The Ark
The biggest ship on earth?
(Click here to read this article in Afrikaans)
“And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breath of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” Genesis 6:15
Back when I was a young boy I asked my father one day what a cubit was, and he told me that it was the distance between a big man’s hand and elbow. I worked out that it was about as long as a child’s step. Later years I read it is actually 68cm.
The next day I measured out the dimensions of the ark as given in Genesis, in the gravel road in front of our house; and when my father came home from work that afternoon I showed him, and asked him how all the animals of the world, two of a kind, plus their food supplies for more than 180 days could fit into a ship of that size. My father didn’t have an explanation and just replied that it’s not our place to ask questions. We just have to believe!
I was terribly disappointed, because like any little boy I thought my father knew everything. On top of that he was also the Head Elder and Sunday School Superintendent. I didn’t like it one bit that I just had to believe and wasn’t allowed to ask questions.
This answer of my father’s had exactly the opposite effect on me to what he might have expected, because after that I started to question everything. As I got older, this trait sometimes helped me to be successful and sometimes landed me in trouble – like when I started to question my officers’ commands in the army. In later years I started to question old business principles, and if they didn’t make sense to me, I changed them.
This habit of mine is something that I can really recommend. Ask Sanlam why their endowment policies are so pathetic. Ask your accountant why you pay so much tax. Ask your party representative why they don’t also give the ANC a hard time like Afriforum. Ask your minister why he doesn’t tell you what the creation story really means spiritually. Ask your financial advisor why he has never told you that a trust is the best tax vehicle. Also ask him why he’s never told you that life insurance is around 50% cheaper today than it was 15 years ago. And so we could go on, but I think you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.
Don’t follow blindly like sheep. It makes me think of my favourite advertisement on TV – the dog with the nice set of teeth who pokes fun at the sheep in the Hilux advert. Be careful: if you behave like a sheep you will be treated like a chop. You’ll get eaten!
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Hi Coert
This is a great story and explaination. I was also fustrated when I was a little boy when my parents, the preacher at church and the Sunday School teacher could not answer my questions about the bible properly. They also had the same answer, “we should not question, just believe”.
On the Ark story, i got a more scientific explaination on the Ark, dinosaurs and the creantion from a DVD series that I watched by a Dr. Kent Hovind. He had some very good points and it made sense as a whole. I would definetly recommend it.
Regards
Hein
Comment by Hendrik Johannes — June 7, 2010 @ 7:22 am
Hi Coert,
I notice you talk about going to heaven and yet when I read the Bible I find no evidence or reference to people going to heaven (apart from Jesus). On the contrary there is tons of evidence that God’s plan for us is to get us into His Kingdom (called equally The Kingdom of God or The Kingdom of Heaven). Jesus in fact spend three and a half years teaching the people about this so it can’t be a vague issue.
Regards
Vernon
Comment by Vernon — June 7, 2010 @ 8:29 am
I agree that spiritual messages/principles can be drawn from incidents recorded in the Old Testament. However, the Old Testament is also valid and reliable from a historical point of view. These incidents really did occur, and much proof geologically and scientifically serves to support this. Once you have more details, and think about it the way Godly experts explain it (which runs very different to the “norm” that we are used to), then it makes sense that the physical size of the ark was more than big enough and its design was amazingly practical to serve its purpose during the flood. You can check the Answers in Genesis website (www.answersingenesis.org) for more details on this and many other interesting topics. There are also many other organisations with qualified experts (creation scientists) who support these views with evidence. In fact there are evidences of a global flood all over the earth. To make a “spiritual” message out of it (even though there may be merit in the spiritual message), and then also to say (or imply) that these events did not happen is to make God a liar and to mislead and confuse people from the truth. I can liken it to the message of evolution, which says no God exists and there was no creation, while the Bible says God does exist and did indeed create everything. One is a lie and one is truth. Both cannot be true. With due respect, while it is very good for people to ask questions, I also find it amazing how people can put so little into proper research, let alone to ask God Himself what the truth is and allow Him to give His answer. If our hearts and minds are open to Him, God will reveal His truth, in His way and in His time. Maybe my response here is already a step in the right direction to getting the truth about the flood, Noah’s Ark, and many other Bible topics that some “experts” say never happened (they were there, right?), compared to other experts who prove scientifically, geologically, etc. that they did happen.
