NOAH’S ARK: Who would do this work?
Copyright © Jules Dervaes
March 20, 1982
I have several questions for you today. I would especially like for teenagers and children to see if they could answer them.
My first question: What was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high and was the world’s first major tourist attraction? Now for my second question: What was seen by four billion people worldwide and took 40,000 days before it was finished and opened for use?
I’ll give you a clue: If you said it was Space Mountain and Disney World, you missed the boat! The answer is Taybaw ‘. And that is Hebrew for a box, chest. Have you guessed it yet? It was Noah’s Ark! I will give you a brief description of the scope of this monumental work and tell you how Noah accomplished it. And I will encourage us, as Mr. Armstrong has said, to work as if it all depends on us and to pray and to trust God as if it all depends on Him.
First, let’s look at the scope of this project; so turn with me to Genesis 6:15. You will see that God is the designer of the ark and He gave the instructions for its exact measurements. Therefore, it was of perfect design, flawless for its purpose. In verse 15 He goes on to give the cubic measurements. I am going to transcribe the cubit measurements into something we can understand today.
The length of the ark was equivalent to 1 1/2 – 2 football fields. Its width was about 75-100 feet or the width of this room. The height was the equivalent of a five story building of today. Its inside capacity could hold up to 1000 railroad cattle cars. That’s a train four miles long! If you had to wait at a crossing for a train that long to pass, you would be there for a half an hour or more.
The Bible says that the ark was made of gopherwood and no one today can say what gopherwood is. Maybe it’s a cypress, a type of white oak, or a cedar. But let’s say this: whatever it was, it was one of the strongest woods on earth because it was available right after creation. And coming right after creation, one researcher said that gopherwood was most likely of such a fine grain, it was a super wood, almost like stone.
And, after the ark was built, it was to have been pitched, and then caulked, from inside and out, totally, with a pitch or an asphalt solution. It was a truly monumental structure and undertaking.
Inside the ark was just as astonishing. There were three decks of floor space divided into rooms which had cross beams. There was a central passageway for access. In each room were pens. The ark also had stairwells, going up and down, for passage from the lower to the higher decks. In addition, it had a complete lighting and ventilation system, and enough water and food for one year for eight people and as much as 50,000 land animals. And, to prepare all this, God would allow the person 120 years. That was the time allotment for the work to be completed.
That was the scope of the project. But the important question in God’s mind was: WHO WILL DO THIS WORK? Who would attempt such a feat AS THIS? Who would endure everything that goes with a project of this magnitude? There was only one man that God trusted, one man on the earth at that time, one man on whose shoulders this plan rested. There was a lot at stake. If he didn’t take the job, who would? And what if he quit after 119 years?
So, WHOM would God choose and HOW would He choose? God wanted an Ecclesiastes 9:10 man. And that’s what He got with Noah. Noah was successful . He stood like a rock above the others of his day. He took the worse beatings from his friends and neighbors. He endured the hatred, the contempt, the ridicule. But, in spite of it all, he managed a perfect work with perfect responsibility, and he managed to complete what he needed to do. Noah was chosen and on Noah’s shoulders rested God’s plan. Noah was chosen to do the work because, whatever he would do, God knew that he would do it with his might.
BUT! There was a problem–a major problem that jeopardized everything–or so it seemed to man’s understanding. Had God goofed? There was an obvious FLAW in the design. For years, all those around spotted it! And Noah also recognized it. It was as plain as day. Along with all the other things the skeptics were saying, this one really made Noah look particularly foolish. That ark wasn’t going anywhere!
Do you know that the people were humanly right? With the tumultuous upheaval and the earth-shattering events ahead, Noah’s ark wasn’t going anywhere but straight down!
Why? Because, when God told Noah to build the ark, He also told Noah to put a door in the side of the ark. And the door was a big, GAPING HOLE about 20 feet wide and 15 feet high.
“The door! Look at that hole!” people taunted and jeered. “The water will go right inside.”
The door was used as the ramp for the animals and, being gopherwood, it was like stone, making it a multi-ton object. It would be impossible for anyone to lift the door from the inside. And, even if they could, they couldn’t seal it from the outside. The seams would still allow the water to come through.
Who, then, was going to finish the ark? Who will shut the door of the ark to make it seaworthy and safe for its passengers? Who was going to do THIS work? For 120 years Noah faced this problem. Did he lose sleep over it? Did he know how he was going to shut and seal the door?
Now read Genesis 7:16: “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.”
Beautiful! So, the door of the ark was closed and sealed by God. It was God who was going to finish the work and make Noah’s family and the animals safe. For 120 years Noah had built the lesson of Proverbs 3:5 into his character. It reads: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
Maybe Noah didn’t understand how the work was going to be finished, but he didn’t lose any sleep over it. He wasn’t anxious. He did what he had to do while trusting in God with all his heart.
It was not Noah’s ark, because Noah’s ark would have sunk. It was God’s ark because God was the one who designed it and finally sealed it to keep them safe on their journey.
Here, then, is the lesson of the story: We need to take Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Proverbs 3:5, then GLUE them, WELD them together. That’s what Mr. Armstrong has been trying to tell us. We have to have the TWO: Work as if it all depends on us and trust as if it all depends on God. Those two principles are indispensable. They complement each other. And they are tied together. We can’t have one without the other. These two scriptures add weight to Mr. Armstrong’s saying. They apply to all things and to everyone.
If we do one without the other, something is wrong because something is missing. We can see that from Noah’s point of view. Did Noah work as if it all depended on him? Sure. The whole plan of salvation was on one man. And he carried it out as far as he could. Then he trusted in God to finish the work, to do what he couldn’t. So these two scriptures should join in our mind as one main principle. That principle applies to everyone, whether you’re a student, housewife, businessman. or laborer, and in every situation, not just in building an ark.
Let’s pray and ask God that we can join these two principles in our hearts. Someday, as we remember the story of Noah, we can respond to God correctly, as Noah did, in two parts, to the question, “WHO WILL DO THIS WORK?”