Noah's Ark and the World Wide Flood
Introduction
A. The reason I am teaching on the topic of evolution verses creation is so that you can get access to scientific information that the public schools are censoring for fear that it might show how foolish the teaching of evolution really is. The educational elite today will do whatever it takes to prevent people from hearing anything that challenges evolution. They will make fun of scientists or teachers who teach creation, try to intimate people who say they believe in creation, and even seek to legally keep it out of the schools. So much for being ‘open minded!’
B. I am not a scientist but I am a person who can think and I feel I should be allowed to ask questions and challenge theories that I am taught. This material we shall look at today is presented to you not so much that you can remember all of it and use it in an argument with an evolutionist. It is presented with the hope that you will see that the Biblical teaching of creationism is good science and that you will get this truth settled in your heart once and for all.
C. If you get into a discussion with an evolutionists rather than trying to remember all this material it might be better to approach it this way. “I know there is good scientific research available for anyone who is ‘open minded’ enough to challenge the theory of evolution. I can get it for you if you are really interested in educating yourself.”
D. This coming Saturday, April 25th, we will be caravanning down to see the Creation museum in Cincinnati. If you truly are interested in educating yourself and getting good scientific research done by brilliant scientists, geologists, nuclear physicists, molecular biologists, cosmologist, I invite you to come along. I can promise you that you will not regret it and it will change your life if you have any questions at all about evolution or creationism. Today we are going to take a look at the importance of believing in the creation story and also the story of Noah’s Ark and how it clearly speaks of a young earth in agreement with the story of creation.
Is it really that important that we believe in creation? Mark 10:6
A. Some people say, what is the big deal, so long as I believe in Jesus what does it matter if I believe in evolution or creation? Well it does matter and let me show you why.
1st Jesus believed in the story of creation. In Mark 10:6 we find Jesus making reference to the story of creation as He taught about marriage between a man and a woman. He declared that marriage is to be between a man and a woman because “from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.” It is clear that Jesus believed in the creation story and He used it as a basis for His teaching for marriage. If we reject creation we make Jesus a “false teacher.”
2nd If we can reject the plain teaching of Genesis, why can’t we reject the plain teaching of other scriptures? If we reject Bible teaching just because it is hard to believe or science says it is impossible, then why not reject Jesus’ virgin birth and His resurrection from the dead, or His miracles, since science says they are not possible? Either the Bible can be trusted or it cannot. Either it is divinely inspired or it is written by men. If it is divinely inspired then we can trust what it says to be true.
3rd The creation story gives us the entire foundation for the salvation of man. If there was death, disease, and destruction before man sinned then the whole concept of sin and its curse is now without any basis and the need for salvation is no longer necessary. According to the creation story, everything was created good, without death, disease, and destruction. It was not until Adam and Eve sinned that these things came upon the earth. Jesus came to pay the price for this sin by His sacrifice on the cross. His death and resurrection have broken the curse of sin and have brought the gospel or the spreading of God’s kingdom on this earth. Without the creation story as we read it in Genesis we have no plan of salvation. Our only hope is that someday man will evolve and be good. But with six thousand years of history filled with wars and corruption we don’t have much hope.
B. The belief in the teaching of creation is not really optional. If we reject creationism we make Jesus a false teacher, we destroy the entire plan of salvation and we make the Bible a book written by men. Creation is not simply something that Christians can take or leave. It is a foundation upon we build our entire believe system.
Why did God destroy the earth that He had made? Genesis 6:5-8, 14-22
A. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” These verses speak for themselves. Every human being on the face of the earth had turned after the wickedness in their own hearts, but Noah, because of his righteousness before God, was spared from God’s judgment, along with his wife, their sons, and their wives. As a result of man’s wickedness, God sent judgment on all mankind. As harsh as the destruction was, no living person was without excuse.
B. The account of Noah and the Ark is one of the most widely known events in the history of mankind. Unfortunately, like other Bible accounts, it is often taken as a mere fairy tale. The flood was about 4,000- 4,500 years ago. It was worldwide and only eight people survived. There are many good scientific and mathematic reasons to believe in this story. Let’s just look at a few here today.
Population of humans on the earth
A. If we started with only two people about 4,500 years ago the world’s population today would be about nine billion people. (That is close to what we have at six billion right now) That would be figuring that the population doubled every 150 years, which is very conservative, since it usually doubles at 40 years. If it was not a worldwide flood then we would have hundreds of thousands of people still alive 4,500 years ago. If we had hundreds of thousands of people alive 4,500 years ago, the world population today would be in the hundreds of trillions. What if we had man on the earth hundreds of thousands of years ago as evolutionists teach? If we just say man was here 50,000 years ago and use the most conservative growth rate, then the world population would be 1 followed by 100 zeros. We would have so many people who lived and died that you could not dig a hole anywhere on the earth without digging up human bones. The entire earth’s surface would be covered several feet deep with human bones. Where are all those people, nowhere because the population started with eight people about 4,500 years ago.