Regards,
David
Comment by David — June 7, 2010 @ 11:21 am
I have seen a model of the ark that was built by Rod Walsh from Geelong in Australia, I spent hours talking to him on the subject and seen the video that he made. If you have read your Bible and seen all this and you still dont believe that it all happened then you will never believe anything.
See http://www.noahs-ark.net. There are a few of his DVD’s in Centurion if you want to see it. Trust me the Bible is true and correct. Coert your dad should be forgiven for this one , one day we will see and understand it all. Hope to meet you there. Jan K
Comment by jan — June 7, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
Here are a few facts to consider
The dimensions of the Ark:
300 x 0.68m = 204m
50 x 0.68m = 34m
30 x 0.68m = 20m
204m x 34m x 20m = 138,720 cubic meters (Volume of the Ark)
The number of animals:
According to this website, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_species we have 1,214,957 species of animals on the planet if I deduct the fish and amphibian species from the grand total.
They came two of a kind = 2,429,914 animals were in the Ark.
138,720 cubic meters divided by 2,429,914 animals give us 0,06m per animal. It is less than a cm x cm x cm per animal. Smaller than a matchbox.
Now they need food and al lot of it because it was about ten months before they left the Ark. One leopard eats one impala every week = 40 impalas or 80 impalas for the two of a kind.
On the Ark were:
Leopards
Cheetahs
Lions
Tigers
Pumas
This already need 80 x 5 or 400 impalas.
When we get to fodder for the herbivores and the space needed for it, the figures start to look mind blowing.
If we start calculating the weight of all this…
My friends, even if they loaded that Ark like a Venter trailer going to Polokwane on Easter Weekend, it would not have been possible!
Two years ago I cruised on the biggest ship in the world, The Freedom of the Seas, and believe me that one was not even big enough to be an Ark.
By the way, how many people took care of the animals. Only eight! Come on!
It is not just a matter of getting good points for woodwork if you want this boat to sail! Jy moet ook kan somme maak en wonderwerke doen broer.
Comment by Coert — June 7, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
Coert – without getting into a lengthy scientific debate, the answer and mistake lies in your comment : “They came two of a kind = 2,429,914 animals”. They did come “two of a kind”. In simple terms there were e.g. only 2 wolf-like animals, which have micro-evolved over a couple of thousand years to many species of canidae, etc.
Comment by conrads — June 7, 2010 @ 4:51 pm
Conrads – According to the Bible, the Ark was build less than 6,000 years ago. Too short a period of time for serious evolution. Anyway, creationists are 100% against evolution.
Comment by Coert — June 7, 2010 @ 4:59 pm
As dit so is kan daar nog n hele paar diere bykom:Genisis 7:2 Van al die rein diere moet jy vir jou telkens sewe paar neem, die mannetjie met sy wyfie; maar van die diere wat nie rein is nie, twee, die mannetjie met sy wyfie.
7:3 Ook van die voëls van die hemel telkens sewe paar, die mannetjie met die wyfie, om die geslag in die lewe te hou op die hele aarde.
Ek is baie seker n klomp spesies en subspesies van vandag het daardie tyd nog nie bestaan nie,dus was daar dalk heelwat minder.
