Category Archives: Noah

Ararat

The Mountains of Ararat

Gen 8:4 – And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat

The world before the flood was different than the world we live in today as far as its topagraphy is concerned. The antediluvian world more than likely consisted of one super land mass (Gen. 1:9,10). Science agrees with this and a quick look at the contours of the continents of the modern globe will easily convince most people that the continents were once connected. It is also possible that there was some kind of vapor canopy covering the globe, making the world a more tropical zone worldwide (Gen. 1:6,7). Though in recent years some have questioned that model, others still maintain the canopy model and it seems to fit the scriptures best.

Also, before the Flood, the Bible described the earth as possessing high hills (Gen. 7:19). It is interesting that the KJV translators chose to translate “har” as “hills” instead of “mountains”, when later they translate the word as mountains. Many creation scientists believe that the earth was less geographically diverse then and that the high mountains we now see were largely a result of the hydrolic forces of the waters covering the earth during and after the flood and tectonic movement. These high hills were covered with the flood water by fifteen cubits or something like 22 feet of water above the highest hills over all the globe.

Certain creation scientists now believe that mount Ararat, the largest of the mountains of Ararat, and the place generally believed to be the resting place of the ark, was formed after the flood because sedimentary layers that were produced by the flood are found under the formations producing the mountain. There is geologic evidence that later localized sediments were layed down between the valcanic flows that make up the plataue on which it sits. But geology is subject to various interpreatations depending, as in all of science, upon the assumptions made.

Yet, the Bible plainly says that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). Observe that Moses uses the plural, mountains. It is not known exactly where in this range of mountains the ark came to rest, but we believe the Bible to be accurate. Could the ark still be there somewhere? It is certainly possible. But Noah and his family may also have repurposed the wood that made up the ark to build dwellings and other structures. But it is also possible it still remains somewhere on the mountains of Ararat waiting to be found.

Many claims have been made that the ark has been found in various parts of the mountain. Somr have claimed they have brought wood back from the ark. Another sight nearby, the Drupinar sight, is also claimed to be the spot where the ark came to eventally rest.

The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions the ark in his Histories of the Jews as still being visible in the first century. He says of the place where Noah and his family came out of the ark, which is what the Armenians call “(Apobaterion) The Place of Descent; for the ark being saved in that place, its remains are shown there by the inhabitants to this day” (Antiquities I:3:5). He writes that other ancient historians describe how visitors to the ark would take pieces of bitumen away to make amulets. Among those who wrote of the ark was Berosus the Chaldean, “Hieronymus the Egyptian also, who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities, and Mnaseas, and a great many more, make mention of the same” and also “Nicolaus of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them” (Antiquities I:3:6). And so secular history affirms that the ark was in the region and many saw it.

The word translated Ararat is found four times in the Bible. Twice it is translated Ararat and twice it is translated Armenia. In II Kings we are told that while Sennecherib, king of Assyria, was worshiping his god Nisroch, that a man, Adrammalech, and his son, Sharezer, assasinated him with a sword. These two men then escaped into the “land of Armenia” (II Kings 19:37). “Armenia” is the same word translated Ararat in Genesis. Isaiah relates the same story (Is. 37:38). Jeremiah connects Ararat (Armenia) with Minni and Ashchenaz (Jer. 51:27) . Minni is taken to be lesser Ararat (Armenia) and Ashchenaz “is a province in the neighbourhood of Armenia. For Asken is an Armenian proper name, and az an Armenian termination” (Keil and Deliitsch).

So somewhere in this region on a mountain on the border between Turkey and Armenia the ark of Noah came to rest. The ark was not built as a sea-going vessel, but a container to rideout the turbulent waters of the flood. So most likely it didn’t travel very far. In a similar manner, the church will ride out the turbulent waters of this volatile life and we will end up in a much better place than we started.

Eric L. Padgett

NOAH

Mighty men of old, men of renown! Giants! Men and women living hundreds of years old (Gen. 6:4). The world in Noah’s day was an astounding, incredible and amazing place. But for all its wonders, it was marred because it was also full of sin. In fact, the wickedness of man was so great in the earth that “every imagination of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). A world that was once deemed very good (Gen. 1:31), had now devolved into something that made God sick in His heart. He was sorry that He had even made man on the earth (Gen. 6:6) and resolved to destroy it (Gen. 6:7).

But in all this mess of a world, there was one man who stood above it all. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations” (Gen. 6:9). He was a “good man living in desperate times” (Clark). While all others had corrupted their way before God, Noah, it is said, “walked with God” (Gen. 6:9)! This is the same expression that Moses used to describe the life of Enoch (Gen. 5:24). Those who walk with God stand out because they are not going the direction of the rest of the world. Jesus said as Christians we are to be the light of the world (Matt. 5:14-16).

Because he walked with God, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). While Noah did not participate in the general moral rebellion against God, while his outstanding character set him apart from the rest of the world, he was still in need of God’s unmerited favor. In this instance, that grace manifested itself in his salvation from the physical destruction of the world and all the evil souls from it (Gen. 6:13). This account tells us just as much about God as it does about ourselves. Even where sin abounds, God’s grace much more abounds (Rom. 5:20). “Now for the first time grace itself finds a tongue to express its name” (Clark).

But God’s grace alone was not enough to save Noah. God commanded Noah to build an ark out of Gopher wood and that it was to meet certain specifications (Gen. 6:14-16). When all was said and done, Moses tells us, “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Gen. 6:22). If Noah had not done the work which God commanded him to do, if Noah had substituted his own dimensions, his own material, or his own design, God would not have blessed him. Clearly, grace and obedience are not mutually exclusive. In the New Testament we are told that Jesus became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him (Heb. 5:9).

Another quality exhibited by Noah was his faith. Living in a world that had never known rain, it must had been very difficult for Noah to imagine the world being destroyed by water (Gen. 2:6). But “by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). We know from Cain and Abel that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17; cf. Gen. 4:5-7). Noah’s faith was built upon the commands of God and it was his faith that gave Noah access to the grace of God (cf. Rom. 5:1,2).

The commands of God giving the design of the ark also included the reason for the coming deluge. It was God’s judgment on mankind for its sins. But Noah was evidently charged with warning his generation of the impending destruction for he became a preacher of righteousness (II Pet. 2:5). For 120 years, while Noah warned the antediluvians of the anger of God and called them back to Him (Gen. 6:3), Jehovah waited, thus manifesting His longsuffering attitude toward man (I Pet. 3:19,20). Noah, after preaching to an unbelieving world for 120 years, was able only to claim to have saved his own house.

The ark, though big enough, was not that big of a structure compared to other kinds of vessels we know. The ark was merely a box. It’s purpose was not to slash through the waters of the flood at top speed as if on a hurried mission to reach some faraway destination. It’s main purpose was to stay afloat to keep its occupants alive. It had one door, one way to enter it, just as the church has but one Door, that is Christ (John 10:9). The ark had but one window by which to receive it’s light. The Lord’s church has but one light source, the word of God (Psalm 119:11). All who were saved were to be found on the ark. If we are not in the Lord’s church, we are lost (Acts 2:47).

Moses’ account of the flood tells us nothing of the people who did not get on the ark. We know they were all about their daily walks of life before the Flood began. “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark” (Matthew 24:38). They had no inkling of the coming terror that would end their earthly sojourn. Jesus described their end very succinctly: They “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away” (Matt. 24:39). And then He added, “So shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. . .Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 24:42, 44).

So many are the lessons of Noah.

Eric L. Padgett