| "So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all | | | | half to two-thirds of the boat has been retrieved), and |
| people, for the earth is filled with violence because of | | | | 2.4 meters (8 feet) wide. It could have crossed the |
| them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the | | | | channel, carrying supplies, livestock, and passengers, |
| earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; | | | | propelled likely by at least 18 paddlers. |
| make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. | | | | This would have been a fairly large boat for the |
| This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 | | | | Bronze Age. Compare this to the ark. The ark was |
| feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.ÿ Make a | | | | 450 feet long (as much as nine times the length of the |
| roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the | | | | Dover boat) and 75 feet wide (again, more than nine |
| top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, | | | | times wider). That makes the square footage of the |
| middle and upper decks.'" | | | | ark about 85 times larger! Plus, the Dover boat is just |
| Genesis 6:13-16 | | | | an open row boat. In contrast the ark is 45 feet (3 |
| In Genesis chapters 6-9 we read about the global | | | | decks) high - a veritable monster compared to the |
| flood and the ark Noah is instructed to build by God in | | | | Dover boat! |
| order to save his family (he, his wife, his three sons, | | | | The dimensions of the ark make it actually resemble - |
| and their wives) and pairs of every kind of animal. | | | | a modern container ship. |
| Many Christians have been scorned, because they | | | | Shaped like a rectangular box with a 6-to-1 (450 feet |
| believe the account of the ark. How gullible must one | | | | to 75 feet) dimensional ratio, the ark would have had |
| be to believe pairs of animals just "showed up" to | | | | excellent stability. The normal length-to-width ratio of |
| march onto the ark? Can you really believe a pair of | | | | ancient ships was 10 to 1. However, Noah used the |
| polar bears walked all the way from the North Pole to | | | | same proportions as we now use in modern ship |
| somewhere in the Middle East to board an ark? How | | | | construction. An interesting parallel to the size of the |
| about penguins? Or kangaroos? | | | | Ark can be seen in the well-known Titanic. The Titanic |
| The Bible does not explain to us how this was | | | | was 823 feet long by 98 feet wide (a 9-to-1 ratio) with |
| accomplished, but if we believe in a God who created | | | | a cargo capacity of 45,000 tons. It's total capacity was |
| our world, it is not too hard to believe this same God | | | | quite similar to Noah's Ark, though Titanic was |
| could also make the boarding of the ark happen. | | | | somewhat longer and wider. |
| The amazing evidence from Noah's account, however, | | | | Taking the ark's dimensions and using "a sheep" as an |
| is the ark itself. What did it look like? Genesis records | | | | average animal, Dr. John Whitcomb and Dr. Henry |
| specific dimensions as well as detailed instructions on | | | | Morris calculated the ark could have contained as |
| how the ark should be built. This is not merely a little | | | | many as 130,500 animals. They estimate the total |
| rowboat. Nor did it look like ships of those days. You | | | | number at about 17,600 (3,500 mammals, 8,600 birds, |
| do not have to be an expert on "Bronze Age boat | | | | 5,500 reptiles & amphibians). They conclude the ark |
| building" to realize that marine vessels in those days | | | | would be filled only to perhaps 27% of its available |
| were likely quite small, not able to carry large loads or | | | | space. |
| many passengers. Likely they were not seaworthy | | | | Obviously many disagree with their calculations, but it is |
| enough to cross large bodies of water. In the New | | | | beyond dispute that the ark was large, especially for |
| Testament people must have faced the same nautical | | | | its time, and its dimensions and ratio's are remarkably |
| problems encountered by those in Noah's day. We | | | | consistent with modern day shipbuilding. Certainly it |
| read about the challenges they met daily while fishing | | | | displayed a technical expertise not known in the days |
| on the Lake of Galilee, and how Paul was | | | | of either Noah or Moses. |
| shipwrecked in a great storm. | | | | Moses lived most of his life in the desert. Likely the |
| In 1992, archaeologists in Dover, England, unearthed | | | | only ships he had seen were the small boats that |
| remains of a large wooden boat thought to be 3,550 | | | | traveled the Nile. How did he know these dimensions? |
| years old (which would date it near the time of | | | | How could a man of the sand conceive of a container |
| Moses). This boat is called the Dover boat. Its size is | | | | ship? And how could he know the preferred ratio of |
| estimated at 15-18 meters (50-60 feet) long (only about | | | | length, width, and height of such a vessel? |