Op die geestelike vlak is daar ook nie fout met jou weergawe nie,want dit is tog die belangrikste om die boodskap te verstaan
Comment by Jacobus — June 7, 2010 @ 9:19 pm
I beleive if we are to accept the Bible we must accept it in it’s entirety or NOT at all. We can’t start picking the pieces we want and excluding the rest (to get God’s view on this read the end of Revelation). So we have to accept that God did create the Universe out of nothing (when and how – eg if done with a complete AGE (fossils, erosion, oil, etc) 6000yrs ago (eg if God created a 30yr old tree 1 second ago, all the scientists in the world could analise and only come to the conclusion that it has indeed been around for 30yrs – but it hasn’t, and we have no way of proving it either way), we have to decide with faith), and that a flood occured (literally – otherwise Noah didn’t really exist and Luke’s record of Jesus’ genealogy is just a lie!!!). So how can we look at a literal flood. Well we can get clues from all over scripture that God often talks of the “world” when he is merely referring to that portion of the earth on which he is focusing or is important at that time (almost always this is that portion of the world or that nation that has control over Israel). An example Jesus instructed his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel (yes this has the long term instruction to us today to preach over the whole planet but to them in those days, Jesus was referring to the bulk of the Roman empire (which had control over Israel) and Paul and the others obeyed Jesus – but they didn’t head off to America and China, etc. Now there is a fair bit of evidence that there was a meaningful civilization in the Black Sea basin (before it was flooded) and it is quite possible this is the known “world” God was referring to and a boat carrying all the animals from this region was quite possible. As far as feeding them and looking after them, well we are in the realm of miracles here (just as Israel was in the Wilderness) so whether God made it necessary for them to eat to the same level or need to be looked after is a trivial issue if we get to this point. Bear in mind too that in the Kingdom, lions will eat straw like the ox, so we don’t need impalas for their food.
Comment by Vernon — June 8, 2010 @ 8:14 am
Vernon, are you now disputing the Bible? If the word “world” means something different, it means many other words in the Bible could mean something different. Where is this going to end. A Bible that means something different?
Comment by Coert — June 8, 2010 @ 10:11 am
While any “ordinary and thinking” individual (of which I count you and me among them) would come to conclusions based on limited reasoning, knowledge, education, proofs, calculations, etc, it must at the same time be noted that there are experts in their respective fields (geology, biology, genetics, etc) out there with info that can blow our conclusions out of the water. We must always be open to new information and reasoning. The following are excerpts from only ONE article on this much debated topic of Noah’s Ark (http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark), which provide much food for thought, and perhaps even a shift in thinking:
How Large Was Noah’s Ark? The dimensions of the Ark are convincing for two reasons: the proportions are like that of a modern cargo ship, and it is about as large as a wooden ship can be built. The cubit gives us a good indication of size. With the cubit’s measurement, we know that the Ark must have been at least 450 feet (137 m) long, 75 feet (23 m) wide, and 45 feet (14 m) high. In the Western world, wooden sailing ships never got much longer than about 330 feet (100 m), yet the ancient Greeks built vessels at least this size 2,000 years earlier. China built huge wooden ships in the 1400s that may have been as large as the Ark. The biblical Ark is one of the largest wooden ships of all time—a mid-sized cargo ship by today’s standards…
How Could Noah Build the Ark? If one or two men today can erect a large house in just 12 weeks, how much more could three or four men do in a few years? Adam’s descendants were making complex musical instruments, forging metal, and building cities—their tools, machines, and techniques were not primitive…
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 12:17 pm
How Could Noah Round Up So Many Animals? The world map was completely different before the Flood, and on the basis of Genesis, there may have been only one continent. The animals simply arrived at the Ark as if called by a “homing instinct” (a behavior implanted in the animals by their Creator) and marched up the ramp, all by themselves. Though this was probably a supernatural event (one that cannot be explained by our understanding of nature), compare it to the impressive migratory behavior we see in some animals today. We are still far from understanding all the marvelous animal behaviors exhibited in God’s creation: the migration of Canada geese and other birds, the amazing flights of Monarch butterflies, the annual travels of whales and fish, hibernation instincts, earthquake sensitivity, and countless other fascinating capabilities of God’s animal kingdom…
(http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark)
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 12:19 pm
