God had a plan to punish the wicked people that were inhabiting the earth, but He needed Noah’s cooperation to save humankind. This devotional reading looks at the command Noah received from God to build the ark.
Nuggets
- Humankind had the years it took Noah built the ark to turn back to God or be destroyed.
- God gave Noah the specific dimensions of the ark.
- We don’t know exactly how Noah got the ark built.
- The ark, not Noah, was a type of Christ.
- A different sermon from Jessop talked about the ark being a type of Church.
While we are given the dimension of the ark, it doesn’t really give us a clue as to what it really looked like. But it brings up some interesting thoughts on the ark.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Creation’s Do-Over series
Timing
“Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat — lower, middle, and upper” (Gen. 6: 14-16 NLT)
Humankind had the years it took Noah built the ark to turn back to God or be destroyed.
Some feel it took 120 years to build the ark because of verse 3. “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years’” (Gen. 6: 3 NLT).
Resources
Yeah, we took it to be lifespan when we discussed verse 3. But which is it?
Let’s go to the Orthodox Jewish Bible. I know I stumble on the Hebrew, but let’s see what we can see.
“And Hashem [God] said, My Ruach [Hakodesh] [Holy Spirit] shall not always strive with Adam [man], for that he also is basar [mortal]: yet his yamim [lifespan] shall be a hundred and twenty shanah [year]” (Gen. 6: 3 OJB).
It would be logical to think humans would no longer live around 900 years, but 120. God was wanting to cut down the opportunity to sin.
But a 120-year lifespan isn’t the norm. Did God change it again and not tell us?
Also, when I googled the meaning in Hebrew, words that referred to lifespan had another word in front of yamim.
I can see where the 120 years would be limited to those alive at that time. Their lifespan was going to be cut short because of their disobedience.
Maybe it is both to which the verse is referring. We aren’t really told how long it took Noah to build the ark.
Dimensions of the Ark
God gave Noah the specific dimensions of the ark.
If you are like me, reading the dimensions of the ark mean nothing to you. Others who know a lot more than I do say that this is a massive ship.
Part of the problem is we aren’t exactly sure how much a cubit was, which was the measurement back then. So, the figures given in verse 15 are estimates. (That is four and a half football fields for length.)
Well, it would have to be big to hold enough to repopulate the earth of every kind of living creature.
Building the Ark
We don’t know exactly how Noah got the ark built.
It amazes me how Noah would have been able to build the ark. We have no idea what Noah did for a living, but this wasn’t exactly by water.
We have to remember Tubal-Cain created tools. “Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gave birth to a son named Tubal-cain. He became an expert in forging tools of bronze and iron …” (Gen. 4: 22 NLT).
True, Cain’s descendants were off in the Land of Nod – which one explanation says was anywhere Eden wasn’t. Someone somewhere down the line would have brought the bronze and iron tools – or even the knowhow to make them – back.
When we look at the pyramids, we know ancient civilizations weren’t total dummies. They could build big things to last.
Noah or even one of his sons may have had the tools or the knowhow to build the ark. What we do know is God gave that ability to someone in Noah’s family because the ark got built.
Whether Noah had the skills or he knew that someone in his family did – even if none of them did – he knew that God would provide what was needed to get the ark built.
We know that God provided skills later in building the tabernacle. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts’” (Ex. 31: 1-3 NLT).
How ever God provided the necessary skills to whomever, Noah’s faith never wavered that He would.
The wood has been translated here as cypress wood. The Complete Jewish Bible stated that it was gofer-wood (usually translated as gopher wood). Since we are unsure what gopher wood is, cypress is a lot less confusing.
But this may be another instance where our modern translations have changed things for our ease. We don’t want to rewrite God’s Word to make it say what we think it should say.
The focus shouldn’t be on the how but on the why. God was blessing the obedient and punishing the disobedient.
All we know is that it needed to be a strong, resilient wood to withstand all the water associated with the flood. The tar or pitch would help make it waterproof.
The Ark and Christ
The ark, not Noah, was a type of Christ. This came from a sermon by Jessop.
Resource
Mocked
We talked about the wicked may have not known what a flood or rain was any more than Noah did. What happens when someone has a different viewpoint than ours — the wicked especially, but sometimes disciples, too?
The mocking begins. “How can you believe what you believe? That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. What other dumb thing can you believe?”
Oh, yeah. I bet people in Noah’s time could say things just as cutting as those today can.
Jesus was mocked, too. We aren’t told that Noah had to suffer the physical mocking that He did.
“Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified” (Mt. 27: 27-31 NLT).
Escape
Once of the things that Noah was probably mocked for was building a boat. Did they even know what a boat was?
If they didn’t know what a boat was, and they didn’t know what a flood was (because it can’t flood if it hadn’t rained), how were they going to recognize the ark as a means of escape?
How could a guy dying be our Savior? How could His death take away our sins? “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (I Pet. 2: 24 NLT).
How does that happen? Jesus’ blood covers our sins.
- “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (I Jn. 1: 7 NLT).
- “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (Eph. 1: 7 NLT).
- “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (Rom. 5: 9 NLT).
- “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9: 22 NLT).
Because God loves us so much — even though we are sinful and disobey us — God did everything He could to restore our relationship with Him. This is really important.
Some day — probably sooner rather than later — Jesus is going to come back, and this world will be judged again. The outcome is going to be the same. The wicked will die, and the righteous will escape that punishment.
Which side are you on?
