Genesis 6:9-22

What it would feel like to be the only righteous person on the entire planet? Talk about peer pressure.

Noah was that guy. The scriptures say that Noah was righteous and he walked with God. His righteousness allowed him a proximity to God that granted him the privilege of walking with God.  It was something that no one else during that time had. A close relationship with God the Father.
 
Noah’s obedience was unparalleled. After God told him to build the ark, he got to work. It took him 120 years to build it. That’s 43,800 days of obedience. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but it’s hard for me to be obedient for a few days. A toddler has trouble being obedient for a few minutes. Yet, Noah’s obedience was demonstrated in front of his family day after day and it saved their lives.

I wonder if the animals chosen to board the ark were also some of the few obedient ones of their “kind”. The ones who listened to God’s voice to go to the ark. According to Genesis 6:11-13, all of creation including the animals had become evil as a result of sin. But yet, a few were obedient and went to Noah to be saved. These animals came to Noah (Genesis 7:9). Noah didn’t have to chase them down. It’s a little bit of a foreshadow, but it reminds me of how we are to go to Jesus to be saved. For more conversation like this, check out the podcast from our “Devoted” series here.

Now that we’ve looked at the obedience required for the story to exist, let’s dive into the practicality of what it took to build the ark and flood the earth.
 
In short, the ark was huge!  If you’ve ever wondered how big this ark is, it’s about the size of a football field. There’s a life-sized version of it in Kentucky. It needed to be big enough to fit one human family, two types of birds, livestock, and land animals. From each of those types, 4 pairs of humans, 7 pairs of the animals considered clean and 2 pairs of “unclean animals. There was possibly hundreds of creatures. Can hundreds of creatures fit on a boat the size of a football field? Maybe. Can 4 men (Noah and his 3 sons) really build this massive thing without the machinery of today? Well, considering it took 120 years to do so; maybe. It’s quite possible considering we have examples of other architectural phenomena like pyramids. At a closer look, does it seem impossible?

How about the flood itself? Could it really rain enough to cover the earth? Well, not only was there enough rain, modern-day scientists actually believe the flood is the only way to explain many geological and environmental findings. For example, how are there marine fossils found all over the middle of continents, hundreds of miles away from ocean coastlines? The entire earth being covered in water could explain it. Recent studies have found soft tissue in dinosaur fossils, which would date these fossils to be thousands of years old rather than millions, placing them at times right before the flood.
 
The experts can explain it to you better than I can. Check out this video entitled “Is Genesis History?” to hear from world class scientists on how scientific findings actually validate the story of the flood.

Like our good friends Justin and Natalie say, “You have to dig to find treasure. You have to do some digging yourself and you’ll find the treasures of the Bible.”  Check out our podcast below to hear more from this amazing couple who were once atheists, but spent years researching the validity of the Bible.
 
Do some digging my friends. Let’s see what you find.

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