Do You Know About Noah? [2]

So what exactly was this box or boat thing?

Throughout history people have guessed what the ark looked like; and most people imagined a big boat with a large shed on the top.

Like in the top picture above : a painting by the American, Edward Hicks. [born 1780, died 1849]

Or in the bottom two pics : a one fifth size modern reconstruction of the ark by a Dutchman, Johan Huibers. He has now built what he claims to be a full size version.

It's set up as a sort of Noah's Ark theme park. Unlike the original ark, this one has internet access and a big screen cinema! And its got animals ...

... but not real ones.

Firstly, while it does float, Huibers has stressed that the Ark is not designed to save people from a global flood. Instead, he built it as a symbol of his faith. Huibers built the Ark exactly to the specifications noted in the Bible.

You're going to tell me anyway; so what does the Bible actually say?

Build an ark for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. Make it 133 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13 metres high. Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 50 centimetres between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side.

In fact, if you go by "God's Instructions" as above, the ark would look more like this:-  

I see what you mean; very much like a very big box.

And God works in metric!

Bible measurements are always difficult to translate, but clever people reckon they've got it about right. And here is a realistic impression of the box on the water.

O.K. Maybe, just maybe, some nutter decided to build a big boat to save his family and a few chickens; but a world-wide flood? That wasn't in my history book.

There's nothing odd about floods.

PICTURE 1 : a scene from the film 'Flood' where a combination of tide and weather caused a disastrous flood

Quite scary to see the famous London landmarks under ten metres of water!

But the film showed that it could easily happen!

PICTURE 2 : from Norfolk in 1953 where a combination of tide and weather caused a diastrous flood.

PICTURE 3 : Lynton (in Devon) a town destroyed in 1952 by a sudden build-up of rain running off the moors.

PICTURE 4 : Boscastle (in Devon) a town destroyed in 2004 by a sudden build-up of rain running off the moors.

Yeah, right! But none of these was world wide. You'll have to do better than that.

All right, we'll try on Thursday. In the meantime, what about this for a headline?

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 29th November