Unplanned - - A Reflection and Movie Review

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you....

Jeremiah 1:5a (ESV)

Yesterday was one of those historic days where the events themselves just made an odd alignment in my soul.  First of all, it was our older son's 24th birthday.  So, my mind wandered back to that day when I gave birth to that nearly 10-pound baby.  God richly blessed us in the conception department.  It took little time for me to become pregnant with either of our sons.  I remember back in 1996 - - I felt we needed to start "trying" ahead of the schedule I wanted our second child to arrive on.  My hope was to have another mid-to-late spring birth, as our first son had been.  But, "trying" took all of one cycle and behold!  I was pregnant again.  My heart goes out to women who so desperately want to conceive and, for a myriad of reasons, just can't.  This very moment, friends are working through the adoption process . . . with a foreign country.  It is very difficult to adopt an American baby.  There just are not many babies who survive in order to become adopted here.

Then, also yesterday, I kept for the first time, my 3-month old great nephew all day.  I have committed to doing this one day a week for the foreseeable future.  He is a sweet, adorable baby and, although I smelled like baby puke from 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., I enjoyed every moment of our time together.
By 6:35 p.m., Hubs and I were relaxing in a movie theater, popcorn and coke for dinner, watching insipid "pre-previews" until the movie, "Unplanned" began.  Last night was opening night.  Hubs had not wanted to go see this film; he went with me as an act of love.  And, I understand and appreciate that so much.

Never having been a girl to "look away" or to shy away from a fight, I have long been familiar with the American "fight for life".  I know how critical it is to financially support those who make such films, because, otherwise, the true, undistorted message of God's truth will not "get out there".  I so appreciate Mike Lindell, yes, the "My Pillow Guy", who was the executive producer of this film.  That means he bankrolled it.  Otherwise, it could not have been made.  The filmmakers said they had tried twice to bring the film to fruition, and their efforts had been frustrated both times.  I believe this is because God wanted this film to premiere at this time - - - a time when some states are enacting pro-death legislation (NY, VA, among others), and other are enacting strong pro-life legislation (GA, OH, etc.)  This fight will eventually return to SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States.

It occurred to me, while musing on the bloody legacy of Roe v. Wade this morning, that most of the people I now know could have been legally aborted by their mothers - - people I love and could not imagine my life without could simply have never existed at all outside the womb.  Over 61 million US babies' lives taken through abortion in the past 36 years!1

"Unplanned" is a movie of deep woundedness and supernatural redemption.  The film is based on the true story of Abby Johnson, who "rose" to be the youngest clinic director in the history of Planned Parenthood.  I watched her interview this morning on national TV.  She said it was hard to lay out the most intimate details of her personal life for all the world to see.  No kidding.... The movie goes beyond frank to being brutally honest.  The scene where Abby witnesses a late-term abortion - - I simply could not watch.  I just bowed my head and cried.

The movie gives an even-handed treatment of the topic, showing that fringe element of ugliness on the alt-right side of the issue as well as the pervasive evil at the core of Planned Parenthood.  I commend the filmmakers for their honesty.  Not all who call themselves "pro-life" are compassionate toward women who, through their own choices or not, find themselves faced with heart-rending decisions.  I do not condone or support such tactics, even though I am staunchly pro-life.  Y'all, Jesus deal with these situations similarly to how he dealt with the Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11) or the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42).  Jesus would NOT dress up in a Halloween costume as The Grim Reaper and scream invectives at sorrowing women in the worst crises of their lives.

There was another weird confluence yesterday, and I alluded to it above.  Here in my home state of Georgia the legislature passed the most restrictive anti-abortion bill in the nation.  And, the governor, himself pro-life, will sign it in a few days.  It will certainly be challenged in the liberal courts.  But, for now, those who believe in the sanctity of human life are rejoicing.  Well, most are.  There is a small element dissing the legislation because it allows for some exceptions.  I call this the "all or nothing" approach.  In the American system of governance one rarely achieves "everything" desired.  Compromise is a part of the process.  That Georgia was able to get this bill passed is in itself a miracle of God.  Why rail against it because it "does not go far enough"?  Thousands of babies' lives will be saved in Georgia because of this legislation.  I believe we should rejoice in that.

