Noah’s Ark is a vessel, which according to the Book of Genesis (chapters 6-9), was built by Noah at God’s command to save himself, his family, and the world’s animals from a global torrent.
Bailey (10) observes that “the narrative of the ark is found in Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.” In this essay the real account of events shall be explained and then the truth and logic in them will be analyzed. It is therefore an analysis of the events that are written in the bible and how true they could be in relation to the current world.
God realized that mankind was very wicked and therefore decided to sweep people out of the planet. Nonetheless, there was one righteous man called Noah and his family of 8 persons. Noah warned people to stop their wicked ways but no one listened to him, but instead they mocked him.
God therefore instructed Noah to build an ark in which he, his family and the animals would stay while he destroyed human kind with water. “Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and your entire household, for I have seen that you are righteous. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean” (Emerton 6). At this time Noah was 600 years old; the ark was built it for almost 120 years, but despite the mockery Noah got from the people.
Emerton (7) describes the ark as a “barge-like structure probably built of cypress or cedar, 450 feet long by 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.” The ark of this size would therefore put out of place approximately 20,000 tons because it would weigh 14,000 tons; it had, three decks, one door on the side and a window 18 inches high.
The first deck was for the food, the second for accommodation and he third for waste. The ark was therefore big enough for the animals since they were the most and the small family of Noah. When it was done Noah parked food for him and the animals to last them till the floods were over.
“He then led animals into the ark seven pairs of each clean species and one pair of the unclean” (Emerton 69). As they entered they were harassed by the sinful mankind but God put his toughest creatures such as lions and tigers to protect them.
After they had all entered into the ark, God opened the fountains of the deep waters and the windows of heaven and it rained for days and nights. The world was covered with water for 150 days, even the highest mountains were all under water therefore destroying every sinful; mankind that was in existence.
Noah waited for the waters to dry up and the ark rested on the peak of Mount Ararat and as the waters resided Noah would send ravens every seven days out to check whether the waters had dried up.
They stayed on the mountain peak for five months until he sent a dove that confirmed that the water had dried up by bringing him an olive twig meaning that vegetation was growing and when he sent it again it did not return meaning it had found some where to stay. They came out of the ark with the animals one by one and Noah decided to offer sacrifice to God for saving him and his family.
God was pleased and he made a covenant with him using a rainbow in the sky to never to destroy mankind with floods again because man was born evil. “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done” (Emerton 18). He ordered the animals to be fruitful and fill the world again and so were the three sons of Noah from whom the whole of mankind was born.
The above events seem to be true according the history of the planet because some of its geographical features could be as result of the massive flood. However some of these facts are disputable; some of these are the ages of these people that existed then. Noah is said to have been 600 years when he was ordered to build the ark, which he did so in 120 years.
It’s disputable how long man could live then considering that the current man can only live at most a sixth of Noah’s age which is a very big variance. The change in man’s lifespan could be attributed to the changes in ecosystem caused by the flood but still that variance is unimaginable. The ark was built in 120 years that would mean that even after a century mankind did not get the message, a very disputable fact too and also apparently out of 7 billon people only 8 people were righteous (Bailey 205).
Animals are also said to have been led to the ark, animals do not have the brain capacity to cooperate and be led to an ark more so in pairs. Moreover, how could herbivores and carnivores live in the same ark and yet not maul on each other? The carnivores would have also eradicated Noah and his family in the process of putting them in the ark, leave alone living in the ark.
Noah sent a dove to check whether the waters had dried up, how did it identify that was its mission and that it should come back. The food lasted them a year, but how was this food preserved for so long, and finally how could have Noah and his family built such a strong ark to survive such a massive flood without any sophisticated scientific and technological knowledge.
Furthermore, the waters from the flood are said to be from the fountains of the deep seas: where are those fountains that released so much water? Where did the water evaporate to because to submerge the entire earth surface a lot of water was really needed and it is not seen today? Scientists claim that the water is below the earth deep into the underground but they also say that for such amounts of water to be trapped so deep there must have been a lot of pressure applied.
Scientists attest to the flood occurrence but they claim it was due to the break up of a planet between Mars and Jupiter hence causing the floods that subsequently led to too much pressure on earth hence the waters was forced underground.
The mountains are also said to have formed at this point and so is the continents due to the immense pressure of the waters, hence before the floods there were no mountains where did the ark stop. Aviators, Christians and other interested people have explored Mount Ararat in turkey to find the ark remains but no evidence has been found yet.
The ark story can not be considered a lie altogether because if there were floods then there must have been people who survived it, and for them to survive there must have been some one to protect them.
The changes in ecosystem could be the reason of the changes in man as it is evident on what evolution can do. However, some things remain unbelievable but humankind has no other information to prove them wrong and such are the book of Genesis stories. Science could answer some questions but still leave out some that the bible answers but still the bible answers some while others it does not.
Therefore, whether to believe the story or not will depend on the method of achieving rationality being used which is influenced by several factors depending on one’s environment and the culture and beliefs that one is exposed to.
Works Cited
Bailey, Lloyd. Noah, the Person and the Story. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1989. Print.
Emerton, Jackson. An Examination of Some Attempts to Defend the Unity of the Flood Narrative in Genesis: Part II. Vetus Testamentum XXXVIII. (1988): 1-21. Print.