Life Preserver
The ark saved the physical lives of Noah and his family. Jesus saves our spiritual lives.
It is important to save our spiritual lives. We just talked about the punishment. It is going to be a big one for those that don’t choose God.
“And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 15 NLT).
Door
There was only one door into the ark. God let Noah and his family come in, and then He shut it.
Jesus is the door to the sheep pen. “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (Jn. 10: 9 NLT).
We can only enter Heaven through Jesus.
- “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Eph. 2: 9 NLT).
- “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Ac. 4: 12 NLT).
- “You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea” (Ex. 20: 3-4 NLT).
- “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NLT). ” (Rev. 20: 15 NLT).
Window
The ark had one window. “After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat” (Gen. 8: 6 NLT).
No, Jesus is specifically called a window. But windows are a way we can see inside. They open.
Paul told us to open the eyes of our hearts. “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1: 18 ESV).
It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Think about it.
The eyes of the heart (faith) is the window the soul (the spiritual part of us that is immortal).
Jesus is the foundation of our faith. We see God through Him.
The Ark and the Church
A different sermon from Jessop talked about the ark being a type of Church.
Resource
Built by Degrees
It is said that it took 120 years to build the ark, even though that isn’t verified in God’s Word. It seems logical that it would take a long time.
We talked about not knowing Noah’s occupation when he was called to build it. Even if he was a carpenter/builder of things, it is probably a safe bet to say he had never built anything to the scale that the ark was.
Regardless, think about building a house. It has to be a process — by degrees. You have the foundation dug first. Then you shore it up.
You have to put the frame of the house up next. You can’t put up the drywall if there are no walls on which to hang it.
But you have to start on the outside before you start on the inside. Don’t want things to get wet or stolen.
Besides, before you put the walls up, you have to run electrical, plumbing, central vac, and other things. You don’t want all that on the outside of the walls.
You get the picture. A house isn’t built in a day.
Christ wasn’t “built” in a day either. He was alive long before creation, and He knew the Plan of Salvation was in His future. “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Eph. 1: 4 NLT).
When God said, “Let there be light,” I think He was putting Jesus in this world. No, it wasn’t His physical self. God enlightened the world with the presence and knowledge of Jesus.
In the fullness of time — when God deemed the time was right — Jesus was born on earth. Jesus died and rose again to finish the Plan of Salvation.
When the time is right, Jesus will come again. It is a process.
- Jesus had to be introduced to the world.
- A way had to be made to allow people to return to a relationship with God.
- When everyone who is going to ABCD has, Jesus will call everyone home and fully defeat Satan and sin.
Receptacle for All
The ark was a big boat. It had to be to hold all those animals.
There are going to be multitudes in Heaven. “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb …” (Rev. 7: 9 NLT).
Don’t think all means every person ever born from Adam on down. All means those who have ABCDed. We have to choose God.
Allowed Free Will
The animals came to Noah. He didn’t go out and round them up.
We have to choose to obey God and turn our backs on Satan. God doesn’t force us to be obedient to Him.
Deluged by God
One thing we may or may not think about is that God had to hold off 120 years until the ark was built. He waited to destroy everything until the man who believed in Him was ready.
God is going to wait until everyone who will ABCD has done so. Then He will totally destroy this earth that He created in Genesis 1.
Making the Connections #1
God can be very exacting at times. He know what He wants, and He knows exactly what we need.
We shouldn’t feel restricted when God gets specific. We should be glad that we know what is right.
Making the Connections #2
“It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith” (Heb. 11: 7 NLT)
The whole purpose Noah built the ark was to save the family. He took it on faith that God was going to do as He said even if it was something new. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Heb. 11: 1 NLT).
But this translation didn’t say what I was expecting it to say. Let’s try that again.
“By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting” (Heb. 11: 7 CJB).
Well, that has the holy fear for which I was looking. It is about the why Noah did what he did.
The focus isn’t on Noah built an ark. It is on God warned him, and he obeyed.
Noah was moved by reverence to do what he was told and save his household.
I surprised me that it said “… Noah condemned the rest of the world …” (Heb. 11:7 NLT). I question that Noah was given the authority to put others under condemnation.
What I am thinking about is John 3: 18. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son” (Jn. 3: 18 NLT).
Oh, no. This isn’t about showing up at the Judgment Seat for sentencing.
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn. 3: 18 ESV).
This is our destiny because of our choice.
Making the Connections #3
We know God will always find a way to save His children when it is in His Will. Yeah, we need saving a lot when we are surrounded by a corrupt world.
There are probably sometimes that we don’t even realize God has saved us because He didn’t have a build an ark. Those saves may just be a prompting of the Holy Spirit.
There are other time when we have to be completely involved. We have to give up on this world, accept that we may be mocked and hassled for our beliefs, and do our part.
We, like Noah, have to put our faith and trust in God’s plan.
Making the Connections #4
Gray pulled out something that I had already figured out. He wrote, “480 years of age when he began, he toiled on for 120 years.”
Resource
When Noah started the ark, Shem, Ham, and Japheth weren’t even alive. They were born 20 years later.
All they would have known was doom was coming to those who didn’t believe.
How Do We Apply This?
- Have the faith of Noah when God commands us to do the impossible, the unknown, the unpopular, and the seemingly unending.
Father God. You don’t always ask us to do simple things. We can find a million reasons why we can’t do what You ask. Help us to have the faith of Noah to not talk back, but to obediently jump right in serving You. Amen.
What do you think?
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