CHAPTER XXIV. THE FIRST VESSEL-FIRST DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD 66 G -THE OD saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "The earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." It would be so now, were it not for the grace of God. There was, however, one exception: all had gone astray, "but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man, and walked with God." The Lord communicated to him the fact that He was about to destroy all that lived upon the earth; and directed him to build an ark in a certain manner and of a certain size. Noah believed God, for "by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." The Ark is the first vessel spoken of, although it is likely small boats had been previously built. It was several times larger than any vessel ever known, until the late wonder, the "Great Eastern," was built. The length, breadth, and height of both these vessels do not vary much; but the Ark must have had much greater capacity, as it was built squarer, 1 Gen. vi. 5, 11. 2 Gen. vi, 8, 9. 3 Heb. xi. 7. being designed simply to float on the water and to carry a large cargo, while the Great Eastern tapers at the ends and toward the keel, to give her speed. The cubit is variously estimated from seventeen and one-half to nearly twenty-two inches. Estimating it at the latter, the Ark was about five hundred and forty-seven feet long, ninety-one feet wide, and fifty-five feet high. We can easily imagine how much ridicule the Ark must have excited while it was building. Had there been lunaticasylums in those days, Noah would probably have been shut up in one, and other persons put in charge of his property. To build the Ark and to provide a year's supply of "of all food that is eaten" not only took the labor of one hundred and twenty years, but must also have required a very large sum of money. When Lot urged his sons-in-law to escape with him from Sodom, he appeared unto them " as one that mocked," and was treated as such. We are told that there will be scoffers in the last days before the world is destroyed the second time by fire.' Seeing such an immense vessel building far away from the sea, which of us would not have attempted to sneer? Hear one say, Well, old man, when are you going to launch her? How much are you going to ask for a passage? Hear another exclaim, "He thinks he is elected to be saved and the rest of the world is to be damned ; I am thankful I don't believe in so unmerciful a God." The constant preaching of Noah, his godly, self-denying life, and his steady, continued efforts in following God's directions, so that he and his family might be saved, must have made some serious at times, and perhaps made some try to do some good works to buy God's favor in case a flood should come. The miracle of all kinds of animals, birds, creeping things, &c., going "two and two unto Noah into the ark" must have caused some to wonder for a moment. Some even may have felt a little solemn, when all had gone in, with Noah, and his wife, and 12 Peter iii. 3. 1 his sons, and their wives; and "the Lord had shut him in." Happy is it for the people of God that they "are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation," "their lives hid with Christ in God."3 It is well for them that the Lord shuts them in, otherwise they would not stay there. The mass of the world, however, went on as usual; "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark." 974 "The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." Doubtless some began to be frightened when it began to rain; while others perhaps laughed at them, saying, We have seen it rain before. Doubtless, as the storm and the waters rose, many began to pray; but it was too late. Perhaps some of Noah's carpenters begged to be admitted into the ark, urging that they had helped to build it. What other reply could he make to them, but, You were paid for it; I can not save you. They who are now helping to build churches and spread the gospel, without seeking to be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, may well ponder the question, "What became of Noah's carpenters?" In forty days the waters had risen fifteen cubits, or about twenty-three feet, above the highest mountains; which would be, on an average, a rise of about seven hundred feet each day. "And all flesh died; every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, and the fowl of the heaven. And the waters prevailed on the earth an hundred and fifty days."5 There is no fact in history better attested, independent of the Word of God, than the flood; and none more universally acknowledged by all nations. Many evidences of it exist at the present day. The highest mountains, in every part of 1Gen. vii. 16. 4 Matt. xxiv. 3. 21 Peter i. 5. 3 the earth where search has been made, furnish abundant proofs that the sea has spread over their summits, shells, skeletons of fish and sea monsters being found on them. The universality of the flood is shown by the fact that the remains of animals are found buried far from their native regions. Elephants, natives of Asia and Africa, have been found buried in the midst of England; crocodiles, natives of the Nile, in the heart of Germany; shell-fish never known in any but the American seas, and also skeletons of whales, in the most inland counties of England, &c. The waters, after prevailing on the earth one hundred and fifty days, began slowly to return to their accustomed channels. In a short time the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat, in Armenia; and some months after that, when the earth was dried, Noah and his family, who had been just one year in the ark, went out of it to take possession of a new world. Western Asia thus became a second time the birthplace of the human family. This region, a small spot on the world's surface, was not only the cradle of two worlds, but also of the Church. While the rest of the world was left in spiritual darkness, it enjoyed the special manifestations of God's presence, and the revelations of his will, continuously for four thousand years, until the Creator more signally honored it by making it the place of his residence while in the flesh. "A circle, with its center at Haran, and a radius of four hundred miles, will embrace Eden and Ararat; Babylon and Nineveh, the early seats of learning and science; Mesopotamia, where God revealed himself to Abraham; Phoenicia, where commerce and many of the arts of peace arose; and Palestine, the birth-place of the prophets, apostles, and evangelists innumerable, and the scene of the birth, labors, and death of our blessed Lord. Over this wonderful district, where life was once so abundant, darkness and death have brooded for centuries." CHAPTER XXV. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, BEFORE THE FLOOD, ACCORDING TO ARCHBISHOP USHER. From the Creation to the Deluge, Sixteen Hundred and Fifty-six Years. 1 4004 The creation of all things in six days. The fall of Adam, and the promise of a Saviour. 2 4003 The birth of Cain. 129 3875 130 3874 Birth of Abel. Murder of Abel, and curse on Cain. Birth of Seth, Adam his father being 130 years old. 235 3769 Enos born. Seth 105 years old. Revival of religion. Visible Church formed, and called by the Lord's name. 325 3679 395 3609 460 3544 622 3382 687 3317 874 3130 Cainan born, Enos his father 90 years old. Jared born, when Mahalaleel is 65. Enoch born, Jared being 162. Methuselah born, Enoch being 65. Lamech, father of Noah, born, Methuselah being 187 and Adam 874 years old. 930 3074 Adam dies, aged 930 years. Lamech, father of Noah, having lived 56 years cotemporary with Adam. 987 3017 Enoch is translated, aged 365 years. 1042 2962 Seth dies, aged 912 years. 1056 2948 Noah is born, Lamech his father being 182. |