The Truth about Noah

Where can you read a jaw-dropping account of the end of the world as man knew it at the time? Genesis 6-9 is one of the most enthralling and iconic historical records possessed by mankind. It’s the eyewitness account of the world’s most famous ocean-going mariner rescuing animals and his family of eight from a world-destroying flood in a massive ship.

(Based on scene where Noah nearly murders two baby girls, claiming it is God’s will.)

The recently released movie Noah focused fresh public attention on this account of Noah and the Flood. My previous blog post, Noah, the Movie, discussed Nine Positives and Nine Negatives about it. I rated the movie only 2 stars out of 5, due primarily to its severe distortion of the Genesis account.

Bible Reading Increases

Nevertheless, a huge benefit of the movie is that it is driving people to read Genesis. BibleGateway reported a 223% increase in those reading the Noah chapters on their site during the three-day opening weekend for Noah, compared with the preceding weekend.

The YouVersion Bible app reported a 300% increase in the number of people reading or listening to the Biblical account of Noah during the opening weekend with 389,794 readers or listeners. It’s the largest number accessing the Noah chapters that YouVersion has ever experienced.

An online survey by the American Bible Society is showing that well over 80% of respondents say they are reading the account of Noah in Genesis because of the film.

Many more people are reading from print Bibles, offline sources, or websites besides the three reporting above. The movie is clearly generating a flood of Bible readers.

The Truth about Noah from Genesis

I urge you to read the original source — the true record of Noah and the Flood in Genesis 6-9. This historical account records the following basic facts:

Yahweh determined to destroy mankind because “the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” But Noah was a “righteous, blameless man who walked with God and found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

God gave Noah specific instructions for building an Ark in which to save his family and animal kinds, for He was “bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.” The Ark was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high with three decks. It was to be made with rooms and pitched inside and out.

Noah did as the Lord commanded him and entered the Ark along with his wife and his sons Japheth, Shem, and Ham and their three wives. The Lord brought to the Ark a male and female pair of every unclean kind of animal, and 7 pairs of clean animals and birds.

A common criticism of the Genesis Flood account is that it would be impossible for the Ark to hold two animals of every species. However, only two of every kind was required, not two of every species. For example, only two dogs were needed, not two dogs of every species. Creationist researcher John Woodmorappe reports in Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study that about 16,000 animals would have been sufficient to preserve the created kinds of air-breathing birds and land animals (including dinosaurs-probably young ones) that God brought to the Ark. The capacity of the Ark was equivalent to that of 522 standard railroad boxcars. Figuring that the average animal size was that of a sheep and that a boxcar holds 240 sheep, just 85 of the 522 boxcars would hold over 20,000 animals with plenty of room left for Noah’s family and storage.

Recently physics students at the University of Leicester showed that Noah’s ark would have floated with all the animals on board. Using the dimensions given in Genesis and applying Archimedes’ Principle, they showed that the buoyancy force of the Ark would have easily supported the weight of all the animals. The students said, “Our conclusions were that the ark would support the weight of 2.15 million sheep without sinking and that should be enough to support all of the species that were around at the time.”
(From The animals came in two by two, hurrah!, University of Leicester press release, April 3, 2014.)

Listening to Genesis 6-9

And the Lord Himself shut the door when all were inside.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.”

The waters of the flood covered the entire earth, “so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered,” rising to more than 20 feet above the tops of the highest mountains. “The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”

Genesis is quite explicit about the global nature of God’s judgment on the earth:
“All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.”

After 40 days of torrential rain, God closed “the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky” and the flood waters gradually subsided.

“In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.”

After 40 more days Noah sent out birds over the course of several weeks, conducting four test flights to evaluate the condition of the earth. Finally, in Noah’s six hundred and first year, in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry, and God told Noah to leave the ark. They had lived in the Ark for one year and 10 days.

All left the Ark, and Noah sacrificed burnt offerings from the clean animals and clean birds. The LORD responded by promising, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

He instructed Noah and his sons, “Be fruitful and multiply; populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.” God gave man permission to eat meat and instituted capital punishment at this time.

God promised, “All flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.”

Whenever we see a rainbow, it is a reminder of Noah’s Flood and God’s promise that “never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

The following article answers many common questions about Noah’s Flood and the Ark:
Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood?

Vital Warning

Why is the account of Noah important? Jesus used it to warn of what things will be like at His return to earth:

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, they were 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 shall the coming of the Son of Man be. … Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. … For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” (Matthew 24:37-39, 42, 44; cf. Luke 17:26-27)

The days of Noah were a time of great wickedness and complacency, according to the Genesis account and Jesus’ words in Matthew and Luke. People took no heed of Noah, the preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). Except for Noah, everybody ignored the signs of impending judgment. Is that similar to what’s going on today? Are proclaimers of repentance and righteousness being ignored? Are the Scriptural signs of the last days being neglecteded? Are we ignoring Biblical warnings of judgment?

May God use the Noah movie to awaken America to Biblical truth, repentance, and righteousness!!!

See my next blog post, Meet the Real Noah, for resources that support the true historical account in Genesis of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood.

Questions to Ponder

1. How long has it been since you read Genesis 6-9?
2. What words would you use to “paint a verbal picture” of the real Noah?
3. Will you be caught unaware by Jesus’ return? Will you be ready? Time may be short.

These questions can be used to engage people about Noah, with or without watching the movie. Direct people to the true account of Noah and the Flood in Genesis 6-9. Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

Soli Deo Gloria.

See these related articles I’ve written on Noah’s Flood or Noah’s Ark:
Noah’s Flood—Key to the Past
Noah’s Flood—A Global Event
Noah’s Ark Replicas
Noah’s Ark Found?
Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, & Noah’s Flood
Rebuilding Noah’s Ark
Ark Encounter Park
Noah’s Ark Model in Holland
Noah’s Ark
Noah’s Ark Found? (with video)
1. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Intro
2. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Kentucky Governor (with YouTube videos)
3. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – How Big?
4. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Ark Encounter video
5. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Ark Encounter Park
6. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Location (with maps)
7. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Funding
8. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Facing Opposition
9. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Ham Debates Lynn (with video)
10. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – What Would Noah Think?
11. Rebuilding Noah’s Ark – Tour the Dutch Ark (with video)
Dinosaurs on the Ark?
Tsunami Videos and Noah’s Flood
Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, & Noah’s Flood
USA TODAY features Noah’s Ark
Marilyn Monroe and the Age of the Earth
Wallenda, Niagara, & Noah’s Flood (with video)
Mystery of Noah’s Flood (with videos)
Leftover from Noah’s Flood?

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:4)
Wednesday April 9, 2014 A.D.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. And the water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. And the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7:11-24)