Ark Bark

What in the world are we talking about?  We are talking real Ark Bark here.  Ark Bark is real wood.  Cypress wood to be exact.  Wood Noah used to build God’s ark.  For you woodcarving and wood-working specialists this is what is called a “major build”.  When God told Noah to build an ark can’t you picture him thinking let’s “Go-for-it”, right here in the middle of dry land.   It seemed out of place.  All kidding aside, this was serious business.  The story of Noah’s life involves not one, but two great and tragic floods.  The world in Noah’s day was flooded

with evil.  The number of those who remembered the God of creation, perfection, and love had dwindled to one.  Of God’s people only Noah was left.  Things were bearing down hard on Noah now.  And as we all know, Noah wasn’t perfect, he had some issues like the rest of us and his motivation to build the ark was out of fear.  “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family”.  Hebrews 11:7  Still, he obeyed God.  A major rainfall was on the way and it was going to wipe-out everyone and everything.    

Some statistics.  The ark had to be: “BIG”, “WATERPROOF”, “ACCOMADATING” and “BUILT TO GOD’S SPECS”.  It was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide: the height was 30 cubits.  To handle two of each animal, it was a doozie of a boat.  It wasn’t built for speed, rather, endurance.  People are still looking for it. 

We need to get one thing straight from the start.  This wasn’t Noah’s ark, it was God’s ark.  Noah was just the general contractor.  The ark took about 120 years to build due to its size.  There were no other backyard projects like this one.  Sure there were probably some mistakes, but Noah couldn’t just call up “This Old House” (TV’s big building program) and ask how to fix things.  There was no marine hardware store around the corner to get supplies, either.  Can’t you just hear the neighbors now: “That thing won’t float”, “After some big fish”, “You’re on my easement”, “What’s next a man-made lake” and other taunts.  Oh, people made fun of him, giggled and mocked him—but, one serious question remains, did they have their scuba diving gear on order?  Everything Noah did had to be from scratch or what was available.  Heck, they had to make their own rope.  With God’s guidance, they learned the ropes. 

Another real big question and concern in loading up two of each animal would have been what did they do with the woodpeckers?  Where would they get the duct tape to muzzle ‘em birds?  Worse still, were those pesky termites along for the ride? 

What an undertaking.  However, Noah was a righteous man and followed God—the only follower of God at the time.  He never wavered and accepted his task and hence is mentioned in the book of Hebrews in “The Hall of Faith”.  The Bibles says a lot about Noah.  In Genesis 5, Noah was around 500 years old, kind of elderly to start his own shipyard.  Genesis 6 introduces the evil among man, including the crossing of humans with the “Sons of God” (possibly spiritual beings, presumably demons, since things were so evil).  What a mess!  In Genesis 6:7, God said: “I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that moved along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them”.  This doesn’t sound good for mankind.  Things were getting started.  Genesis 6:14 “So make yourself an ark of Cypress wood” and then He gave Noah dimensions.   Genesis 7 brings the flood. Noah’s over 600 years old by now. All the details are right there in Genesis.    

Noah found favor in God’s eyes.  Like Noah our obedience must be lived out over a lifetime of faithful commitment.  Those who persevere will finish the race—it might be floating on water instead of dry ground—but we must finish.  We also know that it is possible to obey God in a sinful world and survive because Noah did.  If he saved Noah, He’ll save you.  Many of us have trouble sticking to simple projects, any project, whether or not it is directed by God.  Isn’t it interesting that the length of Noah’s obedience to God was greater than the lifespan of people today?  It should be ‘clear sailing’ for you from here on.