Session 3 - Noah and the Ark
In this session we will look at Noah and the
Ark, understanding the size and structure
of the ark, what it’s purpose was, and if it
could accomplish it’s purpose
We will look/answer at many objections
people have to the ark and reasons why
they don’t think it’s possible
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it
within and without with pitch. And this is the
fashion which thou shalt make it of: The
length of the ark shall be three hundred
cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the
height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt
thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt
thou finish it above; and the door of the ark
shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower,
second, and third stories shalt thou make it.”
- Genesis 6:14-16
Legends match the Bible (survey of 250)
Is there a favored family? 88%
Were they forewarned? 66%
Is flood due to wickedness of man? 66%
Is catastrophe only a flood? 95%
Was flood global? 95%
Is survival due to a boat? 70%
Were animals also saved? 67%
Were birds sent out? 35%
This is what the ark would look like
Let’s make a comparison to other objects
Some more ways to think of it
The total cubic volume would have been
1,518,000 cubic feet [462,686.4 cubic
meters] --that would be equal to the
capacity of 569 modern railroad stock cars.
Is there enough room for all the animals?
People often claim that there are over one
million different species of animals on the
planet, and that they could not all
fit inside the ark
You may be surprised to learn, that this is
completely true
But the Bible doesn’t talk about brining two
of every species… which would be atleast 2
million animals on the ark
“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of
every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to
keep them alive with thee; they shall be
male and female. Of fowls after their kind,
and of cattle after their kind, of every
creeping thing of the earth after his kind,
two of every sort shall come unto thee, to
keep them alive.” - Genesis 6:19-20
The Bible says that Noah brought two of
each kind of animal on the ark
There is much questioning of creationists as
to what a “Kind” is
One idea says that a “Kind” would be two
animals who's ancestors were able to mate
and bring forth in the original creation
How did Noah get them all?
Let’s remember that God is the one who
brought the animals to the ark, Noah
did not have to go around the world
looking for them
The one million species number also doesn’t
take many things into account
The vast majority of these are capable of
surviving in water and would not need to be
brought aboard the ark. Noah need make no
provision for the 21,000 species of fish or the
1,700 tunicates (marine chordates like sea
squirts) found throughout the seas of the
world, or the 600 echinoderms including star
fish and sea urchins, or the 107,000 mollusks
such as mussels, clams and oysters,…
or the 10,000 coelenterates like corals and
sea anemones, jelly fish and hydroids or
the 5,000 species of sponges, or the
30,000 protozoan's, the microscopic
single-celled creatures.
All Noah had to do was bring the land
animals! This would not include bugs
(Mosquitoes, flies, etc.)
What does that leave us with?
Doctors Morris and Whitcomb in their
classic book, The Genesis Flood state that
no more than 35,000 individual animals
needed to go on the ark.
In his well documented book, Noah’s Ark: A
Feasibility Study, John Woodmorappe
suggests that far fewer animals would have
been transported upon the ark.
Woodmorappe demonstrates that as few as
2,000 animals may have been required on
the ark. (but we’ll assume a higher number)
Let’s assume 50,000 animals, far more
animals than required, were on
board the ark
Could they all fit? First off let’s agree that
Noah is smart enough to not bring large
adults, and would bring children (well God
actually brought them, so we know he’s
smart enough even if Noah isn’t)
The average size animal in that case would
be the size of a sheep at most
A railroad car comparison will be helpful
The average double-deck stock car can
accommodate 240 sheep
three trains hauling 69 cars (207 cars) each
would have ample space to carry the 50,000
animals (remember, we have 569 cars to
work with on the ark)
That would only fill around 37% of the ark!
There is plenty of room
This would leave an additional 361 cars or
enough to make 5 trains of 72 cars each to
carry all of the food and baggage plus
Noah’s family of eight people.
It would also be room for those who had
the chance to repent
Some have also suggested the idea of a
hibernation of the animals during the flood
(caused by God) which would make the
amount of food needed much less
There have been other objects though
to the ark and the possibility of the
Biblical account
Objection - Wouldn’t the by products of the
animals cause a methane build up that
would cause the ark to explode
when a torch was lit?
Answer – If God designed the Ark really
poorly that might be a problem, but I think
he knew what he was doing
There are many
ways you can
create a ventilation
system inside a
barge (the Ark)
called a moon pool
This would also create an easy and effective
way to dispose of trash
Also if they were hibernating, this problem
would go away
Objection – Wouldn’t that size boat break or
capsize when hit by a major wave?
Answer – There are
many ways to avoid
this problem, first off,
the moon pool would
help release pressure
when a wave hits it.
Another thing that could have helped is
drogue stones for stabilization
Also keep in mind that the ark was not built
to sail around, it’s a big barge meant to hold
things and float, that’s all.
