Why did God go to all the trouble of getting Noah to build an enormous ship and fill it with every living animal when He could have achieved what was needed with a simple wave of His hand?

Answer 1

I believe the reasoning for God commanding Noah to build and fill a ship was a test of his (Noah's) and his families faith. Of course God could have done it himself. He, also, could have prevented the flood. If God did "everything" for us and never tested us the human race would never learn a thing. Equate it to a spoiled child who never has to obey or do anything for themselves. Do you think those children are learning good life lessons and responsibilities? Every problem we encounter is a lesson from God. How we handle it and how we ask for His help and listen to his guidance is how we ultimately learn our life lessons. What a great question! Of course, the story of Noah is a fable, which came from the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, when the Hebrews were exiled from Jerusalem and brought to Babylon. The story got mixed with stories of their own invisible sky-god, and combined with Judeo-Christian notions of being "tested," which often happens in Bible tales. God never just waves his hand and makes things happen. He always has people do stuff for him, because that's more impressive. Like with Moses, God could have waived his hand and frozen the river, but it was much more impressive for Moses to wave his hands and make the river part. The same thing with Noah. It's really impressive to cram many species of animals in only a few thousand square feet of ark space. That's a miracle, and an impressive one at that. The Old Testament consists largely of borrowed myths. Nearly everything in Genesis, and much of the so called history which follows, are but a recital of Assyrian, Babylonian, Chaldean and other legends. Dr. Draper says: "From such Assyrian sources, the legends of the creation of the earth and heaven, the garden of Eden, the making of man from clay, and of woman from one of his ribs, the temptation by the serpent, the naming of animals, the cherubim and flaming sword, the Deluge and the ark, the drying up of the waters by the wind, the building of the Tower of Babel, and the confusion of tongues, were obtained by Ezra" (Conflict, p. 223). How do you know that the assyrians, the babylonians, the chaldeans, and all the rest didn't obtain the story from the Israelites. Then for that matter... If there was a world-wide flood wouldn't all the world have a story about it? There are no biblical events or suggestions anywhere that would indicate God caused anything to happen by simply waving His hand. Instead the indications are that He used the natural forces and resources of the earth to make things happen. In the case of the plagues of Egypt, He caused a '...great wind' to carry the locust, flies, lice etc. to bear down on the pharoh. In Noah's case ' wood ' was needed to prepare for the torrential downpour. All these things, wind, insects, wood and water are all natural to the earth. God did not make any of these things appear from nowhere by the wave of His hand. Those resources were already here. To show to this world how he can save the ones that find mercy in his eyes, and to make it a sign to this world that sin is punished like he did on Sodom and Gommorah. == == God used the ark to save Noah, his family and the animals from the flood. He used the flood to destroy wicked mankind, instead of "a simple wave of his hand", to leave proof. One thing The Bible clearly tells us is that God is "longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Noah is also called a 'preacher of righteousness.' What both of these mean in this context is that the 100 years or so, it took Noah to build the ark were a sufficient opportunity for all to hear about the coming judgment, either from Noah direct, or by word of mouth.

It would appear rather unlikely that no-one would have asked Noah what he was doing and why. They no doubt found it rather amusing. The fact that they did not repent indicates that they were not just occasionally making a 'mistake' but that their way of life was totally turned against God, even though those who knew Adam had not died very long ago.

So, the whole thing demonstrates God's desire to give people a fair opportunity to change, as well as Noah to both do the job and to keep on witnessing both by his words and his actions.

In terms of detail, it is also necessary to understand that God brought the animals to Noah. Noah didn't have to fill the ark himself, although he did have to both build the accomodation and gather the food. Secondly, it also was not 'every living animal.' What is most likely, according to what the Bible says, is that it was representatives of the many different kinds of animals. Rapid diversification took place after the flood, under the drasticly different world climate. So, although God did it, the task was not as 'impossible' as what it might seem. In any case, God has a good reason for everything He does (or doesn't do) even if we can't see it immediately, or even if we never find it out.

Answer 2

The biblical story of a great, worldwide flood is a myth, and the nature of myths is that they contain dramatic elements, often of mystery or danger. The biblical flood story was intended to show the importance of absolute obedience to God and therefore to the priestly class that represented God. A story that merely had God wipe out most of humanity with a wave of his hand would have impressed nobody, although it might have encouraged fatalism.