B. If we believe the evolutionist and that man was not fully evolved and that there were other partially evolved humans for hundreds of thousands of years, what would their population be in ten thousand years? If a person says they could possibly have died off from disease or war or famine, even if that is true where are all the bones? The only thing that could solve this problem is to say that man was not able to reproduce children for thousands and thousands of years, no babies could be born to most people but that only a few out of thousands could actually have children and that the rest of the population was childless, barren. If you ask me that takes a lot more blind faith than to believe the science and the math research that we have today and the factual data we have today, which points to the population of the earth starting with a few people about 4,500 years ago, right at the time of Noah’s Flood and eight people being on the ark which gives us our population today at around six billion. It makes sense and does not require any faith or religion to believe.
Fossil record and earth crust
A. Where do fossils come from? If you leave a dead animal lying in the field, will it become a fossil? No, why not? Because it will decay and animals will destroy it. So where do fossils come from? Fossils come from catastrophes that suddenly kill and bury their remains before they can be destroyed. A worldwide flood is the best explanations for most fossils that are found today. Spectacular fossil graveyards have been found over the years that give evidence to a sudden catastrophe such as a flood. Many caves high in the mountains have been found with remains of large varieties of animals all fossilized, in patterns consistent with sudden burial in a catastrophe. Animals that would never be together except if they were fleeing some kind of catastrophe such as a worldwide flood. Also there have been many fossil graveyards found in high mountains containing all sorts of marine animals, fish and sharks. How could they have gotten so high in these mountains except that the entire world was covered in a worldwide flood?
B. Evidence of Noah’s Flood can be seen all over the earth, from sea beds to mountaintops. Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, the physical features of the earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past, from canyons and craters to coal beds and caverns.
C. The earth’s crust has massive amounts of layered sedimentary rock, sometimes miles deep! These layers of sand, soil, and material mostly laid down by water were once soft like mud, but they are now hard stone. Encased in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things, fossils of plants and animals all buried very quickly. The evidence of a worldwide flood is all over the earth is staring everyone in the face.
How large was Noah’s Ark? 6:15
A. “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.” Unlike many whimsical drawings that depict the Ark as some kind of overgrown houseboat, with giraffes sticking out the top, the Ark described in the Bible was a huge vessel. Not until the late 1800s was a ship built that exceeded the capacity of Noah’s Ark.
B. The dimensions of the Ark are convincing for two reasons: the proportions are like that of a modern cargo ship, and it is about as large as a wooden ship can be built. The cubit was about 1½ feet. The ark must have been at least 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. The biblical Ark is one of the largest wooden ships of all time a mid-sized cargo ship by today’s standards.
C. How could the Ark survive the flood? A Korean study performed at the world-class ship research center (KRISO) in 1992 was done on the dimensions of Noah’s Ark. The team of nine researchers was led by Dr. Hong, who is an outspoken evolutionist. The study confirmed that the Ark could handle waves as high as 98 feet and that the proportions of the biblical Ark are near perfect. The study compared the biblical Ark with 12 other vessels. Three qualities were measured, stability, hull strength, and comfort. The survey concluded that Noah’s Ark was among the best designs overall. In other words, the proportions of the Ark show a careful design balance that is easily lost when any measurements are modified the wrong way. It is no surprise that modern ships have similar proportions to Noah’s Ark today. Those proportions work. How could Noah have known how to build this perfectly proportioned ship?
How could Noah fit all the animals on the Ark? 6:19
A. “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” In the book “Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study” it is suggested that, at most, 16,000 animals were all that were needed to preserve the created kinds that God brought into the Ark.
B. The Ark did not need to carry every kind of animal nor did God command it. It carried only air-breathing, land-dwelling animals, creeping things, and winged animals such as birds. Aquatic life (fish, whales, etc.) and many amphibious creatures could have survived in sufficient numbers outside the Ark. This cuts down significantly the total number of animals that needed to be on board.
C. Another factor which greatly reduces the space requirements is the fact that the tremendous variety in species we see today did not exist in the days of Noah. Only the parent “kinds” of these species were required to be on board in order to repopulate the earth. For example, only two dogs were needed to give rise to all the dog species that exist today.
D. Noah would not have taken the largest animals onto the Ark; it is more likely he took juveniles aboard the Ark to repopulate the earth after the Flood was over. These younger animals also require less space, less food, and have less waste. The same goes for elephants, giraffes, and other animals that grow to be very large. However, there was adequate room for most fully grown adult animals anyway. Using a short cubit of 18 inches for the Ark to be conservative, less than half of the cumulative area of the Ark’s three decks need to have been occupied by the animals and their enclosures. This means there was plenty of room for fresh food, water, and even many other people.
