We know that Noah and his family, along with the animals, were in the ark for over a year, but how long did the ark itself actually float on the water?
Genesis 7.11 says that the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the rain began to descend, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month…”
However, it would take some time before the earth started to flood enough to reach the ark and then for the water to be deep enough to lift the ark, and so Genesis 7.17 says,
“Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth” (Genesis 7.17).
That sounds like it was forty days before the ark began to float.
At a certain point, the Lord made the waters start to recede, and finally the Bible says,
“Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8.4).
So then, from the beginning of the Flood in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month to the time the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, we have five months, but the ark did not begin to float until after forty days, which would mean the ark floated 110 days, or just over three and a half months.
What do you think?
Sevens in the Bible 
That information “floated my boat” in about 40 seconds.
Thank you for the very interesting article, Don.
I like your choice of words, since it took 40 days to float Noah’s boat!
This was a very clever analysis and mathematically everything adds up (pun intended). However, I don’t see the need to subtract 40 from the 150 days because in Gen. 7:24 it says, “the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.” This implies that the earth was covered in water for 150 days, thus the ark must have been afloat for such time.
I think you have a point.
I think you are delusional to even think this absurd story could possibly be true.
But believing:
1. That something came from nothing;
2. That order came from chaos;
3. That life came from non-life;
4. That one form of life evolved into the multiplicity of life forms on the Earth today
is not delusional!
🙂
Okay, thanks Peter, for visiting. I hope you have a wonderful day and a great life, and that you enjoy every moment of it.
You say it is delusional to believe that everything came from nothing but that is exactly what you believe. You believe God created everything from nothing. Now who is delusional?
BIG AL,
God is something. Therefore, I do not believe something came from nothing.
However, to take the view that God does not exist, means that something (the universe), brought itself into existence from nothing.
It is true the ark has already been found resting on a mountain! They have established the truth in this story it has been ripped apart and still stands strong! Read the ‘answers’ book you will soon change your mind.
It is a joy in my life to believe every word of The Bible. I don’t care if you call me delusional or what, I dearly love believing God’s precious Word.
Thank you for your comment and support, Treata.
The absurd notion that there is no God and that life is just an accident, that there is no order to the universe, is like saying Webster’s dictionary is a result of an explosion in an ink factory.
We can take all the great minds on this planet and they cannot create one living cell, God does not have that problem because he is God . . .the creator. You don’t have to understand God to know he is there. You don’t have to understand gravity to know that if you jump off a cliff you’re not going to go up…
Thank you, Rick, for your valuable insight!
The notion that “god” created everything is bogus. How do you know that? You’re just a human, who only lived for decades, and who will probably not make it past a century. What I find revolting is how Christians insist (as they always have) that their beliefs are the absolute truth. There are theories that say that the universe started from a big bang or that our universe came from another universe, but the truth of the matter is: I DON’T KNOW, AND NEITHER DO YOU. YOU WEREN’T THERE, AND NEITHER WAS I. Just because I don’t believe in “god” doesn’t mean that I believe that the Earth came from nothing. It just means that I don’t know what that something was. It is not yet possible (if it ever will be) to travel back in time to find out what was going on. Even so, if the universe was so chaotic in its conception, even with the most protective gear and the ability to travel back to the “present,” it may not even be worth doing it because I’m quite sure that any human wouldn’t last a split second to capture the events with a camera because they would probably be vaporized by all the energy and debris.
Confaderation,
You acknowledge that you do not know how the universe began, but you do claim to know that God did not do it. Is it possible that the thing you do not know is that the God of the Bible did indeed create the heavens and the Earth?
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
What is or are the extraordinary claims and what would constitute extraordinary evidence for you?
If God does not make sense to you, it won’t take time you won’t any sense to the world.
If the only thing someone could doubt is biblical facts, its then obvious that you have to doubt your entire life because you are also a biblical fact.
Noah’a ark came from bible evidence and that someone like you was created also came from bible evidence. I think where you put the ark issue is just where you will keep yourself.
If God never had anything true about the ark, you are telling the world that you are a walking lie yourself. Nothing here is an accident. If you think there is no God, its likely a generation will someday and say, ‘there was no you’.
If my beliefs in God should prove to be wrong and a waste of time, which I don’t think is even remotely possible, what have I got to lose? But if your non-belief in God proves to be wrong – what have you got to lose. Let’s see – your soul, eternal happiness, never seeing departed loved ones that also “believed” – in short – EVERYTHING. Using that kind of planning – I wouldn’t head to a casino or buy any lottery tickets with that kind of thinking. I don’t do either anyway – but that’s also just by my choice. Christmas must also be a wonderful time for a non-believer. How many presents do you give? And, if you do – why? How many “presents” do you refuse to receive? And either way – way?
Belief in God is more important than most people think.
It may have only rained 40 days and 40 nights, but Scripture tells us they remained on board the Ark for over a year! It says Noah was 600 years old when they boarded the Ark, one week before the rains began on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Genesis 7:10-12). And then Moses tells us Noah was 601 when they disembarked a full year latter on the 27th day of the 1st month after the waters were fully died up (Genesis 8:14-16).
Just think that all the non believers, believed in God, served him faithfully ,and went to church to worship on Sunday, and when they died there was no God, and no afterlife. So basically it just puts you back to what you don’t believe now right. Just think that there was a living God, and there was a promise to live in God’s kingdom forever after death, and your name being forgiven was written in the book of life. Why would anyone choose to be wrong about this. I choose to believe in the Lord God Almighty.