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In Genesis 6-9 is contained the famous Noah’s Flood story. And for many in the 21st century, that’s all it is—a story. An impossible story of myth and magic. Or so they’ve been led to believe by Hollywood and other mainstream outlets. In reality though, there is a great deal of evidential support for the Genesis cataclysm. And even though there are legitimate questions surrounding this event, these questions do have answers. For example, some think it impossible that Noah was even capable of building a seaworthy vessel. However, this judgment is based on several common misunderstandings and misconceptions.
Misconception #1 – Noah was a primitive caveman.
The first misconception is that Noah didn’t have the brains to construct such an ark. But this comes from an evolutionary worldview in which humans supposedly evolved up from the animals. In this scenario, ancient man was far less intelligent than we are today. “[Man’s] evolutionary story begins with cave men and bone tools, painstakingly developing crude technology over countless centuries.”[1] That’s why Noah is often imagined as a primitive nomad, chipping away with stone, bone, and wood implements. As engineer and author Tim Lovett says, this version of Noah probably couldn’t have made “anything more advanced than a tent pole and a clay bowl.”[2] But this modern version of Noah (like the story of evolution) is completely fictional. In reality, “People in Noah’s day [and shortly thereafter] were much more intelligent than skeptics credit.”[3] Indeed, the ancient pyramids, ships and other ingenious artifacts testify to that fact. Actually, “The ability of ancient builders is such a mystery to evolutionists that some think they had help from extra-terrestrials, an idea for which there is zero evidence.”[4] People in Noah’s time were also not limited to stone and bone tools. As the Bible clearly explains, Tubal-Cain, who lived centuries before Noah, “forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron” (Genesis 4:22). Thus, before the flood there was no Bronze or Iron ages. “One person conquered both metals and Noah had them at his disposal.”[5],[6] And if you want to know more about this, I’ve actually produced a two-hour documentary on this subject called 30 Out of Place Artifacts.
Misconception #2 – Noah had to come up with the ark’s design.
But here’s the thing. Even if Noah had somehow been incompetent, he was probably not required to come up with the design of the ark as we sometimes assume. Genesis 6:14-16 tells us that it was God who gave him the plans. And since God gave painfully detailed designs to Moses about the construction of the tabernacle and to David about the temple (1 Chronicles 28:11-19, esp. v.19) and to Ezekiel about the future temple (Ezekiel 40-48), it is very reasonable to conclude that God also gave Noah equally detailed plans on how to construct the Ark especially since the future of the human race depended on it!
Misconception #3 – Noah built the ark without help.
A third possible misconception is that Noah had to accomplish this massive construction project by himself. But he wasn’t alone. Besides having his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) as well as his father (Lamech) and grandfather (Methuselah) before they died, there would have been plenty of contractors available for hire, just like there would be today. And like today, they no doubt would’ve mocked Noah. But like people today, their motivation was money not salvation. They did the job, and they got paid! And that was good enough for them.
Misconception #4 – Noah didn’t have enough time.
Another thing to consider is the fact that Noah had a great deal of time to complete this endeavor. How much time did he have? While at first glance Genesis 6:3 seems to set the countdown at 120 years, the specific command to build the ark actually came years later following the birth of Noah’s three sons. As a matter of fact, by the time God gave Noah the command in Genesis 6:13-18, his sons were already married. This means that Noah would have had roughly between 55-75 years to build the ark which is still more than enough time.[7]
Misconception #5 – Noah was old and tired.
A fifth issue people have with Noah is his seemingly impossible age. According to the Bible Noah was more than 500 years old when he was building the ark. Of course, by Biblical standards he was only middle aged as he would go on to live to be 950! (Gen 9:29)[8] While this is biologically impossible today, it wasn’t in Noah’s time. In fact, says Drs. Georgia Purdom and David Menton, considering “that God initially created us to live forever…a life span of nearly 1,000 years is sadly abbreviated…”[9] Indeed, though God created humans as immortal beings, Adam and Eve’s sin brought sickness, disease, and death upon humanity and the entire creation. From that moment on, the cells in the human body would now begin to mutate, degrade, and die. In modern scientific vernacular this is referred to as genetic entropy. And while there are several factors which affect lifespan, modern scientific research suggests that genetic mutations are one of the key factors (if not the main factor). And as my friend Matt Bondy rightly says, “As mutations accumulate, biological systems deteriorate. The population becomes less fit, less robust, less able to cope with diseases which affect lifespans.”[10] Sadly, after thousands of years of genetic degradation, the human lifespan is now only one tenth of what it was prior to the Flood. And if you’re still in doubt consider the fact that, “Similar claims of long life spans are found in the secular literature of several ancient cultures (including the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Indians, and Chinese).” [11] Remember, just because we don’t live for several hundred years today it doesn’t mean that humans didn’t live this long in the distant past.
Hence, there are no good reasons to doubt that Noah had the capacity, the capability, the resources, the tools, and the wisdom to build such a seaworthy vessel.
Ryan Hembree is a daily co-host, speaker, and writer of Bible Discovery. He also hosts a YouTube channel that shows the unity of the Bible and how science and Scripture fit together. Ryan also has an honorary Masters of Ministry in Creation Science from Phoenix University of Theology.
[1] Tim Lovett, Noah’s Ark: Thinking Outside the Box, P.39.
[2] Ibid., P.40.
[3] Jonathan Sarfati, The Genesis Account, P.495.
[4] Tim Lovett, Noah’s Ark: Thinking Outside the Box, P.39.
[5] Ibid., P.40
[6] “It would be reasonable to expect pre-flood technology to be at least as high as it was at any time in history before the scientific and Industrial Revolution beginning in the 1700s.” (Tim Lovett, Noah’s Ark: Thinking Outside the Box, P.40)
[7] For a more detailed explanation see, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, A Flood of Evidence, P.169-172.
[8] And this isn’t even the record for the longest living person in the Bible. That honour goes to Noah’s grandfather Methuselah who lived to be 969 years old!
[9] Dr. Georgia Purdom and Dr. David Menton, Ancient Biblical Lifespans: Did Adam Live Over 900 Years?
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/genealogy/did-adam-and-noah-really-live-over-900-years/
[10] https://creation.com/en/videos/how-did-people-live-so-long-before-the-flood
[11] https://answersingenesis.org/bible-timeline/genealogy/did-adam-and-noah-really-live-over-900-years/