How Could Noah Fit All the Animals on the Ark? In the book Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, creationist researcher John Woodmorappe suggests that, at most, 16,000 animals were all that were needed to preserve the created kinds that God brought into the Ark… Another factor which greatly reduces the space requirements is the fact that the tremendous variety in species we see today did not exist in the days of Noah. Only the parent “kinds” of these species were required to be on board in order to repopulate the earth. For example, only two dogs were needed to give rise to all the dog species that exist today… As stated before, Noah wouldn’t have taken the largest animals onto the Ark; it is more likely he took juveniles aboard the Ark to repopulate the earth after the Flood was over. These younger animals also require less space, less food, and have less waste. Using a short cubit of 18 inches (46 cm) for the Ark to be conservative, Woodmorappe’s conclusion is that “less than half of the cumulative area of the Ark’s three decks need to have been occupied by the animals and their enclosures.” This meant there was plenty of room for fresh food, water, and even many other people…
How Did Noah Care for All the Animals? Just as God brought the animals to Noah by some form of supernatural means, He surely also prepared them for this amazing event. Creation scientists suggest that God gave the animals the ability to hibernate, as we see in many species today. Most animals react to natural disasters in ways that were designed to help them survive. It’s very possible many animals did hibernate, perhaps even supernaturally intensified by God. Whether it was supernatural or simply a normal response to the darkness and confinement of a rocking ship, the fact that God told Noah to build rooms (“qen”—literally in Hebrew “nests”) in Genesis 6:14 implies that the animals were subdued or nesting. God also told Noah to take food for them (Genesis 6:21), which tells us that they were not in a year-long coma either…
…a small group of farmers today can raise thousands of cattle and other animals in a very small space. One can easily imagine all kinds of devices on the Ark that would have enabled a small number of people to feed and care for the animals, from watering to waste removal…
(http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark)
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 12:20 pm
How Could the Ark Survive the Flood? …the next phase of research investigated sea-keeping (behavior and comfort at sea), hull strength, and stability. This began with a Korean study performed at the world-class ship research center (KRISO) in 1992. The team of nine KRISO researchers was led by Dr. Hong, who is now director-general of the research center. The study confirmed that the Ark could handle waves as high as 98 feet (30 m), and that the proportions of the biblical Ark are near optimal—an interesting admission from Dr. Hong, who believes evolutionary ideas, openly claiming “life came from the sea.” The study combined analysis, model wave testing, and ship standards, yet the concept was simple: compare the biblical Ark with 12 other vessels of the same volume but modified in length, width, or depth. Three qualities were measured—stability, hull strength, and comfort.
While Noah’s Ark was an average performer in each quality, it was among the best designs overall. In other words, the proportions show a careful design balance that is easily lost when proportions are modified the wrong way. It is no surprise that modern ships have similar proportions—those proportions work…
(http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark)
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 12:21 pm
Was Noah’s Flood Global? Evidence of Noah’s Flood can be seen all over the earth, from seabeds to mountaintops. Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, the physical features of the earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past, from canyons and craters to coal beds and caverns. Some layers of strata extend across continents, revealing the effects of a huge catastrophe. The earth’s crust has massive amounts of layered sedimentary rock, sometimes miles (kilometers) deep! These layers of sand, soil, and material—mostly laid down by water—were once soft like mud, but they are now hard stone. Encased in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things (fossils of plants and animals) buried very quickly. The evidence all over the earth is staring everyone in the face…
(http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark)
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
David, Thanks for the explanations. It seems to me we can assume for a fact that there was some kind of “supernatural” intervention as you put it. This proves my point that it is not a natural event. The extent of the intervention is not known for sure and any person will have an opinion about it. That obviously opens the discussion to many possibilities.
Could the Ark perhaps be the imagination of Moses, author of Genesis? Or is this perhaps a bit too far fetched? We should not forget that God is all-mighty and nothing is impossible for him.
By the way, I think spirituality is often seen as “supernatural”. If it is the same thing, we have a problem here.
