[Special] God's Perfect Design! Revealed through the Capacity and Safety of Noah's Ark
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February 27, 2011 |
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Noah made the Ark in accordance with God's command 4,500 years ago. God taught him how to make it in detail and Noah obeyed Him. After Noah's family and every living thing entered the Ark, it started to rain. They lived in the Ark for 382 days. It had to be able to withstand the flood that came upon the earth for 40 days. Let's reflect upon the love of God and spiritual meaning embedded in the Noah's Ark by looking into its size and safety.
God taught Noah the way of constructing the Ark and the size specifically as recorded in Genesis 6:14-16. "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks."
A cubit is the unit of length, the length from the elbow to the end of the fingers of an average adult. There have been various cubits depending on generations and people who used the unit. However, one cubit is approximately between 46cm and 56cm in length when changing into the metric system we are using today.
If a cubit is 46cm, the length of the Ark is 138m, its breadth 23m, and its height 14m. If a cubit is 53cm, the length of the ark is 160m, its width 27m, and its height 16m. The length is as long as one and one-half soccer fields and its width 20 times wider than a basketball court. Its capacity is the same as that of 568 standard compartments of a train. This 14 thousand-ton-ship is big enough to accommodate 125,280 lambs.
The Scientific Experiment Proved the Outstanding Safety of the Ark
Noah's Ark has been shown to be very safe in terms of the ratios throughout its design and its structure. It was designed to regain balance quickly in heavy seas. The U.S. government has designed and manufactured a warship according to the design Noah's Ark had adopted. It has been considered to be the strongest and most stable warship among ships which have been constructed. It tells us how strong and sturdy Noah's Ark was.
A Korean maritime technology research center took a marine engineering approach to Noah's Ark and performed a few experiments. They made a one-fiftieth sized miniature model of Noah's Ark as recorded in the Bible. They conducted a few scientific experiments which have the Ark exposed to diverse environments by controlling speed and intensity of tidal currents, waves, and wind. As a result, it proved that Noah's Ark had had a more substantive safety system than any other vessels which have been made with highly advanced maritime engineering technologies. Such evidence of the Ark's safety is a proof that supports the authenticity of the Bible.
Noah's Ark Was Built in Accordance with God's Perfect Design
Noah's ark had to stand the severe environments imposed by heavy rain for 40 days and nights. It also protected Noah, his family members, and numerous kinds of living things for 382 days. God knew proper structure, symmetric ratio, and material of the Ark. God told Noah, who was a righteous man of his time, how he would design it. He told him clearly and in detail. Noah obeyed what God told him to do.
Noah's technical skill was still necessary to make the Ark. Genesis 4 indicates that Tubal-cain, who was the fifth generation from Cain, was able to forge all implements of bronze and iron. At that time, there were more advanced technologies and civilization that are beyond what people think. Let's look into the period while Noah lived in the ark.
From the time when the flood came upon the earth to the time when Noah went out from the ark, it was a year and 10 days. That's because they had stayed for 57 days more in the Ark from the time they came to know that the water was dried up from the earth and they entered into the ark 7 days before the water of flood started to come upon the earth. Therefore, Noah lived in the ark for a year and 17 days, which is 382 days.
Spiritual Messages Embedded in Noah's Ark
The Bible tells us that the last days will be just like the days of Noah as recorded in Matthew 24:37-39. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Noah's Ark is a means of the salvation. By entering into the Ark and living there, Noah and his family were saved from the judgment of flood. As salvation is gained through the faith in the Word of the Christ, the Ark that led them to salvation refers to the Word of God that is the way of salvation. Those who live in the Word of God and put it into practice will come forth not to a resurrection of judgment, but to a resurrection of life and have eternal life. Today, God is looking for righteous men who will make the ark of salvation by completely obeying God's will like Noah did. This is because there should be righteous men like Noah in the churches established in the name of the Lord for the churches to play a role as the ark of salvation. We hope that all churches around the world will become churches that obey God's Word, keep alert in prayer, and manifest works of God.
Window
"You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it"
It tells us that we have to open the window of our hearts to the world. In other words, we should be the light and salt of the world.
Ark
"This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits."
The ark represents the Word of God in the spiritual sense. Only one who lives His Word and puts it into practice will come forth to not a resurrection of judgment, but a resurrection of life and have eternal life.
Gopher Wood
"Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood"
In your Christian life, you have to be strong and upright like gopher wood. That is, you should have an unchanging and upright heart, and then you can safely reach Heaven.
Three-floor Deck
"You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks."
It means that we should always have God the Trinity dwell in our hearts, and that the providence of human cultivation will be fulfilled on the earth throughout the generation of God, the Lord, and the Holy Spirit.
Pitch
"and shall cover it inside and out with pitch."
God had Noah cover the ark with pitch for water not to come into it. It shows that even though we live in the world, we should not accept the 'water of the world' entering into our salvation.
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