Often people will compare the ark to many
mast ships today that are made to sail
around and point to how unsuccessful
those ships were
The ark has a completely different purpose,
it’s not a direct comparison
Objection: Ark is too long
Objection: “How was the ark made
seaworthy? The longest wooden ships in
modern seas are about 300 feet, and these
require reinforcing with iron straps and leak
so badly they must be constantly pumped.
The ark was 450 feet long” (Mark Isaak)
The Ark was built for stability, not
movement. A flat-bottomed barge like the
Ark wouldn’t have problems with sag
If the lower deck were made of logs, several
layers deep, it would have been very sturdy.
“Korean naval architects have confirmed that
a barge with the Ark’s dimensions would
have optimal stability. They concluded that
if the wood were only 30 cm thick, it could
have navigated sea conditions with waves
higher than 30 m” (True Origins) (S.W. Hong et al.,
“Safety investigation of Noah’s Ark in a Seaway”, CEN Technical
Journal 8(1):26–36, 1994. All the co-authors are on the staff of the
Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Taijon.)
Another question, who says they didn’t have
metals before the flood to help support the
wood for the ark?
We can easily get into the mindset that
people before the flood were really dumb
because they lived a long time ago, that
may be completely wrong
Civilization starts over after the flood, but
no one knows how technologically
advanced they were before
Objection: Caring for the Animals
This would be easily explained by
hibernation, but we will look at other
possible explanations too
Special diets is one objection when looking
at caring for the animals. Many animals only
eat one thing (did Noah bring it?)
Understand, those animals only eat one
thing today, not necessarily then
We agree there is evolution within kinds of
animals, and one animal (because of
environment) may develop to only eat one
kind of food (we’ve seen it happen)
But that by no means is the case before the
flood, and actually makes a lot more sense
after the flood once certain areas the
animals are spreading to only have specific
resources for food. Before the flood, the pre
flood creation world was very different
Food preservation/Pest control is another
objection people have raised, without
canning and jars to put things in food does
not last very long today
First off, that’s only some kinds of food,
there are other kinds that do last for a long
time on their own
Your also assuming they were dumb and
didn’t have jars to put food in, which there
is no reason to assume
You also assume that all the pests that we
deal with today were around at that point,
which may not have been the case
Manpower to accomplish tasks: Could
eight people actually feed and water the
animals and clean up after them?
Again, Hibernation would take care of this,
but they easily could have created systems
to make this easier (like watering)
As Christians though we do need to keep in
mind, the Bible doesn’t claim this was a
human only event. The Bible says that God
was directing them and guiding them
through this, so intervention from Him
wouldn’t be a surprise
Would it take a lot of work by Noah and his
family? Yes, does that mean it’s
impossible? No, not at all.
Objection: We can’t find the ark
There have been many groups that have
claimed to have found the ark, we do not
have time (by any means) to cover them all
Ron Wyatt claimed to find it
Another group has
announced they
have found the ark
(this was popular a
few years ago)
I actually don’t think the ark has been
verifiably found, nor do I think it’s
necessarily out there still
After Noah lands and the flood is over, all
the plants are going to be small and new
(under a year old) which means they don’t
have much wood to work with
I think it’s likely they used the wood from
the ark to build things they needed
Johan Huibers, a Dutch Christian contractor,
has his full-size replica of the Ark
But soon there will be another full size ark
here in America
The Ark Encounter (Answers in Genesis)
Did Noah and his family build the Ark alone?
Genesis 7:13 states, “On the very same day
Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives
of his sons with them, entered the ark.”
The Bible never says that Noah built the Ark
with just his family, it may be the case, but
scripture doesn’t specify
It’s possible Noah could have hired people to
assist him in making the Ark, people work all
the time on projects they don’t “believe in”
because it’s paying them
He could also have used animals to help
move things around, he didn’t have to carry
everything himself
They also could have machinery that we
didn’t know about that helped build it
The Ark is a type of Christ
By entering the Ark,
Noah ensured the
physical survival of
himself and his family.
When we enter into
saving faith through
Jesus (John 10:9), we
ensure our spiritual
survival through eternal
life with Christ.
The Ark saved
man from the first
judgment, Christ
saves us from the
final judgment
God called out to Noah: “Come . . . into the
Ark” (Genesis 7:1). God was with Noah and
his family throughout the flood, which I’m
sure helped Noah and his family
Likewise, when we receive Jesus as our
Savior, God, in the person of the Holy Spirit,
comforts and protects us.
The Ark had only one door through which
Noah had to enter in order to be saved
from the Flood.
Likewise, salvation in Christ has only one
door (John 10:9). We enter it by faith in
Jesus' once-and-for-all-time sacrificial death
on the Cross and His bodily resurrection
three days later.
Finally, people had the option to enter the
ark before the flood came, but once it
happened the door was shut, and if you
weren’t on the inside, you missed out
Memory Verse
2 Peter 2:5: “And did not spare the
ancient world, but saved Noah, one
of eight people, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood on the
world of the ungodly;”