Redemption.  Oh how I thank God for His grace!  Only God can forgive my sins, your sins, the sins of anyone who throws themselves into His loving, forgiving, restoring arms.  This film does not leave the viewer without hope.  Hope is a thread woven throughout the movie, hallelujah!  Please go see it in a theater this weekend, if possible.  Take a pro-choice friend!  In doing so you will be supporting the efforts of those who are trying to save unborn lives.  Your support matters, whether you speak with your prayers, with your money, with your time, or all of those!  Locally, our pro-life center, The Hope Center of Woodstock, is having a Walk for Life, on April 27th, 9:00 a.m.  Learn more here:  supporthopecenter.com

#SaveTheBabyHumans

13For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^a
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV)

Source:

1    http://www.numberofabortions.com/

Purim - - a Story of Surrender

Tonight at sundown, the Jewish feast of Purim begins world-wide.  Purim is always the 14th and 15th of the 12th Hebrew month, Nisan.  This year, curiously, it falls very "late", straddling the Spring equinox.

The biblical story on which the feast is based is the Old Testament book of Esther, most likely written by either Mordecai, one of its central characters, or by the prophet Nehemiah, who would have been a young man when these events transpired.  The date of the book is somewhere between 464-415 B.C.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Esther, go read the short Old Testament book.  It is fascinating to read about how God physically delivered His people from extermination by an anti-Semitic prime minister of the Persian Empire.  My commentary today will make more sense of you are familiar with the story.

This feast of Purim (which means 'lots' as in "casting lots") is a time of physical celebration.  The day before Purim, itself a one-day feast, is spent fasting from before daylight until dusk.  This year, that fast day would have been today, March 20th.  Then, from sundown on March 20th to sundown on March 21st this year, Jews (including Messianic Jews) participate in a variety of celebratory activities:

• synagogue services in which the story of Esther is read
• special prayers (such as Exodus 17:8-16) to celebrate God's deliverance in Jewish history
• special feasts/recipes
• giving to the needy
• giving food gifts to friends (delivering it to their homes)
• much alcoholic beverage
• dancing
• masquerade (to symbolize Esther hiding her Jewish identity and Haman keeping his motives for the Jews hidden)

Ultimately, the Jews celebrate their rescue, how God used one, surrendered young woman, to deliver the nation from the brink of extinction (Haman's goal).

So, yes, one of the central themes of the book is "surrender".  Esther, like all women of her day, had no power that accrued to her, simply because of her personhood.  Theirs was an extremely patriarchal society.  The best that a woman could hope for was to marry a powerful man.  In God's sovereignty, He appointed Esther to the position of Artaxerxes' (Ahasuerus') queen.  This made her the most powerful woman in that empire.
Even so, her predecessor, Vashti, had been killed due to her disobedience to the king.  It was a sobering lesson, a "cautionary tale".  Esther had good reason to fear standing up for the lives of her people.  She had every expectation that she, too, would be killed for daring to petition the king.  In the passage above, while she is pondering the implications of her task, her uncle reminds her that nothing happens by accident with God - - - that she had been uniquely placed into her position of influence so that she could be used by God to accomplish His purposes.

We are faced with this same challenge.  Each Christian is uniquely created and gifted to serve the Savior.  Each of us must decide every day whether or not we will allow our will to be submitted to His, whether we will allow our bodies, minds, souls and spirits to be used by Him to advance His kingdom.  I thank God I've never had to lay my life on the line for His sake.  But, that day may come. In the interim, in the little surrenders to His will, am I proving myself faithful?  That is the question each of us must answer every, single day.

But, why did the story of Esther even occur?  Why is it even in the Bible?  Is it really that important?  I mean, it is the only book of the Bible in which God's name is not even mentioned.  (Isn't that something?!)

I wonder if God allowed Esther's story to be told in order to show the long-range consequences of disobedience?

