The Bible Period by Period | Page 7

save his own
family. The saving of his own family was, however, a splendid
monument of his life.
The Ark. Noah built the ark according to the pattern given him by
Jehovah. It was a sort of box-like boat 525 ft. long 87-1/2 ft. wide and
42-1/2 ft. deep, if we count a cubit at twenty-one inches. It was three
stories high, and the building of it was a huge undertaking. We need
not, however, think of it as an undertaking beyond the resources of the
times. All those early people seem to have been fond of colossal works.
The building of this Ark was not only an object lesson to the ungodly
people of the time but a satisfactory proof of the faith of the builder.
The Flood. At the command of Jehovah Noah and his household

entered the Ark carrying two of every species of unclean, and seven of
every clean kind of animal and creeping things. They were shut in by
the hand of God. The scripture passes silently over all horrors that
filled the earth as man and beast were destroyed. We may imagine them
trying by strength to get out of reach of the rising waters, but no mental
culture or mechanical skill or physical culture, neither tears and
entreaties could deliver man from the destruction which God had
determined because of sin. It was seven months before the Ark rested
on Ararat and more than five more before the ransomed company
departed from it.
The Sacrifice and Rainbow Covenant. Upon leaving the Ark Noah
expressed his thanksgiving and devotion to God by erecting an altar to
Jehovah and offering thereon a sacrifice consisting of victims of every
species of clean bird and beast. The fragrance of this sacrifice, such as
the world had never seen before, was pleasant to Jehovah and he visited
Noah with a promise that he would not again send such a flood upon
the earth. The rainbow was given as a pledge of the promise made him.
It was to be the constant seal of mercy on God's part, and it is not
necessary to worry over the question as to whether there had never
been a rainbow before or whether it was simply appropriated as a sign.
In this new covenant the earth was put under Noah, as it was under
Adam at first. He was, however, allowed to eat flesh, only mans blood
was not to be shed and the seasons were to continue in regularity. Thus
the race started anew as a saved group, rescued through the faith of
Noah.
Confirmation of Tradition and Geology. Perhaps no other event of
scripture history has found so large a place in ancient traditions and
legends as has the flood. It is found in each of the three great races-the
Semites; the Aryan; and the Tutarian. It is found alike among savage
and civilized races, and as might be expected is most accurate in the
countries that were nearest to where the Ark rested. Among the most
important of these early traditions are those of Babylon. Greece, China,
and America. In a general way these traditions may be said to agree
with the Biblical story in the following particulars: (1) That a flood
destroyed an evil world; (2) That one righteous family was saved in a

boat and that animals were saved with them; (3) That the boat landed
on a mountain; (4) That a bird was sent out of the boat; (5) That the
saved family built an altar and worshiped God with sacrifice. All these
stories tend to corroborate the Biblical story and to show that the whole
race must have spring from this common home from which they have
been scattered abroad.
Geology has also done much to confirm the flood story. Geologists are
well acquainted with facts in world history that bring the flood "entirely
within the range of natural phenomena." The Scripture (Gen. 7:11)
speaks of the fountains of the deep being broken, language that could
refer to the inrushing of the sea upon a depression of the earth which
later rose again. Such elevations and depressions have occurred many
times. An example is the elevation of the coast of Chile by an
earthquake in 1822. Such an explanation by no means destroys the
miracle of it, since the coming just when Noah had completed the ark
and entered it and just when God said it would come, provided the
element of miracle. A wide-spread flood is also required by the
discovery of evidence in the earth of the destruction of animal life.
Some Teachings of This Period. The teachings of this period may be
divided into three groups: Those concerning Cain and Abel; those
concerning Cain and Seth. or the two races; those concerning the flood.