The Ark Experience

 

    Noah was a man of great faith.  He spoke against evil when evil was the way of life.  He spoke when he was ignored and taunted.  He built an ark as God commanded which made him look crazy.  He loaded it with all these plants and animals like a zoo in an enclosed space.  Then he went in and shut the door never really knowing if it would ever open again. 

    There had never been any rain before the doors of the ark closed and were secure.  As far as we know there had never been a boat built.  Life was not what it was in Eden, but it was still pretty close to the perfect environment.  

    It took a lot of faith for Noah to be obedient.  When the rain started it had to scary, but when it didn't stop and they could hear the panic and fear in the people who ignored them, it had to cause all sort of feelings.  As the water rose, they had to question if the boat would float.  Then like the ocean the waves got strong, and the boat was rocking back and forth.  It had to me an experience.

    It is great to be a trailblazer when looking back, but living through it is not as exciting.  Noah obeyed God to the letter.  He never questioned his orders, but living it must have been hard.  Then think about the smell.  It rained for 40 days and night.  The water rose from the ground.  The smell inside the ark would be bad after just a couple of days with all those animals.  I am sure there was a way to remove waste, but the smell would still be like living in a barn without a/c.

    Noah had gathers two of all animals, but seven of the sacrificial animals.  He gathered the clean and unclean animals for survival of God's creations.  The animals were for life restoration, sacrifice, and food.  Blood is life, so when people sinned they had to shed the blood life of an animal.  Animals always have paid the price for our sins.

    The ark was huge.  It held thousands of compartments for all the animals to be separated.  The ark was the length of about 522 train cars.  It had taken Noah decades to build it by hand.  Now think about how many animals it could hold.  One boxcar can hold 240 sheep.  That means he could have held close to 125,000 animals plus his family.

    You may question how animals got all over the world after the flood.  The world's surface is still changing.  It divided in the flood, but there were still land bridges.  It is believed that the ice age may have come after the flood which could have made it possible too.  All we know for sure is that Noah brought the animals into the ark and all life outside of the ark died.

    The purpose for rain was to destroy all living things that were not in the safety of the ark.  People did not die in one moment.  It took days of exposure, elements, and starvation.  It is believed it took about seven days before everyone died.  Waters did come from the underground taverns and lakes too.  It was something that had never happened before and will never happen again.  A new water system was created, but after the flood receded almost a year later, it would never be as violent again.

    It started with one drop of rain that turned into a downpour.  We all have seen how just a few hours of rain can turn violent.  Imagine 40 days and nights of that.  The worst part is that the people had been warned and ignored it.  If they had listened they could have been in the safety of the ark too, but once the doors closed, they would not open again until God released them.  God is the one that sealed them, so if the people inside wanted to let their friends, extended family, or anyone else in they could not.

    God had declared death to start over and what He declares will always happen.  The event was traumatic for the survivors.  It probably haunted them for the rest of their lives which had been reduced to 120 year maximum at this time, so we can't cause as many problems.  God gave them a rainbow to ensure them of His promise that He would never destroy the earth in that way again.

Genesis 7-8