A full-size replica of Noah’s ark sits outside of Williamstown, Kentucky, constructed by Answers In Genesis. Using the biblical dimensions found in Genesis 6, this ark spans 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high. It is a stunning tribute to the Bible record of a worldwide flood that covered the earth some 3,500 years ago. The judgment of God killed everything on the earth that had the breath of life except the people and animals preserved on the ark.
My wife, Jan, and I spent some time last week with kids and grandkids to tour this massive ship. With a storage capacity equal to 450 semi-trailers, over 3.1 million board feet of timber were used in the construction of the Kentucky Ark. In fact, this life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark is the largest timber frame building in the world.
It is no surprise that the cynics and mockers scoff at Noah’s story, just as they do the rest of Scripture. The fact is that legends of a worldwide flood are found in historic records all over the world. Dr. Duane Gish has cited more than 270 flood stories with similar themes and characters. Answers In Genesis website states, “Stories of the Flood – distorted though they may be – exist in practically all nations, from ancient Babylon onward.” Why would there be so many records across the world of this cataclysmic event if it were only a myth?
The mockers scoff at the Noah story because it represents the judgment of God. The record of a worldwide flood reminds us that there is a limit to God’s patience. Though God is loving and merciful, the flood tells us that there is a point at which the sin and evil of the world move beyond the point of redemption. Only God knows when the heart of man is too hardened to repent.
Peter warned the church that in the last days scoffers would come. Motivated by their fleshly lusts, they would deny that Jesus is coming again and also deny that a flood ever took place. The desire to live without God’s law will lead to a denial that God exists at all. And if God does exist, they muse, he certainly doesn’t care how I live. The Psalmist writes, “The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead” (Psalms 10:4, NLT). He continues, “The wicked think, ‘God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!’” (Psalms 10:11, NLT).
But as the ark represents God’s judgment, it also represents God’s grace. The Bible says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8, NKJ). Noah chose to turn to God in the midst of a world that was turning away. God provided salvation to the man and his family that turned to Him. As the ark is a picture of God’s salvation then, so the cross is a picture of God’s salvation now. Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9, NKJ).