One scathing e-mail accused GodSaidManSaid of intolerance—an accusation we don’t deny. The Biblical doctrine of forgiveness and the unbiblical, and often Satanic, doctrine of tolerance are often confused. God forgives sins when we repent and forsake them, but He does not tolerate them. II Timothy 2:19:

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

God’s Word is not inclusive in regard to its positions, but, contrary to the popular mantra, it is exclusionary. John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The world’s religious sects, cults, and denominations number into the thousands, yet God only recognizes one, and that is the truth found in His majority-text Word. Truth knows no opinion. Seek the truth, and it will set you free. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

The following message came from Bob:

I have often wondered about the nations of people before Christ that were not able to receive the Biblical message as the Jews, such as Native Americans. Being that they were on a different continent, and obviously having a different religious system (gods of nature and the like), are we to assume that although created by God, these people are condemned? Why would He not give them the same message as He did Moses? How are we to assume the Native Americans got here, if not by creation; and, if by creation (which I do believe), then why not the same message? Although we are able to bring the message of Christ to them now, what happened to them before the settlement of this country? I have given much thought and reading to this subject, and it is rather perplexing to me.

GodSaidManSaid responds:

Dear Brother Bob, the Word of God has the answer to your question. Understanding why God chose the Hebrews to be the bearers of His oracles is important to a sound understanding in this matter. Abraham, who preceded Moses by well over 500 years, is the father of Israel. He was not chosen by God because he was Hebrew. He, and both of his parents, was a Gentile. Abraham was chosen because he believed God. Galatians 3:4-9:

4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Abraham believed God. That seed of faith that dwelt in Abraham, the Bible declares, was Christ, and all of us who believe God and His testimony of Jesus Christ are also of that same seed (Galatians 3:16). Romans 4:12-14:

12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

Abraham and the faithful of Israel were chosen to carry the Christ seed of redemption to this lost world. Today’s seed of Abraham is focused on lifting up the Christ of Calvary.

There were many among the Gentiles who converted to the God of Israel. Two Gentile women of note were converted and found in the direct genealogy of the Christ child. They were Rahab and Ruth. Ruth, who was a Moabite, was the grandmother of King David.

The nations of the Bible knew of the God of Israel. Concerning peoples of the earth who have no knowledge of Christ Jesus, the Word of God lays out a very clear standard, and that standard is knowledge. James 4:17:

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Those who have no knowledge of Christ are not responsible for that lack. But God does hold them to a righteous standard. Concerning Old Testament law, Romans 2:25-29 reads:

25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

The Spirit of God and His convicting power encompass the earth. His testimony is imprinted universally. Psalms 19:1-6:

1 ...The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Man is responsible for the knowledge he has been exposed to, and as with Abraham, faith in God is still a required foundation.

In regard to remote areas of the world, I can recall the report of a rather famous missionary who traveled into the world’s deepest jungles to minister the Word of God. He came upon a tribe of Christians who had never seen a white man—or a missionary of any ethnicity—yet they were Christians.

The following e-mail came from Alex:

I was asked how Noah was able to gather all of the insects alive at that time. This would have been thousands of species. The question was asked to me sarcastically. I did not know how to answer it.

GodSaidManSaid responds:

Dear Brother Alex, I am certain it is not news to you that the flood in the days of Noah required the miraculous hand of God, beginning with His foreknowledge of the coming global deluge that would destroy the earth as Noah and mankind knew it (Genesis, chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9). It was God’s perfect "blueprint" that Noah used to build the engineering marvel called the ark. According to D. H. Collins, in a 1977 article in Creation Research Society Quarterly titled "Was Noah’s Ark Stable," it could sustain winds three times the force of a hurricane without capsizing. The ark had no steering mechanism; therefore it was the miraculous hand of God that directed its course. It was the magnificent wisdom of God that instructed Noah in the gathering of adequate water and food stuffs for the journey. It was the miracle hand of God that sent the animals to Noah, which Noah then gathered into the ark as instructed. It was the miracle hand of God that opened the windows of heaven and poured the water down, and that same hand that opened the fountains of the deep. The entire episode was a miracle—and it was stated as such.

Concerning the preservation of insects, there is a myriad of ways that this could have been done. Some insects could have dwelt in the wood and various building materials of the ark. Nests would have been built by insects in the ark as if it were a building. Insects alive and in egg form would have come aboard the ark in their food supply. They would have come aboard in the coats of the animals. They would have congregated on the floating dead and debris.