Did you notice in Esther 2:5 that Mordecai was a Benjaminite, and that his ancestor was Kish (also a Benjaminite)? This means Mordecai was of the tribe of Benjamin, and that Esther was also, as she and Mordecai were first cousins.  Equally important, Haman was a Agagite (Esther 3:1).  I know you are thinking, "Big deal...yawn..."

Take a look with me back at 1 Samuel 9:1-2.  Who was Kish's son?  That's right, Saul, the first king of Israel.  By all appearances, Saul would have made a fine king.  Unfortunately, he turned to disobedience, and his disobedience to God figures into the Esther story.  Now, let's look at 1 Samuel 15:1-11.  Of particular interest is verse 9.

9Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calvesb and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them ...

Do you see it?  God had commanded Saul to destroy utterly all of the Amalekites, including Agag, their king.  When Haman is called an Agagite in Esther 3:1, it means he was a descendant of Agag.
Once again, history repeats.  In the Esther story, we have an Agagite trying to destroy the Jews.
HAD SAUL DONE AS GOD COMMANDED HIM, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO AGAGITES, meaning, no Haman, no crisis, no pending extermination of the Jewish people, hundreds of years after Saul, in the 5th century B.C.
Boom.

When we consciously disobey God, thinking we know better than He (or for whatever god-forsaken justification) we rarely can foresee the long-range consequences of our disobedience.  Thankfully, He allowed descendants of Kish to redeem that family name through their obedience, because both Mordecai and Esther surrendered to His leading at this critical point in Jewish history.

As Mordecai pointed out to Esther (Esther 4:13-14), if she had said, "No!", God would have raised up someone else to deliver His chosen people.  Both Mordecai and Esther were devout Jews, who were well aware of the covenants which God had made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. They knew He would keep His word, which declared He would not allow His chosen ones to be utterly destroyed.  The question was, "Would Esther and Mordecai fulfill the purpose to which God had called them, in this cosmic battle?"  Would they embrace the task, risking their very lives for Him? Or, would they decline, and miss the blessing God had for them, even if that blessing was in the form of death?

Here is something that Christian martyrs have understood for two milennia, whether you are talking about first century Christian martyrs or those ruthless killed by Muslims in Nigeria just a few short weeks ago.  ( https://www.christianpost.com/news/fifty-christians-burned-alive-in-pastors-home-in-nigeria-78303/ ). If they are living in the center of God's will, fulfilling His purpose for them, then death is not a punishment.  They understand that following hard after Jesus Christ, their Savior, is better than physical life and that, in the end, physical death is ... irrelevant.

At Purim, followers of Jesus can celebrate this:
that He has delivered His chosen people from extermination and that He has, through His earthly redemptive work, His perfect sacrifice for our sins, delivered us from the penalty of sin and eternal death.  Our Savior is our Deliverer.  Hallelujah!  Although orthodox Jews still look for a Messiah, we have this treasure, this gospel of Jesus Christ - - - that He, the Son of God, has come that we might have (eternal) life, and that we might have life here on earth more abundantly. (John 10:10)  Now, THAT is a great reason to celebrate!

Happy Purim! 

A Year on a Boat

Sitting here, writing this, it is raining outside...again.  We have had a lot of rain over the past few months.  Not too long ago, just a few years, we were in what seemed like a cycle of drought.  No more.  Yesterday, driving to work at the pie shop (which my voice-to-text translates as "pot shop", much to my friends' amusement), I noticed in one spot that the water nearly was over the roadway.  Most of us north GA locals are not pleased.  We post memes about how tired we are of all this rain.  Our discontent is nothing, compared to the year+ which Noah's family spent on the Ark, I'm quite sure!

