by Edward Hicks (1780-1849)/Wikipedia/Public Domain
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Hi my name is Dean Smith, and in this podcast I want to discuss Noah and the flood.
In Matthew 24:37, Jesus says the world would be like “Days of Noah” in the lead up into His Second Coming.
If we have entered the end times, as many believe, it shouldn’t surprise us that Noah & his ark are in the news.
According to a CIA document, called “Report Re: Noah’s Ark” recently obtained by the Daily Mail, America’s intelligence agency actually spent time looking for Noah’s ark between 1974–1982.
This included having satellites and a U-2 spy plane take pictures of the Durupınar formation located on Mount Tendurek in Turkey’s Ararat mountains.
The Bible says that when the waters subsided Noah’s “ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4 NASV). Mountains is in the plural, which mean it wasn’t pointing to one specific mountain, but rather the range.
Researchers have visited the Durupinar site several times. Its boat-like shape actually fit the dimensions of Noah’s Ark presented in the Bible.
According to the New York Post, this past year a research team led by Andrew Jones used ground penetrating radar at Durupınar and found evidence suggesting a three-story structure with rooms and even corridors existed beneath the surface.
This fits the Biblical description of the ark having three decks. But more work and actual excavation needs to be done to determine if this is where Noah’s Ark came to rest in the Ararat mountains.
But there are other issues.
Could Noah’s Ark Hold all the Animals?
As we read the Biblical account of Noah’s Ark, not only was Noah and his family preserved but so were one pair of every animal, bird, reptile and amphibian.
Many wonder how if the ark was big enough to hold a pair of every creature.
So in 2014, physics students at England’s University of Leicester initiated a study to determine if Noah’s ark actually could.
To determine this the students first needed to calculate the ark’s buoyancy. They used the dimensions provided in the Biblical account and the commonly accepted view that the Gopher wood used in construction was probably Cyprus.
Using the archimedes principle, the group determined how much weight the ark could safely hold.
Next they had to find out how many animals, birds, reptiles and amphibian pairs would have been taken on the ark.
They went with a high estimate of around 35,000 pairs. Others like Evolutionary Taxonomist Earnst Mayr puts the total closer to 21,000.
But there are a couple of caveats. First the Bible says that Noah took one pair of every kind of animal in Genesis 6:19. This means Noah may not have taken a pair of coyotes, dingoes, hyenas, foxes and wolves. One pair of canines was sufficient.
This would have significantly reduced the numbers even more.
Secondly Noah did not need to take full-grown animals — juveniles would also have worked.
Next the students needed to determine their total weight. Based on other research, they concluded that the average weight of all the world’s creatures would be be equal to a sheep, about 51.7 pounds or 23.5 kgs.
From that the physic’s team concluded the ark could hold 2.15 million sheep compared to the 70,000 max that would actually be on it. In other words, the ark was more than capable of holding all the necessary animals.
Others have challenged if ancients had the ability to build an ark of this size. But as many have pointed out, modern engineers still haven’t figured out how the Egyptians built the pyramids.
But we know they did.
Flood Stories in Different Cultures
One strange thing about the world wide flood is that in addition to the Biblical account, there are approximately 300 stories of a world wide flood in cultures from every corner of the world.
These stories shouldn’t surprise us. Because after the flood, the Bible states that God divided the world into different language groups and nations at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.
At this point they started creating their own unique histories, but everything before this, including the world wide flood, was common history to all, which would have been passed down from generation to generation.
This includes the Babylonian story of Gilgamesh who gathered a pair of all the world’s creatures on a giant boat in order to save them from the deluge.
Researchers at London’s British Museum recently translated an ancient Babylonian tablet that was in their collection and were shocked by what it said.
On one side was a map, that actually provided directions so people of that day could visit the ark.
People were told to go to a known location called ‘Urartu,’ which is the equivalent of Ararat in the Bible. They were then told what direction they had to go and how far they needed to travel to see it for themselves.
In an interview with CBN, British Museum curator Dr. David Finkel said, “from the Babylonian point of view, this was a matter of fact thing.”
Other flood accounts have surface among Indian tribes in America like the Pueblo, Hopi and Cheyenne and the Blackfoot.
In his book, Mythology of the Blackfoot Tribe, D. C. Duvall writes that a great flood required the Blackfoot to climb a giant mountain to escape the rising waters. While there a god, called Napi, gave them water and food. When they drank the water, the people began speaking in different languages.
This follows the Biblical timetable which has the Tower of Babel taking place shortly after the flood.
In India. The Shatapatha Brahmana dated from 700 to 300 BC, tells how people were warned about an impending flood and how Manu built a giant boat and saved the animals.
Stories abound across Asia of a great flood. One Chinese story states that Fuhi, his wife, three sons and three daughters, survived the flood and repopulated the world. This matches the number in the Biblical account where Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives were taken in the ark. Both accounts have eight people surviving.
From the Incas in South America to aborigines in Australia to the Ket in Siberia, there are stories of a great flood.
While some write off these stories as myths, many wonder why almost every world culture has an account of a great flood in their ancient history.
The Bible says this flood was catastrophic and it would be shocking if there were no stories about it in other cultures.
Thanks for joining me on this podcast, I will catch you again.
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