was dead, except for those on board the Ark.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20)
But first must he (Christ-the Creator) suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:25-27)
Just as those who were saved by being in the Ark, so are we by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5)
Northern Raven (Corvus corax) by Kent Nickell
Finally, (Noah and all were in the Ark for over a year.) Noah opened the window in the ark and sent forth a raven. The raven which flew back and forth to the ark until the land was dried up. Noah, then sent out the Dove (female) to see if the ground was off the ground. Doves are ground feeders and also like to put their nests on the ground many times. She found no resting place for her feet and so Noah put out his hand and brought her back inside. Noah waited 7 more days and sent the dove out again and this time she came back with an olive leaf. This let Noah know that the waters were receding. When he released her again 7 more days later, the dove did not return. “The surface of the ground was dry.” (Genesis 8:7-12)
Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) by Lee at Honeymoon Is SP
After 7 more days: “God spoke to Noah, saying,”
“Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:16-22 NKJV)
That is a tremendous promise and in Genesis 9, God blesses Noah and his sons and then makes some statements:
Genesis 9:11-17 NKJV
(11) Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
(12) And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
(13) I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
(14) It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
(15) and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
(16) The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
(17) And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Rainbow by Mike Bader
What a tremendous promise! Even though man and critters are still cursed, God will never bring another global flood.
As for the birds and other critters, we find from God’s Word that there are changes for them. They now can become food for man and other critters, they now have a fear and dread of man who has dominion over them, they now become eaters of others. They are still to reproduce and spread out and fill the earth, they are promised never to be totally destroyed again by a global flood, etc. Somewhere between the Fall in the garden of Eden and this, the nature of birds and critters is drastically changed from what God originally created them to be. All because of SIN.
We will continue to Birds of the Bible – Foundation #5 soon.
Some links to some informative articles about the flood:
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When I Consider!
“Evidence From Geology”
Buried in an eroded hillside at Yellowstone National Park are petrified tree trunks protruding through multiple layers of earth. For many years a geological marker at this site (Specimen Ridge) stated that the trees were buried and petrified in place. The parallel layers were interpreted as successive forests buried by volcanic activity. It was claimed that after each volcanic eruption, the volcanic-ash layer slowly weathered into suitable topsoil and hundreds of years passed as subsequent forests grew to maturity. This pattern supposedly happened 27 times spanning 30,000 years. This interpretation seemed to present a problem to biblical accuracy, which indicates there has been less than 10,000 years of Earth history.
Polystrate lycopod in Tennessee showing VISS and crossbedding, both caused by flows from right to left in photo
However, this interpretation ignores several important observations. The roots of the tree stumps are broken off with only the root balls left. The stump size, tree ring pattern, and number of tree rings throughout all 27 layers are remarkably similar. What the evidence really supports is the rapid burial of a single massive forest by a flood of worldwide proportions. Trees are buried at different levels because they sank into the sediment at different times. Apparently the majority opinion has moved toward this better interpretation because the “multiple-forest” interpretive sign has been removed. Unfortunately, the reality of a worldwide Flood is still not mentioned. It is because the Bible can be trusted when it speaks on physical matters (such as reality of a worldwide Flood) that we can trust what the Bible has to say about spiritual matters (such as morality and eternity).
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2
A Closer Look At The Evidence, by Richard and Tina Kleiss, January 17
Rainbow by Mike Bader
Evidence From the Worldwide Flood
Mabbul
When I Consider!
Many people claim that Noah’s Flood was just a relatively small local event. Yet God clearly stated in Genesis 6:17 that the coming judgment would be a mighty flood of waters (mabbul mayim). The word for flood (mabbul), used in Genesis 6:17 for the first time, is only used for Noah’s Flood; other floods are denoted by different words in the Bible. The Genesis Flood was the “mabbul,” unique in all history. God not only used a unique and exact word for the worldwide Flood, but also made it clear that the waters covered the highest mountains.
God promised to never send another flood upon the earth. Yet there have been countless local floods throughout history. Either the Genesis Flood was something different, unique, and worldwide–or God is a liar.
Enormous and widespread geologic features around the planet also testify to the global extent of the Flood. From the rapid formation of the Grand Canyon as backed-up waters rushed off the continents…to widespread coal deposits…to over-sized river valleys around the world-it is apparent that this planet was once covered with water.
(The Genesis Record, p 183) – From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, November 8.
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21 KJV)
Magnify the Lord
“Evidence From The Worldwide Flood”
“How could the Ark have survived a year-long water catastrophe without sinking? The study of hydrodynamics (the branch of physics having to do with the motion and action of water) has demonstrated that a giant boxlike vessel the size and shape described in the Bible would be almost unsinkable. Even in a sea of gigantic waves, the Ark could be tilted to almost a 90° angle and would always tend to right itself again. A vessel of this shape also aligns itself with the waves so that it experiences the least amount of pitching.
In 1604, a Dutchman named Peter Jansz, built two smaller ships with the same proportions as the Ark. These small “arks” could carry one-third more cargo than regular ships without requiring any additional crew and quickly became a popular cargo carrier.
The perfect engineering of the Ark, with the exact characteristics necessary to survive the Flood, points to God as the ultimate Designer. Every detail of the Bible confirms its accuracy and supernatural origin.”
The Door of the Ark by Lee
This image is a reproduction of the ark at Ark Encounter, USA. Answers in Genesis.
The Article is from:
The Creation, p. 150-151
The Genesis Record, p. 181
The above quote is from January 15), “”A Closer Look at the Evidence – Kleiss,” by Richard and Tina Kleiss
This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. (Genesis 6:15 HCSB)
“When I Consider!” is based on: (Psalms 8:3-9) (3) When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained…(9) O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Interesting related articles:
WorldWideFlood.com
Noah’s Ark from Creation Wiki
The Resource for Answering the Critics of Noah’s Ark by John Woodmorappe, ICR
Caring for the Animals on the Ark by John Woodmorappe, AiG
Noah’s Ship: Like Nothing You’ve Seen Before by Catherine Myers, Answers
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 