Today, we are going to look at how long the biblical Great Flood lasted.1  The Bible gives a great deal of specificity as to the timeline, and it's quite interesting (or, at least, I think it is).
Let's start with Genesis 7:10-11 (Berean Study Bible):

10And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth. 11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

The rain began to fall (it had never rained on the Earth prior to this) and the great "fountains of the deep" were broken open, when Noah was 600 years old.  We can infer that Noah had entered the Ark 7 days prior, the week during which all the animal pairs were sent to him.  (We can only imagine the organization that went on during that week...)
When I was a child I had this little plastic statue that sat in my bedroom window.  There was this little woebegone figure holding an umbrella, and printed on the base of the statue were these words:  "Into each life some rain must fall, but this is ridiculous."  I think of that as I think of the ferocity of the Flood.  I wonder if Noah's family believed they would survive it?  During this time, continents actually broke apart and new oceans were formed.  The Earth was completely reconfigured!2
Genesis 7:19-24 (BSB):

19Finally, the waters completely inundated the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.

20The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits.b 21And every creature that had moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind. 22Of all that had been on dry land, everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah remained, and those with him in the ark.

24And the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.

Sometime between the 40th day, when the rain stopped, and the 150th day, the flood waters reached their highest point, which was at least 20 feet above the highest mountains on Earth.  They then began to recede.  By the 150th day (Genesis 8:4), the Ark had found ground, coming to rest somewhere in the mountains of Ararat.  (Notice this is not the same as today's Mt. Ararat.  More on that in the next Genesis post)

74 days later (Genesis 8:5), the tops of the surrounding mountains were visible, as waters continued to recede.  This puts the timeline at Day 224.  40 days after that (Day 64) (Genesis 8:6), Noah sent out a raven to explore the surrounding area.

5And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

Genesis 8:5-6 (BSB)

Then, Noah sent out a dove, which returned to him as it could find no landing place.  He did this again 7 days later, and again 7 days later, at which time the dove did not return.  264 + 21 = Day 285, the day the dove was sent out the last time.  (We can infer there were seven days between the raven and the dove's first flight because in Genesis 8:10 the text states Noah waited "another 7 days".)

29 days later (Day 314) on "the first day of the first month", Noah removed the Ark's cover, where he discovered the surface of the land was dry.  (Genesis 8:13).  57 days later (Day 370), God commanded Noah and his family to "disembark" (that is, leave the ark), because the Earth was dry and once again able to sustain life.  They emerged, to find the physical world tremendously changed.

13And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

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

Genesis 8:13-14 (BSB) 

So, the inundation lasted approximately five months and the waters returning to their places another five months, with an additional two months or so required to dry everything up, cause plant life to re-grow, etc.  Amazing, isn't it?!

5Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.

6You covered it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

7At your rebuke they fled; at the voice of your thunder they hastened away.

8They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which you have founded for them.

9You have set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

Psalm 104:5-9 (King James 2000)

Sources:

1  https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/biblical-overview-of-the-flood-timeline/

2  https://answersingenesis.org/geology/plate-tectonics/noahs-lost-world/

"Kind" Of...

In Genesis 7:4 we learn that the assembling of The Ark's animal menagerie was accomplished in seven days.  I find it interesting that the entire creation of "all that is" was accomplished in six.  The preservation of that creation by its being gathered into The Ark took seven.  Noah needed one more day than had God.  What about that! (a little tongue-in-cheek humor there...)

Now, obviously, water-breathing animal life did not need to be brought on board The Ark, nor did marine vegetation.  Some theologians1 believe that, literally, two of every existing, air-breathing species were brought onto the boat.  It certainly had a lot of room, one source saying enough to house 125,000 sheep (and most animals are smaller than a sheep).  In today's zoological classification of animals, the term "species" is the lowest, most specialized tier, and there are (conservative estimate) 1 to 2 million animal species on Earth today.  "Well, there certainly was not room for all that!", you say.   True, but we must remember that a sizable number of those animals are/were not air-breathing, but were instead water-breathing.  Another unknown is whether there were that many animal species in Noah's day, or not.  If NOT, then it is possible that two of every species were brought on board.

Others, such as the Answers in Genesis group, believe that only representative pairs of "kinds" were brought aboard, these containing in their genetic make-up the material to diversify over time, and that animal kinds became more diverse as centuries followed and kinds adapted to their environments.  A synonym for "kind" on the taxonomy chart is "family".  For example, dogs are in one family; cats are in another, and humans in yet another.  The next rung down from family is genus; each family contains several genera.  For example, in the cat family (Felidae), you have Felis (small cats and domestic cats), Panthera (tigers, leopards, jaguars and lions) and Puma (panthers and cougars) genera.  And, as previously noted, the lowest rung, the one below genus, is species.