John Woodmorappe, biologist, geologist, and author of Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, weighs in on the subject of insects with the following:

Insects: Many individual small arthropods must have survived the Flood. For instance, ants can survive flooding by entering hibernation if the temperature is usually below 8C. Even the debris left after the Flood must have served as a huge spawning ground for many types of insects. For instance, the "filth flies" will flourish not only in carrion, but also in decomposing vegetation and seaweed. In fact, phytophagous insects are the first to become established on a devastated area, feeding as they do on plant debris. Insects are legendary for the rate of their population increase. At a very favorable intrinsic rate of natural increase, a population of 1 million insects could enjoy a 120-billion fold population increase in just six months. Three hundred ants could multiply into several billion within a year. This all means that, allowing only a fraction of this rate of increase in order to be realistic, insect populations must have been already fairly plentiful towards the latter stages of the Flood; months before the grounding of the Ark. The Ark-released animals must have found many insects to eat, at least in many locations.

Concerning insectivorous creatures, those whose diets are dominated with insects, Mr. Woodmorappe continues:

Yet even when insects are essential in an animal’s diet, only small quantities are sufficient to supplement the bulk of the diet, which are common inert foods. For instance, the flycatchers (Muscicapidae: Passeriformes) eat almost nothing but insects in nature, yet in captivity have been fed mainly common, inert foods, with only a few added live insects. Many keepers of soft-billed birds have maintained insectivorous birds on dried insects and dried ant eggs. Indians of the American West used to sun-dry vast quantities of grasshoppers, mix them with berries, seeds, nuts, etc., and then press them into cakes, thus facilitating their long-term storage. Noah could have done the same, and stocked the Ark with tons of dry insects. Many live-insect eaters have been switched entirely to common foods. Thus, in spite of claims that small birds such as hummingbirds must have live tiny insects (as fruit flies) in their diets, the contrary has been demonstrated. Riggs reports successfully maintaining a variety of hummingbirds on an inert diet, without any live insects, for as much as twenty-two months. More recently, Brice and Grau (1989) report a similar experience with captive hummingbirds. This is also true of other birds. For instance, waxbills have been successfully maintained on a bread-based milksop without insectile food. Some insectivorous soft-billed birds have been maintained on nothing but moistened wheat bran, while others have thrived on moistened dog food. Lest we hear any Moore-like claim that Noah could not possibly have known this, let is be known that the ancients did maintain their soft-billed birds on various common foods. Let us now generalize the methods of feeding of captive insectivorous birds. Many soft-bills are now fed common, inert foods without any live insects. As a whole class, most birds can be fed formulated mixed feeds. In conclusion, most insectivorous soft-bills do not require any form of insects (live or dried) in their diet of captivity.

Brother Alex, insects were not a problem for Noah.

References:

King James Bible

Anderson, J. R. 1966. Biological interrelationships between feces and flies (pp. 20-23) in ASAE. 1966, op. cit.

Black, R. G. 1981. Nutrition of Finches and Other Caged Birds. Copple House Printing, Georgia.

Blueweiss, L., Fox, H., Kudzma, V., Nakashima, D., Peters, R., and S. Sams. 1978. Relationships between body size and some life history parameters. Oecologia 37:257-272.

Brice, A. T., and C. R. Grau. 1989. Hummingbird Nutrition: Development of a purified diet for long-term maintenance. Zoo Biology 8:233-7.

Carlquist, S. 1974. Island Biology. Columbia University Press, New York, London.

Collins, D.H., "Was Noah’s Ark Stable?" Creation Research Society Quarterly, 1977.

Davenport, J. 1992. Animal Life at Low Temperature. Chapman and Hall, London, New York.

Douglas, A. 1981. Feeding softbills — an historical synopsis (pp. 112-120) in Risser et al., op. cit.

Ficken, R. W., and W. G. Dilger. 1961. Insects and food mixtures for insectivorous birds. Aviculture Magazine 67:46-55.

Goodwin, D. 1971. Soft food for waxbills. Aviculture Magazine 77(2):66-9.

Madsen, D. B. 1989. A grasshopper in every pot. Natural History (July 1989) pp. 22-5.

Naether, C. 1955. Soft-billed Birds. All-pet Books, Inc., Wisconsin.

Riggs, T. J. 1966. Notes on Hummingbirds. American Cage-Bird Magazine, May 1966, pp. 38- 40.

Roots, C. 1970. Softbilled Birds. Arco Publishing Co., Inc., New York.

Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, London.

Woodmorappe, J., Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, Institute for Creation Research, 1996.