Was Noah's Ark a myth?

[Dave Slayer]

Was Noah's Ark a myth? If so, what was the importance of the flood story in the book of Genesis? If it never happened, why did God give Noah specific instructions on how to build it? If Noah's Ark was just a myth or perhaps allegorical, what purpose would that have?

 

[Orion]

Of course it was a myth. I don't find the instructions to be all THAT detailed. The purpose of the story is uncertain, to be honest. You have God "being sorry he even made man", which seems to indicate a being who is surprised that it happened, . . . . if omniscience is in play, "being sorry" would have been known all along, so he should have just started out with those families. Of course, it ultimately wouldn't matter, since the world would, once again, be filled with people who mostly choose to follow other gods, so the purpose seemed to be in vain.

The "Noah flood" is stated to have taken place ~4,400 years ago, . . . which cuts right through the history of several cultures, who's history is unbroken. . . . .

 

[whirlwind]

Was Noah's Ark a myth? If so, what was the importance of the flood story in the book of Genesis? If it never happened, why did God give Noah specific instructions on how to build it? If Noah's Ark was just a myth or perhaps allegorical, what purpose would that have?

No, it wasn't a myth. The event is a shadow of what will be....as all the events were. The flood of Noah parallels the flood (of lies and deception) Satan sends to overtake the woman. [Rev.12:15]

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

 

[Hugo]

I think it is myth, but is probably based on a real flood event.

Some Christians take it literal, but they believe that the correct translation is a regional flood, not global. However, a local flood interpretation creates more problems than it solves for the literalist view.

Allegory would mean that the author intended for it to be read that way. I have no idea what the author intended.

The meaning of the story could be that God hates wickedness, a warning of the coming judgment, etc.

 

[whirlwind]

Parallels of Noah's flood and end times

Chapter eight of Genesis holds some interesting accounts of end times. As Paul said....Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. [1 Corinthians 10:11] So...the very beginning tells us how it will be in the end.

To understand how the Flood of Noah applies to the end of days I need to begin in:

Genesis 7:22-24 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

At the time of the end there will be a flood....this time it will be a flood of lies from Satan and they will last one hundred and fifty days / five months....the same as the time the "waters prevailed upon the earth." That will be the time of Satan's tribulation, the time he will be on earth. Everything with a "breath of life" - a living soul, will perish....some, those on the ark, will be spiritually alive while those floundering around in the flood of lies will be considered spiritually dead. They are considered dead because they take the mark of the beast. As it was so shall it be in the end...there will be both those of the Adamic line (Israel) and Gentiles that will be on the ark. In Noah's time it was his family and two of the different races....gentiles.

The number eight means new beginnings. This chapter eight is also about a new beginning, as it will be after His 2nd. Advent....not the perfect eternity yet but the millennium when those that are the "spiritually dead," those that weren't on the ark with Noah, will be taught.

8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged:

God's elect will be in the ark...they are those still considered a "living thing" as they are not spiritually dead. The "wind" is the Ruach...the Holy Spirit and it will "pass over the earth" and rid it of all evil things. Those that took the mark of the beast, those not on the ark, will experience the wrath of God....they believed the false christ.

8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

The number seven means spiritual perfection and the number seventeen "intensifies the significance of the number seven...it is the combination of two perfect numbers, seven and ten...when united in the number seventeen we have a union of spiritual perfection plus ordinal perfection...or, the perfection of spiritual order." [E.W. Bullinger ~ Numbers in Scripture.]

So...the ark filled with the overcomers, rested during the millennium. A time of spirtual perfection and order.

8:6.And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

Forty means probation. The time of probation for those that took the "mark of the beast" during this age will be tested at the end of the millennium...their probation is over. Which way will they go?

8:7.And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

A raven is an unclean bird. I believe this represents Satan being released at the end of the millennium to test those that are spiritually dead:

Revelation 20:7-8 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Genesis 8:8.Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

The dove represents the Holy Spirit.

8:9. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

8:10. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

The dove, the Holy Spirit, is kept from all those that follow Satan. They are thrown in the lake of fire with Satan....the final end for them.

8:11.And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leave pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

8:14. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried

One solar year later....representing the millennium, it comes to an end and the "earth is dried." The earth is rid of all evil. Satan has been thrown in the fire, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." [Rev.20:15]

Then....the eternity!

 

[Imagican]

While the event is certainly a fanciful TALE, it is based on truth. The interpretation of what is written is the important REASON that we were offered the event. The churches chose to 'make up' what they BELIVED it to mean when in reality what is actually offered is a completely DIFFERENT story.

Blessings,

MEC

 

[whirlwind]

While the event is certainly a fanciful TALE, it is based on truth. The interpretation of what is written is the important REASON that we were offered the event. The churches chose to 'make up' what they BELIVED it to mean when in reality what is actually offered is a completely DIFFERENT story.

Blessings,

MEC

But...the "churches" didn't write the Bible...did they? Our Father wrote it and the Holy Spirit helps us understand. It is not understanding to say "the churches chose to make up what they believed."

 

[Dave Slayer]

If it was just a local flood, God could have just told Noah to move.

 

[handy]

If it was just a local flood, God could have just told Noah to move.

Hit the nail right on the head with that one, buddy!

 

[John]

The global flood was real, the ark was real, Noah was real. The only things not real here are the people.

 

[follower of Christ]

Of course it was a myth. I don't find the instructions to be all THAT detailed. The purpose of the story is uncertain, to be honest. You have God "being sorry he even made man", which seems to indicate a being who is surprised that it happened, . . . . if omniscience is in play, "being sorry" would have been known all along, so he should have just started out with those families. Of course, it ultimately wouldn't matter, since the world would, once again, be filled with people who mostly choose to follow other gods, so the purpose seemed to be in vain.

