Thursday October 12, 2017
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Ge 6:22 NIV
Noah’s ark measured 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width, and 30 cubits in height. A cubit is the equivalent of 17.5 inches. That means the ark was the length of one and a half football fields. The internal volume of the ark was 1, 518, 750 cubic feet–the equivalent of 569 train boxcars. If the average animal was the size of a sheep, it had capacity for 125,000 animals. To put that into perspective, there are 2,000 animals from 400 different species at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. That means you could fit sixty National Zoos on board Noah’s ark. And since it was the first boat ever built, it’s not like it came with an instruction manual. It was back-breaking work that required blood, sweat, and tears. And it took an incredible amount of faith to build the ark. Who builds a boat in the desert? Who hammers away for 120 years on something they might not ever need? Who banks their entire future on something that has never happened before? According to Jewish tradition, Noah didn’t just start building the ark. He planted trees first. After they were fully grown, he cut down the trees, sawed them into planks, and built the boat. And here’s an interesting piece of information: Not until the late nineteenth century did a ship that size get constructed again. Yet that design ratio is still considered the golden mean for stability during storms at sea. Noah’s act of obedience literally changed the world. And obedience will change your world too, so do what God has told you.