But, what IS a "kind" as it is referred to in the Bible?  The word occurs in both Genesis 1, during creation, and then again in Genesis 6 and 7.  Would it correspond to our modern-day terms "species" or "genus" or "family"?

Remember that (at the risk of stating the obvious) our zoological classifications did not exist in Noah's day (Duh!).  In the older translations, "kind" was used to translate the Hebrew word "מִין" (Min) which means "an entity distinct from other entities".2  Every time this word appears, it is used in a taxonomical context. 

Here's perhaps an easier way to understand it.  God brought onto the Ark a representative pair of animals/plant life that could interbreed with others in that "kind" to form the biological diversity we see today.  For example, a dog and a dingo could interbreed and produce offspring, because they are of the Canis family (kind).  So, only one breeding pair from that family would have been needed. 

What we see having happened over hundreds of years since the Flood is that within the zoological designation of family (kind), much variation has occurred as animals adapted to their environments.  Hence, you have the arctic hare, the pygmy rabbit, the jackrabbit, etc.  This is not evolution.  Evolution has never been actually observed to naturally occur outside the zoological designation of family.  For example, a dog cannot breed with a cat.  A human cannot breed with a cow.  Etc.  (Thank God!) . Further, God in His infinite wisdom has closed some doors so that, even within a family, certain species cannot interbreed successfully to perpetuate the line.  An example of this would be a horse interbreeding with a donkey, producing the sterile mule.

Why does this matter?  It matters because atheists use this point to attack the veracity of the Bible.  Scoffing, they ridicule creationists by claiming that the Ark story could not have occurred, as the boat was not big enough to contain enough "pairs" to repopulate the Earth.  However, it certainly occurred, and here we are today.

In addition to the above points, we must embrace as Christians that the Great Flood was a supernatural event, never to be repeated (rainbow promise from God, remember?  Genesis 9:13).
And, nowhere in Scripture does it say Noah went out and found these pairs of animals.  God sent them to him (Genesis 6:20).  Christian, is it preposterous to believe that God could load the Ark up with all the "seed" necessary to repopulate the Earth, when He created it all in the first place?  Why is it some can believe the creation account, but not the flood account? 

Well, I "kind of" think this post has gone on long enough.  If you want to study this point further, check the sources below. 

Sources:

1    http://www.ldolphin.org/cisflood.html

2    https://answersingenesis.org/creation-science/baraminology/what-does-two-of-every-kind-mean/

Windows, Yet Door

"One door and only one, and yet its sides are two?  I'm on the inside.  On which side are you?!"1

Why do you suppose there was only one door into the Ark?  Pictured above is the representation of Noah's Ark found at The Ark Encounter, in Williamstown, Kentucky.

16Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

Genesis 6:16 (NET)

The "cubit" of space between the top of the Ark and the roof allowed for windows of light and ventilation, but it was not enough space to permit water to overwhelm the Ark during the many tempestuous days of the Great Flood.  The windows figured prominently in determining when the judgment was concluded.  (See Genesis 8:6-12.)

There is little we actually know about the door of the Ark, other than God commanded Noah to set it in the side of the large boat.  However, it would make sense for the door to be located "on the middle deck".  In The Ark Encounter photo, you can see a ramp that extends diagonally up the side of the Ark, to a door in the middle deck.  There were so many animals to load, though....why only one door?

We see, further, in Genesis 7:16 that the Lord shut the door to the Ark, sealing inside all the human and animal and plant life.  This is significant.  Why mention the shutting of the door at all?  Or, why did Noah or his sons not shut it?

