Noah, the son of Lamech and tenth in descent from Adam in the line of Seth.(1) He received this name because Lamech foresaw that through him God would comfort the race and partially alleviate the effects of the Edenic curse. Noah was uniquely righteous(2) in a totally corrupt age.(3) When he was 480 years old, 120 years before the Flood(4) , he was warned of God that the world would be destroyed by water(5). He was then given exact instructions for building the Ark(6). While engaged in this colossal task, he warned men of the coming catastrophe, as a "preacher of righteousness"(7), while God in longsuffering waited for men to repent(8). Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, were not born until he was 500 years old(9). One week before the Flood, God led Noah and his family into the Ark, and then, supernaturally directed, the animals "went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life."(10). When all were safely inside, God shut the door(11).
The Flood came in Noah's 600th year, increased steadily for 40 days, maintained its mountain covering depth for 110 more days, and then subsided sufficiently for Noah to disembark in the mountains of Ararat after another 221 days.
Noah lived 350 years after the Flood, dying at the age of 950(12).
The Ark
God gave Noah specifications for how that Ark was to be built and its dimensions. 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high. With three decks, a door in the side and a "window" which was a continuous slot under the roof eaves, 18 inches high. The wood used was "gopher" and the Ark was to be sealed with "pitch" inside and out. (13).
Noah's ark was probably the largest sea-going vessel built until the late 19th century. Until 1858, the largest vessel of her type in the world was the P and O liner Himalaya which was 240 feet by 35 feet.
Consider the carrying capacity of the Ark. With its three decks, the floor space equaled 95,000 square feet. Its interior volume was 1,296,000 cubic feet. That is equivalent to the capacity of 520 standard railroad stock cars. (14) The measurements provided in Genesis are in cubits rather than feet or meters. A cubit in the Old Testament is approximately 17.5 inches long. Another measurement to consider is the Egyptian Royal cubit which is 20.65 inches and the Hebrew common cubit which was 17.5 inches.
Plank-first was the ancient way of building a planked vessel. Planked boats developed from dugout canoes, through the addition of a row of planks (called a strake by shipwrights), then more strakes, gradually introducing the need for some framing structure to help hold the planks together and to make rigid the shape of the plank shell. Above a certain size, some transverse struts or beams were necessary. The sequence in which these structural elements were put into the vessel during plank-first construction largely reflects the sequence in which they were invented, because the development from simple dugout canoe to large planked ship was incremental.
It is entirely possible that the antediluvian had developed methods of construction which are unfamiliar to us. Also, the general shape of the Ark could appear to be rectangular, yet curved in areas to relieve stress. Just as the design of modern ships has significantly changed in recent years, the construction of Noah's Ark could turn out to be radically different by our design standards. Worth remembering too, is that building of the pyramids and movement of obelisks still remain a mystery, even though theories abound.
History is replete with accounts of scientists, archaeologists, explorers, critics and skeptics of the Ark story. Noah built a mammoth ocean vessel in the pre-Flood world, where there was no rainfall. For in those days the earth was watered by a system of springs and mists.(16).
We can well imagine that the people of Noah's day mocked him and if so Noah turned a deaf ear. Then, he and his family began the greatest carpentry project in the history of the world. And finally we surely must consider why such an account by modern day standards which seems impossible and mythic is included in the first book of the Bible. This author can only conclude that rather than scoff, perhaps if we read and understood as a child we may learn great truths.
(1). Gen. 5:28-29.
(2). Gen. 6:8-9, 7:1; Ezek. 14:14.
(3). Gen 6:1-13.
(4). Gen. 6:3.
(5). Heb. 11:7.
(6). Gen 6:14-16.
(7). II Pet. 2:5.
(8). I Pet. 3:20.
(9). Gen 5:32.
(10). Gen 7:15.
(11). Gen 7:16.
(12). Gen 9:29.
(13).Gen.6:14-16.
(14). Assuming that a standard stock car is 52 feet in length.
(15).Please visit the following. Technical University of Denmark.
(16).Gen. 2:5-6.
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