Decoupling from the Culture

June 14, 2024

Can you imagine living in a world described in this way: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6 NASB95) This was the condition of mankind just before the flood.  Mankind’s wickedness was great.  Every plan and intention of man was sinful.  Every thought in their heart was evil continually.  It had gotten so bad that God was grieved over it.  And God said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:7 NASB95)

And yet, in all of this darkness, there was one bright spot shining like a beacon.  “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:8 NASB95) The whole world had turned against God, but Noah walked with God.  The whole world had allowed themselves to sink into depravity, but Noah kept God’s commands.  The world had closed their hearts to the teaching about God, but Noah was a preacher of righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5) “… Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9b NASB95)

It seems that our world today is becoming increasingly immoral, corrupt and violent.  There is a sickness that pervades our world that is caused by sin.  Things may have not yet degenerated to where they were in Noah’s day, but it would do us well to learn from the life of Noah and imitate his faith.  Noah had to make a decision to decouple himself and his family from the debauched world he lived in.  Do you need to do the same?  This decoupling will not happen on its own.  The corrupt current of our culture will suck in anyone who does not actively paddle against it.  This corrupt current will overwhelm you and your children unless you do something about it. 

We need to resolve to walk with God!  We need to resolve in our hearts and minds that no matter what everyone else is doing, we will follow Him!  Even if everyone else is fixated on evil, we need to resolve to fix our hearts on what is good.  While everyone else fills their minds with wickedness, resolve that you and your house will fill your minds with the things of God.

I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I know one thing:  I want to find favor in the eyes of the Lord!  I want to walk with God!  Let’s renew our resolve to do just that.    

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

Noah’s Ark

March 28, 2014

Darren Aronofsky’s movie, Noah, may have people wondering about the biblical account. So what was the ark like?

The Hebrew word for ark means box. In the Old Testament, the word is also used of the papyrus (or bullrushes) ark in which Moses was placed as an infant (Exodus 2:3, 5). In fact, the word choice may have reminded the readers of the safety of Noah’s ark. A different word in Hebrew is used for the Ark of the Covenant, although both words mean box in some sense. Noah’s ark is not a ship in the normal sense of the word. It had no means of propulsion, and it may have had limited or no means of navigation. It was simply intended to rescue from the flood.

The text says that the ark was to be made of gopher wood. We do not know what gopher wood was. The “gopher” of the text of Genesis is a transliteration of the Hebrew word. (By the way there is no relationship in the Hebrew word to our English word gopher.) The etymology of the word is unknown. Several suggestions are made: cypress, pitch-pine, or simply some kind of resinous wood. The suggestions make sense given its use. The Greek Septuagint has “squared wood” which seems to be their attempt to translate gopher wood.

The dimensions of the ark were 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide by 30 cubits high which comes to about 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. The proportions of the ark are correct for a cargo ship. It size is about as large as a wooden ship could be built. Sailing ships in the Western world generally did not get much above 330 feet long, but the Greeks were able to build ships of this size. China in the 1400s built ships which may have been as long as the ark.

The ark was made into rooms (literally the Hebrew word is nests). We are not told how many or how big. The ark was covered with pitch inside and out, which would have been used as a water seal. “A window” of the KJV in Genesis 6:16 is now thought to mean roof or skylight. The word only occurs once in the Old Testament making it more difficult to define. It may refer to a window all the way around with a height of a cubit (or about 18 inches), which may have been covered or opened as needed. The ark had three decks and one door.

If you like details, Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study by John Woodmorappe may be of interest. He concludes that the ark was not beyond the building skills of the period and goes into details about how it might have been done.

Sixty-eight different people groups are known to have flood stories. Varying flood accounts are found around the world.

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Posted by Russell Holden