In Genesis 6:19 God told Noah that he should bring two of every kind of every living thing of all flesh into the ark. It was to keep them alive. However, in Genesis 7:2-3, God told him, "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth." Why did God appoint some animals and have Noah bring more of them to the ark?


The standard to separate clean animals from animals which were not clean

The standard was their original attribute that the animals possessed. All the animals have different original attributes depending on the ground from which they were created. For example, some animals are crafty, some are ferocious, and some are greedy. In contrast, some others are submissive, some others are meek, and some others are simple and honest.

So God separated clean animals from unclean animals according to their original attributes. By the way, not all the animals fall into either one or the other of these two categories. Only some of the animals were marked 'clean' or 'not clean.' It is because after the judgment of Great Flood the hidden attributes that were inherent in the ground began to come out.

Therefore, the God-given standard to separate the clean animals from the unclean in the days of Noah couldn't be the same with that in the days of Leviticus.


The reason more clean animals and unclean animals were taken into the ark

1. For keeping their species

You should know that 'of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female;' it contains two meanings. First off, it means, literally, 7 pairs each of a male and his female, which yields 14 animals. It also means 3 pairs of a male and his female plus one male, which yields 7 animals.

The clean animals are such meek animals as cows, sheep, and goats. To keep the species of these animals, their number should be bigger than that of wild beasts. That's why those clean animals were taken by sevens into the ark to save their species. However, the fact is that every clean animal was taken into the ark by sevens—3 pairs of a male and a female plus one male—for another purpose.

That is, Noah took seven pairs of sheep which fell into the clean animal category to keep its species. And for 'another purpose', he took 3 pairs of sheep plus one additional male sheep. Therefore, the total number of the sheep taken into the ark was 21. Among them were 11 males, and 10 females.

Next unclean animals were taken by two pairs of a male and his female. For instance, there were 4 pigs that are not clean—a mandatory pair of male and female, and another male and his female as 'unclean animals.' As you can see, the animals taken into Noah's ark were 3 kinds; the clean ones, the unclean ones, and the rest.

2. The clean animals were necessary as food for people, and as offerings to be offered before God

The 'another purpose' that God brought more clean animals into the ark can also be put in two groups:

First off, those that were to be used as sacrifice when offered before God

Genesis 8:20 is the scene that Noah offered burnt offerings to God when he came out of the ark after the judgment of the Great Flood. Only the clean animals or birds were offered as sacrifice to God. So the 'clean animals' refer to the animals which can be a sacrifice.

After the flood, Noah made an offering consisting of one sheep, one goat, and one dove as a burnt offering to God. These clean animals offered as burnt offerings were all male. That's why God told him to take with him an extra male of clean animals. If the clean animals had been taken only by two, a male and a female, it would have been difficult to offer burnt offerings like this. If he had yet offered burnt offerings, the herds of sheep and goats, and flocks of doves might have become extinct.

The offerings in the days of the Old Testament were the channels for people to communicate with God. After the judgment by the flood, people rapidly flourished on this earth. At the same time, they had more chances to offer offerings to God. God foreknew this in advance, and let Noah take in a greater number of clean animals—as many as people might need.

The second use of the clean animals was as food for God-believing people

After the flood, God allowed people to eat meat. Before the judgment of flood, people ate only vegetables. But after the judgment of flood, they began to eat meat. The animals that were allowed as meat for people were the clean animals.

3. It was to give them as food in the future for those who would not believe in God.

What is the reason more unclean animals were taken into the ark? After the judgment of flood, as time passed by, Noah's descendants flourished and some of them didn't believe in God. They ate not only the clean animals but also other animals as they pleased.

God foreknew what animals they would eat as food. And so, God let Noah take another pair of animals with him; a male and his female. Those animals that God called unclean were to become food for gentiles later on.

Matthew 5:45 reads, "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Just look how God of love prepared in advance the food for those who wouldn't believe in God in the future as well as His people who would believe Him.