When we think of a miracle, what comes to mind?  We need to remember that not all of God's miracles were miracles of healing or of restoration.  Some, as in the case of the Flood, were miracles of judgment.  The Flood was not just some "natural disaster".  This was a supernatural judgment of God (and a foreshadowing of the work of Jesus Christ).  How else could this overgrown boat, albeit impressive, have survived such catastrophic upheaval, where the very "fountains of the deep" burst open? (Genesis 7:11)

God Himself shut the one-and-only door to keep the living inside safe through the year-long cataclysm.3  In Revelation 3:7 we read that when God opens a door no man can shut it and when He closes a door, no man can open it either.

There is a symbolic meaning in the Flood judgment.  As He did in the case of the Ark and the Flood judgment, God provides a way for people to escape eternal judgment through Jesus Christ.  Jesus referred to Himself as "the door", in John 10:9.  In that specific instance, Jesus was referring to the door or gate of the sheep pen, but the principle is the same.  He is the one and only way God has provided to "enter in" and receive salvation, eternal life.

The italicized quote at the top of the page is from a song I learned as a child.  It asks the question, "On which side of the door are you?".  Have you entered through the Door into God's Ark of eternal security?  If not, please enter in today!

Through the writing of the apostle John, Jesus uses the "door" metaphor again, in a slightly different way.  Open the door of your heart to Him today!

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:20 (ESV)

Sources:

1    http://www.digitalsongsandhymns.com/songs/7817

2    http://www.alfredplacechurch.org.uk/index.php/sermons/genesis/71-16-the-lord-shut-the-door/

3    https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/biblical-overview-of-the-flood-timeline/

Gopher Wood

Many ancient earth cultures have flood legends in their oral and written histories.  You can read some of them here:  https://answersingenesis.org/answers/magazine/v11-n4/bible-culture/worldwide-flood-legends/
Scientists tend to dismiss a worldwide flood as causal factor for much of what we observe in the fossil record today.  However, if it did not happen, why would there be so many legends from all parts of the world testifying to its occurrence?
Furthermore, why would there be so much observable evidence for a "young earth"?

As Christians, our authoritative source is neither observable evidence, nor ancient literature.
We are going to look at the Ark as it is described in the Old Testament scriptures, since the Bible is our supreme authority as Christians.  Let's start with Genesis 6:14 NET) - -

Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out.

The Hebrew word translated "ark" here is "tebah" and is used only 28 times in the Old Testament.  Every time, it is used to refer to either Noah's Ark or the woven basket used by Jochebed to house Moses, when she (his mother) set him afloat in bullrushes along the edge of the Nile River (Exodus 2:3 and Hebrews 11:23).
There's a reason I chose the NET translation of the preceding verse.  Translators of this version have extrapolated to say "cypress wood", whereas most older translators/translations say "gopher wood". (Gopher wood bears no relation to the prairie rodent pictured above, far as I can tell!)

Gopher wood no longer exists today.1  It was apparently so well known in the antediluvian world Noah knew what it was.  The Hebrew word translated "gopher" is used only once in the Bible, and that is here in Genesis 6:14.  The NET translators used "cypress" because it is a very hard, durable wood that could theoretically withstand brutal winds and rain.  But, bottom line, none of us knows beans about the wood used to create the Ark.

There are other speculations.  One is that there was a scribal error made in that word, between the Hebrew letters translated "g" and "k", because both look very similar to a backwards "c".  If the "g" was supposed to be a "k", then the resulting word "kopher" means "pitch", and the passage would read, "Make for yourself an ark of pitched wood."  In that case, it could have been any of several types of wood, as long as they were treated inside and out with pitch.

Still other scholars believe the word refers to the processing of the wood, that the planks were squared off with some sort of lamination process applied, in order for the planks to accommodate the dimensions of the overall structure.  We tend to assume that life before the flood was terribly antiquainted; I think that is a mistake.  It is very likely that antediluvian world was actually more advanced than is ours.

Isn't that something?

Moving on . . .

15This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks.

Genesis 6:15-16 (NET)

If you have not visited the Ark Encounter in Williamston, KY, you should really go.  The replica of Noah's Ark they have created really brings to life this part of human history.  No longer must we imagine the scope of the Ark, because we can see a replica of its dimensions, before our very eyes.  As you pull up to the Ark Encounter complex, you can easily spot the massive boat,  perched on a hilltop in the distance.  The unit of measurement in the Hebrew text is "cubit".  No one is totally sure what the length of a cubit was, as there is some discrepancy between the Egyptian royal cubit and the typical OT cubit, which was about 3 inches shorter.  Using the Egyptian measure, the Ark would have been close to 512 feet in length; using the OT cubit, it would have been closer to 437 feet in length.

