Myths, Legends and Noah's Ark

A friend of mine recently sent an e-mail about a man in the Netherlands who had built a model of Noah's Ark. It measures 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. A cubit is roughly 18 inches making the equivalent measurement 225 ft x 45 ft x 39 ft. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

As impressive as those dimensions are, it is only a scale model. The actual size is much larger. The Bible records the dimensions God gave Noah in Genesis 6:15: "The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits (450'), its width fifty cubits (75'), and its height thirty cubits (45')." Put in a modern visual context, that is as large as a modern oil tanker. It would have been able to hold 522 modern railroad storage cars! Do you want a perspective on that figure? Next time you are stuck at a railroad crossing - waiting, waiting, waiting - count the number of cars. Usually, you will have to wait for roughly 100 cars to pass. Multiply that number by 5 and that's what could have been loaded on the Ark.

There have been critics who have said that Noah's Ark could not have floated or survived the rigors of the sea. They contend that it would have been prone to capsizing. This would not have been a placid sea by any means. Remember, the "fountains of the deep" of Genesis 7:11 "erupted" (NLT) or "burst forth" (NIV). This would have caused furious, rolling waters.

Now, if God in His wisdom, has put dimensions in His Word, and He says His Word is true (119:160), I would expect that every part is accurate. The ancients, who were not able to build or test a ship of this size, had to take these dimensions on faith. Today, computer models show that the size and shape of the Ark would have been ideal for it's mission. Good thing for God, eh?

One of the quotes from the e-mail I received, was from a Mary Louise Starosciak. She said, "It's past comprehension. I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big!"

As with most people I talk to, there seems to be this picture of the "bathtub" version of Noah's Ark in most people's minds. You know: cute little rounded boat that can barely stay upright and with all the animals sticking their heads out the windows. I wonder: if she, like many people, are familiar with the "story" of Noah's Ark, why do they have such a misconception of what it would have looked like?

If you lean to the "right," it's easy to blame it on the "liberal, left-leaning news media." There must be a conspiracy!

If you lean to the "left," it has to be George W. Bush's fault. Why not? Everything else that's wrong is!

Frankly, I blame the "church." We have a responsibility to teach God's Word. We have a responsibility to show that it can be defended and that it is accurate. In many ways, we have failed miserably. If something as easy as Noah's Ark is not taught correctly, the whole of God's Word is subject to people's "interpretation." If Noah's Ark is an allegory, why is Christ's virgin birth and His resurrection also not allegorical.

Maybe that helps explain why so many "churched" people think there are so many ways to Heaven or that God will let everyone in - "surely God is love and will not keep anyone out of Heaven or judge them!" - they've been taught to think that the Bible is open to interpretation. Or worse, they haven't been taught the whole counsell of God.

Maybe they have not been taught the reason for the flood in the first place: "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30.

God IS love and He is all inclusive, He desires that none should perish. It's really quite simple: the wages of sin is death, we all have sinned, we all desreve the death penalty. But God has made a way, a "lifeboat", for all of us to escape that penalty. The question is, "Will you get in the boat?" It's available to everyone: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16-17 In even plainer language: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36

Jesus is our Ark! Won't you "climb in" to escape the coming "flood" of judgment? God has provided the way, just as He did in Noah's day. It's your choice whether to get on board ------or not.


Here is a link if you'd like to see a story on the scale model Ark:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4853890.stm