The "Noah flood" is stated to have taken place ~4,400 years ago, . . . which cuts right through the history of several cultures, who's history is unbroken. . . . .

Unless, of course, that 'being sorry' was just to give those looking for contradictions, etc in the texts for some reason to not believe something to work with ;)

The "Noah flood" is stated to have taken place ~4,400 years ago, . . . which cuts right through the history of several cultures, who's history is unbroken. . . . .

*IF* what you have been told to believe is true...

 

[follower of Christ]

While the event is certainly a fanciful TALE, it is based on truth. The interpretation of what is written is the important REASON that we were offered the event. The churches chose to 'make up' what they BELIVED it to mean when in reality what is actually offered is a completely DIFFERENT story.

Blessings,

MEC

hmmm.
See, Ive read Genesis and I dont remember anything in Sunday School that didnt agree with the texts themselves.
What, exactly, did the church 'make up' that isnt in the texts ?

 

[follower of Christ]

If it was just a local flood, God could have just told Noah to move.

And maybe led the animals in some other direction away from the flood. :crazy
Or better yet, not even worry about the animals since more could have just piled in once the waters receded :yes

 

[Orion]

Unless, of course, that 'being sorry' was just to give those looking for contradictions, etc in the texts for some reason to not believe something to work with ;)

Regardless of your take on it, assuming that a god can "be sorry" seems to indicate a lack of omniscience. If a contradiction can be easily found, . . . why not study it?

*IF* what you have been told to believe is true...

Why wouldn't it be true. They have records and those records unbroken for thousands of years. :gah

When I say that I see the story as a myth, and "god not being omniscient", it is less about any god and more about men placing fiction into the realm of reality AND putting god in the same fiction story. You only have words written down by men.

With that, you also have evidence that is competely against this story being literal, so we all have to believe what we will, but I shouldn't be seen as "less of a person" for considering the story a myth.

 

[greentwiga]

People are just making statements like It is obvious it is a myth. What is needed is a point by point analysis. The original question was is the Ark a myth? That is an interesting question and should be addressed specifically. There is a Hebrew word used for an ocean going boat, but it is not used here. In only one other spot is it used for a vessel on water. Moses mother made an Ark out of papyrus reeds and covered it with tar and pitch. Noah made an ark out of gopher wood and covered it inside and out with tar and pitch. No one knows what gopher is, but the Hebrew word for wood is also used for flax stalks, so it could be translated gopher stalks. There are no papyrus stalks growing in Sumer but there are Berdi stalks. The next line is translated, "make the ark with rooms." The word rooms is one meaning upright. A word derived from the same word means reeds, so the passage should be translated make the ark with reeds.
Scientists know that no seaworthy boat has been made longer that about 300 feet, let alone the 450 feet of the ark. Wooden boats tend to "hog," which means bend in the middle. This lets water in and the boat tends to sink or break in half. A few 325 feet long have been sailed once each in calm seas and the sailors then refused to sail them ever again. The Ark was sailed in a storm. Reed boats rely on the buoyancy of the reeds and can allow flexibility and water cascading over that through the craft. There is scientifically no problem with a 450 foot reed ocean going boat. Archaeologists have found drawing of giant reed boats, documentations of the huge cargoes they carried, and even pieces of tar from the shipyards. The tar had reed grooves on one side and ocean barnacles on the other. Thor Heyerdahl and others have made replicas of Berdi reed boats and sailed them quite successfully. Yes, they are even made with structures on top several stories tall.
Thus, despite our mistranslation of the account, the Bible preserved the knowledge of the reed arks for thousands of years, knowledge the rest of the world had forgotten. Therefore, Noah's Ark is not a myth. One can analyze each point of the Biblical account in detail. It will turn out to be clearly not a myth, though our traditions, such as the wooden Ark, can be a myth.

 

[follower of Christ]

Regardless of your take on it, assuming that a god can "be sorry" seems to indicate a lack of omniscience. If a contradiction can be easily found, . . . why not study it?

Except that God is trying to relate things to man in a manner that man can understand.
God was 'sorry' about it all from the foundation of the earth and before...but God KNOWS how the story ends, thus His not just destroying man altogether and leaving it at that

Why wouldn't it be true. They have records and those records unbroken for thousands of years. :gah

And of course one of your scientists or historians were there on the scene at that time in history to verify the facts ;)

You only have words written down by men.

Youre right.
So there is no logical reason for you to believe in this unseen God, now is there ?
Do you spend as much time trying to disprove Santa Clause ?

With that, you also have evidence that is competely against this story being literal, so we all have to believe what we will, but I shouldn't be seen as "less of a person" for considering the story a myth.

No, we have INTERPRETATION Of evidence that to some seems to be against it....

 

[Orion]

There WAS a St. Nicholas. . . . but I digress.

Regardless, once again, . . . because I don't believe in a story written by MEN . . . . does not mean that there is no god. You all put WAY too much stock in the works of men.

 

[follower of Christ]

There WAS a St. Nicholas. . . . but I digress.

By all means, tell us about the fictional character, Santa Clause...the one *I* actually mentioned

Regardless, once again, . . . because I don't believe in a story written by MEN . . . . does not mean that there is no god. You all put WAY too much stock in the works of men.

That being the case there is no reason for you to worry about it....nor do you need to worry about what I 'put stock' in. I dont need you to deliver me from my delusion. Im quite content with it.

 

[Orion]

I spoke nothing of "delusions". If you wish to beleive the story to be literal and global, that is your choice. I do not.

By the way, there is no Santa Clause. Just so you know.

 

[John]

The ark has been found.

http://www.arkdiscovery.com/noah%27s_ark.htm