The dimensions of the Ark were a ratio of 30 x 5 x 3.  (Did you know that, according to ship-builders, this is the optimum ratio for stability of a vessel in rough seas?2  Furthermore, it was not until the late 1800s that a post-Flood sea vessel of this size was attempted.)

Even going with the shorter cubit, the Ark could have held the equivalent of 569 railroad boxcars.  If you use as an average that each animal was the size of a sheep, the Ark could have held over 125,000 animals.  We will examine passengers and cargo in an upcoming post.

Before we leave these verses, however, we will, in the next post, examine the roof vents and the door of the vessel.


Sources:

1    https://www.gotquestions.org/gopher-wood.html

2    http://www.ldolphin.org/cisflood.html

Ruined

What does it mean when something or someone is "ruined"?  Not a pleasant thought, is it?
Today's text is Genesis 6:11-13 (ESV).  Notice the word "corrupt" in this passage, because a more accurate translation of it would be "so corrupt that it was totally ruined".1  (The NET version, in fact, uses the word "ruined".)  We've now returned, here in the blog, to the book of Genesis!

11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,^c for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Some of us question God's actions in this story, because we cannot fathom how "bad" things were.  Surely, we reason, things could have been turned around or repaired.  After all, the Bible is filled with other stories of how God took the most extremely sinful people and the most horrible, seemingly-irredeemable circumstances and did miraculous spiritual transformations.  But, to make this wrong assumption is to demonstrate misunderstanding of how bad things actually were.

In their lust for knowledge and power, mankind had "sold out" to the fallen angelic beings who had come to live among them, after their expulsion from Heaven, after their failed rebellion against Jehovah Sabaoth, (the God of Angel Armies, the Lord of Hosts).  Being thoroughly evil, these beings had intermarried with humans, thereby ruining the human bloodline of every family making that irreversible choice.  And yes, they had a choice.  We see this from the deliberateness of the phrase "had corrupted their way".  The Fallen surely provided a strong temptation, but God never leaves Man without a choice.  (It was the exercise of free will in the Garden of Eden that started this downward spiral, after all.)  The legacy of the "ancient aliens" (to borrow the title of a popular TV show here in America), the demonic Nephilim, the gibborim (Genesis 6:4), was complete, pervasive violence.  They were not a benevolent group of entities.  No, they were hell-bent on destroying the human race, in order to prevent a pure human bloodline through which Messiah would be born.  And, they very nearly succeeded.

Satan and his minions (thankfully, the major architects of the pre-Flood world's ruination are currently locked up tight in Tartarus....2 Peter 2:4) are today still at work, trying to convince us that we are all hopelessly ruined.  Perhaps you have felt that way.  I know that I have . . . and, from time to time, still do.

There is good news, though - - such incredibly good news!  Because of Jesus, and His finished work, NO ONE is hopelessly ruined.  As long as there is breath in the body, there is the potential for God to turn things around, to redeem the broken. There is only one sin which cannot be forgiven2 , and that sin is a deliberate decision on the part of the person who willfully commits it.  (If you don't know what that unforgivable sin is, click on Source 2 below, because it is a whole blog post, in itself.)

When we feel hopelessly, irrevocably ruined, the best thing we can do is to look at the Word of God and cling to His promises.  Here's one of them, that the Lord brought to my mind just now.  Perhaps it was meant not only for me today, but for you also.

12What do you think? If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.

Matthew 18:12-14 (NET)

And, one more....

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Cor. 10:13 (NASB)

Yes, God IS faithful!  In the next post, we will examine Noah's Ark and God's promises to Noah, which still apply to us today.

Sources:

1    https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/6-11.htm

2    https://www.gotquestions.org/blasphemy-Holy-Spirit.html