Comment by Coert — June 8, 2010 @ 12:54 pm
Hi Coert, Many physical events have supernatural/miraculous interventions, on macro levels and micro levels. God’s intervention and miracles on this planet as well as in our small, limited and finite lives often manifest in many ways. And many times they are connected. The events surrounding Noah’s life and that of his family member’s lives were doubtless miraculous, in how God led them and saved them so supernaturally, and must have left a lasting impression in their minds and spirits to the day they died. And even on a much bigger level, the events surrounding the Ark, the flood, the destruction of the old earth, etc. all needed God’s supernatural intervention to occur. A combination of small and big interventions connected.
I also agree that supernatural is not the same as spirituality, but both are closely linked as well. Supernatural, out-of-the-ordinary, even miraculous events that manifest in the physical ALWAYS have their roots/source in the spiritual, either borne from God or from the devil. A Biblical example (other than the flood) – Job experienced much loss, pain (physical and emotional) and ill-health, all physical manifestations borne out of supernatural and out-of-the ordinary events in succession, yet the root/source of these incidents and physical manifestations was spiritual in nature, i.e. out of the talks between God and Satan, which obviously occurred on a spiritual level.
I personally have experienced much in my life thus far, many things supernatural, but have come to realize that ALL of it has its roots in the spiritual. Even where the devil was the root of it (more specifically through idolatry and witchcraft in my roots/foundation), because of my faith in God (Jesus Christ), God still turned my adversity around for my good/benefit (though some things are still in process), just like God eventually turned Job’s hardships around for his good.
I digress. To answer your other question – it is without doubt in my mind that the Old Testament stories are accurate and historical, irrespective of each individual book’s author (as God is ultimately the Author of the whole Bible), as many different fields of science and research are proving them true one by one till this day. Only those hardset in their mindsets and beliefs would ignore the truth to their own destruction. Not you, of course!
Regards,
David
Comment by David — June 8, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Ek het al die “comments” gelees en is diep getref met die kundigheid en Bybel kennis van almal, selfs ook met die Tegnies bereddeneerde feite.! Dankie aan algar van julle.
Feit: Die “Boeke” wat in die huidige Bybel verskyn is deur ordinere (ongeletterde) katolieke priesters van desjare oor besluit.Sou jy kyk na die meer onlangse geskiedenis sou jy dalk die idee kon vorm dat juis hierdie “Priesters” eerder pedofiele as Gelowegis mog wees.!Daar is vele meer ” Gods-Ge-inspireerde-Boeke” asook verskeie ander Evangelies geskryf wat destyds deur die ou paar “Priesters” as “on-aanvaarbaar” ge-ag was. So dit sou u dalk baat om eers die “Priesters” van huidig maar meer nog destyds te ondersoek.!LET ASB WEL Die feit maak nie die Bybel of sy ewigheids waarde ongeldig nie, dit bloot plaas die “volle boodskap” in n betwyfelbare lig MAAR DIE KERN BOODSKAP BLY GELDIG. Nl. DOEN GOED. Die volgende vraag kom by my op, sou die hedendaagse begrip van die “Gehoorsaamheids-opdrag” letterlik vertolk moes word dan glo ek dat net ISLAM die enigste “Ware-Geloof” moet wees.! Die Lutherse-kerk-nasate draai die Bybelse Opdragte om te pas na eie Denominasie voorkeure.! Bv. Die Doop,( BEKEER jou en laat jou doop)dan volg die Dag van Aanbidding of Kerk Diens.( Jy moet die Sabbat van jou God respekteer= Sabbat IS Saterdag soos wat Christus dit eerbiedig het omdat dit reeds in die Skepping bepaal is). ens ens.
Kort om, nie ek of jy sal ooit WEET nie, ons HOOP en “trust die Dominie?Pastoor/Leeraar of ons “Kerk-Denominasie” se vertolking van wat “Waar & Eg “is.
Man loop vra direk, jy sal AL die antwoorde kry, moet net nie jou oorge-erfde-gebruike en dogmas probeer verdedig deur die antwoorde wat jy kry nie.
Groete, Sakkie
Comment by sakkie — June 25, 2010 @ 8:46 pm