“Noah … Prepared an Ark to the Saving of His House” -- Lesson 6

Noah's Ark Dimensions: 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide by 30 cubits high. Materials Used: Gopher or Cypress wood. How long was a cubit? About 17 1/2 inches (the distance from the elbow to the tip of the fingers). To further illustrate the size of the Ark, imagine 5 people side by side with their arms outstretched and touching at the finger tips -- this is the approximate width of the Ark. It was three stories tall (each floor of the Ark would have been about 14 feet tall from floor to roof), and about one and one-half football fields in length.

This week we will discuss Noah's mission to build an ark! The Flood is probably the best known of all of the biblical accounts in the Old Testament (see Genesis 6-9), and has been depicted, proved, denied, and adapted to fiction countless times in art, in movies and on television (the latest certainly hilarious version being the movie Evan Almighty starring Steve Carell). Interestingly, it is often a story not discussed in its true historical setting. Biblical scholars pay little attention to Noah as a prophet of God, in almost constant daily communication with Jehovah. Worse yet, the story of Noah's Ark is often related without pondering the enormous spiritual void created by the assent to Heaven of the City of Enoch, leaving very few righteous people indeed upon the earth. At that time (approx. 987 years after Adam's birth), Noah's father Lamech was approx. 113 years old and his grandfather Methuselah 300. Lamech foretold of Noah's important calling..."This son shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed" [Moses 8: 9]. When he was 10 years old Noah was ordained to the priesthood by his grandfather Methuselah [see D&C 107: 52]. Many LDS scholars have asked, "Why weren't Methuselah, Lamech and their families taken up with the City of Enoch?" The answer to this question was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

We learn from the JST that Enoch, Noah’s great-grandfather, saw in a vision the wickedness of Noah’s generation and the resulting flood [Moses 7:41–52]. He was sorrowful because of this wickedness, and he asked the Lord to have mercy on Noah and his children. The Lord promised Enoch that He would never again destroy the world by flood [Moses 7:51]. The Lord also promised Enoch that Noah would be his descendant, and thus Enoch’s seed would continue on the earth even after the flood [Moses 7:52; 8:2, 6, 8–9]. The Lord renewed this covenant with Noah after the flood [Genesis 9:8–17; note that the Joseph Smith Translation of verses 9 and 11 refers to the Lord’s covenant with Enoch; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 9:21–25].

This Sunday as we discuss the reading assignment be prepared to share your thoughts and feelings about Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah. Something else not mentioned by most biblical scholars is that Methuselah died in the same year that the flood occurred (the year 1656 after Adam's birth, and by that time Noah's father, Lamech, had only been dead for five years)! Did Methuselah die shortly before the flood, or did he die in the flood? Were there only two righteous men before God while Methuselah lived, and God was waiting for his natural death before proceeding with the flood? What purpose did the Flood serve in terms of cleansing the earth? What symbolism do you observe in the Flood and how does it relate to the role of Baptism as a priesthood ordinance? In what ways was Noah's mission more difficult than other novice ship builders led by the Lord (i.e., Nephi and the Brother of Jared)? In what ways was it similar? How did Noah's earthly mission prepare him for his later role as the announcing angel Gabriel who appeared to Daniel, Zacharias, and to Mary?

For a time-line of the antediluvian period of the Bible see: http://www.achievebalance.com/data/timeline/