This question came to my dad as a comment on my blog. He decided to write an article so that others may also benefit from the answer. I hope you enjoy this guest post from Andrew Drapper, my dad.
The commenter said:
“There is one Bible story in particular that I find difficult to accept as an actual event which in turn sheds doubt in general with regard to accepting the Bible as a literal record. Noah’s ark. Even with today’s technology I’m relatively sure it would be difficult, if not impossible, to build a vessel capable of housing two of each living thing on earth. Additionally there is the matter of food and water and keeping prey animals separate from their prey. The sheer size and logistics are a bit mind boggling.”
So, how was it done and is it possible?
Let us first have a look and see what the Bible says.
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.” Genesis 6:13-16 (KJV)
So what was the Ark to be like?
Length 300 cubits, Breadth 50 cubits, Height 30 cubits, with 3 floors, rooms, one window and one door. Pitched or waterproofed inside and out.
A cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the end of your fingers. The standard cubit is 18 inches, though there is some evidence for a very much bigger measurement for the cubit that is used. But lets work to the 18 inch cubit.
Length 300 cubits = 450 feet or 137.16 M
Breadth 50 cubits = 75 feet or 22.86 M
Height 30 cubits = 45 feet or 13.71 M
450 x 75 = 33,750 square feet per deck with 3 decks.
33,750 x 3 = 101,250 square feet of flooring that is 9,406.464 square meters of flooring.
633, 20ft shipping containers (TEU, Twenty-foot equivalent unit) in floor space. That is something like 316 modern articulated lorries.
On November 26, 1955 the purpose-built container ship Clifford J. Rodgers, only carried 600 containers between North Vancouver, British Columbia and Skagway, Alaska. Just about the same size as the Ark in cargo. The first purpose-built container ship in the United States was the Ideal-X, a T2 tanker, owned by Malcom McLean, which carried just 58 metal containers between Newark, New Jersey and Houston, Texas on its first voyage, in April 1956. Today we build ships that carry over 9,000 TEU
So the Ark was big. Not by today’s supper ships, but compared to the normal pictures you see of Noah’s Ark.
So could two of every animal and seven of a few fit in?
What does the Bible say?
“Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.” Genesis 6:20 (KJV)
Only two of every kind, (kind probably being like dog kind not two of every breed). And they would come to Noah, he would not have to find them. If they are supernaturally coming to Noah, it is also possible that they would not fight and many may hibernate.
What we need to know is, ‘How many animals are we talking about?’, ‘What size are they?’ etc.
It is estimated that there are about 16,000 “kinds.” of animal. (there are 400-something dog breeds but they all belong to one species (Canis familiaris), in the same way many species can belong to one kind.) Looking at mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, the leading systematic biologist, Ernst Mayr, gives the number as 17,600. Allowing for two of each species on the ark, plus seven of the few so-called “clean” kinds of animals, plus a reasonable increment for known extinct species, it is probable that not more than say, 50,000 animals would have needed to be on the ark.
Most of these animals would have been smaller than a sheep. Remember that even the largest dinosaurs were relatively small when babies or only a few years old. Scholars agree that there was plenty of room for all of the animals on the ark, plus food and water with room to spare.
How long would it take to build?
When talking about Noah having had to build this boat in 6 months or even 6 years, it appears that Noah was given 120 years to get this huge operation together: ship, food, water, animals etc.
“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3 (KJV)
Sound like a long time? Noah lived to 950 years old.
So what is the message of the Ark for us today?
The flood really happened. God judged the world for it’s sinfulness. Today the flood is a reminder for us of God’s judgement.
Mankind had rejected God and was living a life of sin. The flood, and the remains of it that we can see today in the rocks, is a reminder to us of the fact that God does and will judge sin.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7
The Ark was provided by the grace of God.
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:8 (KJV)
Before the flood came God provided Noah a way in which he could escape. Not because Noah was perfect, but because of God’s grace. God does not change. He is still a righteous judge. He must judge sin, yet He is still merciful and “takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (Ezekiel 33:11) Through His grace He has provided us a way to escape before judgement comes.
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
The ark had only one door.
“…and set the door of the ark in its side.” – Genesis 6:16
There were two groups of people during the time of the flood – those inside the Ark, before the flood arrived, and those who were outside.
Today there are two groups of people – those in Jesus, forgiven by his death and those who are outside. Those outside, do not think of themselves as outside, they are the ‘normal’ ones. Until the judgement comes! Only then do they see that they are outside. Jesus is the only way to get from the outside to the inside.
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved… ” (John 10:9)
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
There is much more that could be said:
God invited them in, and God was there with them: “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark…” Genesis 7:1 (KJV)
They were secure inside the Ark “… and the LORD shut him in.” Genesis 7:16, once God shut the door it was shut and no one else could enter.
Jesus is coming back soon and it will be just like it was when the flood hit.
“37 But as the days of Noe, [Noah], were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37-39
So as you look at the fossil record, with it’s billions of dead things, buried in rock layers, laid down by water, all over the Earth, think about the flood and God’s judgement past and coming.
To find out how to be in God’s grace and escape His future judgement you might like to look at ‘Finding God’s Way’.
Further reading.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/caring-for-the-animals
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/two-of-every-kind
Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study by John Woodmorappe
With over 1,200 scholarly references to academic studies. Woodmorappe claims that after years of systematically examining all of the questions which have been raised over the years, “all of the arguments against the Ark are… found wanting. In fact, the vast majority of the anti-Ark arguments, at first superficially plausible, turn out to be easily invalidated.”
The Genesis Flood by Henry Morris and John Whitcomb.
The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris.
Images of possible Ark site, Anchor Stones, and how they were used.
