March 13, 2005
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NOAH
Am still reading Mathew 24 and 25. There is so much in these verses. One thought that captured my attention is Noah, and there are a few things to share. This is a compilation of several Bible studies over a few years.
One of the fun things I did when I got to substitute teach a 6th grade Sunday School class was to take the kids outside and have them measure the dimensions of Noah’s Ark with a contractor’s tape measure. We could only measure the width, and 1/2 the length but the kids came away realizing that the tiny, rinky dink pictures of Noah’s ark with the Giraffe’s head sticking out does not represent the dimensions of the real thing. They came away realizing that this is true, not an allegory or a story, that it would be possible to put the animals in the ark. So tonight, since I can’t sleep, I am going to share the stats with you for fun, and then later on will talk a bit more about Noah and the flood.
The ark was 300 cubits by fifty cubits and 30 cubits high. If a cubit is 18 inches this is the dimensions of the ark: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.
There were three levels inside the ark.
If you multiply it out you come to about 1,518,750 square feet, (450 x 75 x 30 stories) which would be big enough to fit more than 337.5 boxcars inside if the boxcar is 50 x 9 x 10 feet in size.
At the time of Noah there were probably (and this is a guesstimate) 3,500 species of mammels, 8,600 bird species, and 5,500 reptiles, and 25,500 species worms. (This is gleaned from a sermon by Jon Courson who has tested out so often in my back checking that I am trusting this).
so if you multiply this out, you get 17,600×2 (of each -except for the ones where God asked for extra) you get 35,200 critters. The average size would be about the size of a sheep. at 35 sheep per boxcar, not unrealistic, you could do it with maybe 120 box cars, and have plenty of room for food, provision, and family and wife.
If you want to include dinosaurs, you could as well, for babies would also be able to fit. Who said all the animals had to be adults?
Later today, after sleep and church, I will continue. There is so much about Noah that is so exciting. But isn’t it awesome that God could provide so much for the critters and us?
I still laugh when I think of Bill Cosby’s skit about the Ark, “How long can you tread water.” But seriously, given the end times, how long can you go through the fire? I am so grateful that I found God in the midst of all the rebellion I had, and I only hope that there are others out there who find God too before it is too late. Some of the ones I subscribe to are lost in the quagmire of inclusiveness of religion and new age beliefs that it saddens me. I can only hope and pray that God opens up their eyes soon. To realize that he has prepared an ark of salvation for us through His son.
In case you are interested, inspite of the snow, the kids made it to the state finals, there were 44 different schools represented. Our school ranked 27th out of 44, and there were glitches and some damage that occurred to some of the projects in transport, so I was proud of how well they did inspite of the difficulties. So many were first year in this that they see this year as a learning experience to prepare them for next year. I am proud of them, and I know the hard work that they did to get this far.
hope you have a blessed Sunday.
Heather
Comments (11)
I own a great book on the flood called Genesis Flood. You can do a search at Amazon.com to find it. It is very scientific, but includes all the points you brought up plus hundreds more. Its an excellent read. And yes, the Cosby bit on Noah is one of his best. LOL.
Heather, thanks for stopping by my site and your comments. God is about LOVE — I beleive His desire is to be the center of everyone’s life — I think we are the center of the universe to God — we are EVERYTHING to Him — He would go to any length to be with us — in fact He gave up His only son to connect with us — Now, it is up to us to open up our hearts and allow Him in — allow Him to LOVE us and then LOVE us some more.
As far as the great question where is God is all things that happen? I don’t know — sometimes things just happen — and God hurts more than you do in them — He weeps — He doesn’t like it — but He’s there……..always there.
You are LOVED —
Pastor Greg
That is very interesting. I’ve always wondered how big the ark really was!!!
His ways are hard to understand sometimes — every act has been out of a deep deep love for His people — You are right Keep your Eyes Fixed on Him — Jesus — God with Us!!!
That was very interesting. I’ll can’t wait to hear more. Thanks for sharing it. I was thinking no wonder it took Noah so long to build it. That was quite a feat. The representations of the Ark that you see reallly don’t do it justice do they. They make it easy for people to believe it’s just a charming little childrens story and not real. If people could see a replica of the actual size it would blow them away I’m sure.
Thanks so much for your messages and your encouragment!! It is so greatly appreciated and also so helpful to hear from others who have struggled with depression and to see hope in that! I am feeling better – have a long way to go – but am getting there!! Hope you enjoy yoru day!!!
Jamie
That was really interesting!
That is so cool! One of the Sunday School teachers for the Junior High did something similar to that except she had them stand at different points (like the ends and the sides) so that they could see how far apart they really were. I like grannyfox’s idea about how cool it would be if there were a lifesize ark made. I think that might just cause a revolution!
I remember when I learned that the ark could not fit on a football field because it was about 1 1/2 football fields long, how much in awe I was of God. He was the Great Architect; Noah just had to follow his instructions and build it and not worry what others said. That last part is, I think, probably the hardest. How often do we second-guess God’s plan because of what others around us are saying? Did God really tell me to do this? I think I fall into that trap too often.
Oh, and I am praying with you.
Dear FKI Professor, thanks, good to know that I am not spewing out erroneous facts. And I am glad that others find this as fascinating as myself. I never thought about why it took so long to build, but that makes sense.
Heather