Were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark?
A. The history of God’s creation told in Genesis 1 and 2 tells us that all the land-dwelling creatures were made on Day 6 of Creation Week, the same day God made Adam and Eve. Therefore, it is clear that dinosaurs were made with man.
B. Also, two of every kind (seven of some) of land animal boarded the Ark. Nothing indicates that any of the land animal kinds were already extinct before the Flood.
C. We also find many dinosaurs that were trapped and fossilized in Flood sediment. Widespread legends of encounters with dragons give another indication that at least some dinosaurs survived the Flood. The only way this could happen is if they were on the Ark.
D. Juveniles of even the largest land animals do not present a size problem, and, being young, they have their full breeding life ahead of them. Yet most dinosaurs were not very large at all. Most scientists agree that the average size of a dinosaur is actually the size of a sheep.
E. As far as the number of different types of dinosaurs, even though there are hundreds of names for different varieties of dinosaurs that have been discovered, there are probably only about fifty actual different kinds of dinosaurs all of which could easily have fit on Noah’s Ark. They probably died off after flood as the earth completely changed, temperature, seasons, environment and ecosystem totally different.
How could Noah round up so many animals? 6:20
A. “Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you, to keep them alive.” This verse tells us that Noah didn’t have to search or travel to far-away places to bring the animals on board. The world map was completely different before the flood, and on the basis of Genesis 1, there may have been only one continent. The animals simply arrived at the Ark as if called by a “homing instinct,” a behavior implanted in the animals by their Creator, and marched up the ramp, all by themselves.
B. Though this was probably a supernatural event, it is similar to the impressive migratory behavior we see in some animals today. We are still far from understanding all the marvelous animal behaviors exhibited in God’s creation: the migration of Canada geese and other birds, the amazing flights of Monarch butterflies, the annual travels of whales and fish, hibernation instincts, earthquake sensitivity, and countless other fascinating capabilities of God’s animal kingdom.
Was Noah’s flood global? 7:11-24
A. “And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.” Many Christians today claim that the Flood of Noah’s time was only a local flood. These people generally believe in a local flood because they have accepted the widely believed evolutionary history of the earth, which interprets fossil layers as the history of the sequential appearance of life over millions of years.
B. If the Flood only affected the area of Mesopotamia, as some claim, why did Noah have to build an Ark? He could have walked to the other side of the mountains and escaped. Most importantly, if the Flood were local, people not living in the vicinity of the Flood would not have been affected by it. They would have escaped God’s judgment on sin.
C. If the Flood were only local, how could the waters rise to 20 feet above the mountains? Water seeks its own level; it could not rise to cover the local mountains while leaving the rest of the world untouched.
D. If the Flood were a local flood, God would have repeatedly broken His promise never to send such a flood again. God put a rainbow in the sky as a covenant between God and man and the animals that He would never repeat such an event. There have been huge local floods in recent times, tsunamis; but never has there been another global Flood that killed all life on the land.
Where Is Noah’s Ark Today? 8:1-4
A. “Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.” The Ark landed in mountains in Turkey. Some people feel that it is still there today. One reason is because Mt. Ararat has permanent ice, almost year round and some people report to have seen the Ark. Many expeditions have searched for the Ark there. There is no conclusive evidence of the Ark’s location or survival. It could easily have deteriorated, been destroyed, or been used as lumber by Noah and his descendants.
B. Some scientists and Bible scholars, though, believe the Ark could indeed be preserved perhaps to be revealed at a future time as a reminder of the past judgment and the judgment to come. The Ark is unlikely to have survived without supernatural intervention, but there is nothing in the Bible that says it will be found in the last days.
Summary Eph 2:10
A. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We need to understand that “design means destiny.” Design means destiny, everyone say that! Where there is a design that means there is a purpose. When a man makes a tool it is designed, when it is designed it has a destiny. There is a purpose for that tool. When we talk about creation we are talking about design. When we recognize design, we begin to understand destiny. We were created (designed) by God that means we have a destiny. This is very different than the belief that we are merely here by accident or by survival of the fittest.
B. Creation is foundational to our entire believe system and essential to our understanding of the plan of salvation. It teaches that we were created by God. We are not the result of some evolutionary chance.
C. Noah’s flood is a true historical account of God judging mankind for their sinfulness and unwillingness to repent. It was a worldwide event. It is referred to by Peter as an example of what God will be doing again in the end times, as He judges all mankind for their sinful behavior. Let’s be sure we are not part of that judgement.
