Noah's Ark - Fact or Fiction?
By Dr. Farid Abou-Rahme
Have you asked questions like these and found out the easy answer was to dismiss the whole issue as myth because it doesn’t really matter?
A recent study in hydraulic engineering, simulated rough sea conditions by using a computer to create waves of varying strength in a massive tank. Ten models of famous ships were made including a model of Noah’s Ark, built based on the dimensions recorded over 3000 years ago in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. These were: 300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits. A cubit was an old measurement unit equivalent to about 18 inches.
As the computer simulation of waves increased, the models of famous ships tumbled one after another. When the waves reached the maximum strength, all ships had tumbled except one: Noah’s Ark!
Who designed an unsinkable ship, thousands of years ago, superior to all modern designs? The answer to this question confirms that the Bible should be taken literally for it is the perfect word of God: God designed the Ark – the best design ever.
The Ark was 1.5 times bigger than a full size football pitch, and as high as a three-storey building! God specifically told Noah to build it in 3 levels. Mathematical calculations show that there was room for 125,000 sheep size animals! Since there are only 18,000 species of land animals, including insects and birds, all the animals would fit on one of the three floors in the Ark leaving the second floor for food and storage and the third floor for Noah and his family with lots of free space (to play football and other family favourite games)! The Ark was REAL!
There is evidence for the flood in the form of graveyards of fossils all over the world. These contain the remains of all sorts of animals buried together showing sudden death and quick burial. Further evidence for the flood can be found near the summits of many mountains where there are many fossils of marine life.
"What about DINOSAURS?" people ask. We are told they died out 70 million years before man arrived! Well, this is guesswork; there is no scientific evidence for that! In fact, there is evidence that man and dinosaur lived together exactly as the Bible teaches. The Paluxy River basin in Texas has footprints of man and dinosaur walking together and there are drawings of dinosaurs in old caves dating before the dinosaur excavations started, showing that people must have seen these huge creatures to be able to draw them!
A popular question often asked is: "If dinosaurs lived with man why are they not mentioned in the Bible?" The answer is: they are. The actual name for Dinosaur is ‘Behemoth’, the animal described by God in the book of Job, Chapter 40. Reading the description of this animal, one concludes that the real name for Dinosaur is ‘Behemoth’.
The more I study science the more I discover how accurate and perfect the Bible is in every subject it touches upon. Seeing this, we are faced with a responsibility to read and respond to God’s message in the Bible.
When God decided to send the flood, He provided a means of escape (the Ark) for those who had faith to believe His word. In the event, only Noah and his family, out of all the human race, entered the ark and escaped the judgement of God due to sin.
In the same Bible we read those words spoken by our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, describing how people did not listen to the flood warning: "until the day
that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:38-39).
We have seen the accuracy of the Bible. God will judge this earth as He promised and only those who enter the ark will be safe. But this time the "ARK" is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He left His glories in heaven and came to this earth of ours to show us the love that He and His Father have for us. Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross for you and me to save us from our sins and give us back a relationship with God: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish", as they perished during the flood, "but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
In the days of Noah, at a time only known to Himself, God shut the door. The opportunity for those who were outside was gone forever. Don’t miss the opportunity this time. Don’t let false science be your passport to a fearful eternity. Make sure you are safe inside by asking the Lord Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart and make you a new creation.
If you have any questions on what you have been reading, please contact:
Dr Farid Abou-Rahme Email arahme@clara.net