Friday, August 5, 2016

Genesis 8:4, 5 comments: the mountains of Ararat (revised)


4 ¶  And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 5  And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

The mountains of Ararat is an enormous mountain system or massif rising 17,000 feet from a base of plains that are already 2-3,000 feet high. It is crowned by Mount Ararat consisting of two volcanic cones, long dormant, called Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. The ice cap that covers Mount Ararat is 17 square miles and 350 feet deep while the massif itself, the mountains of Ararat, is 25 miles in diameter. It would have been, if I am understanding the information correctly, in ancient Armenia.

Jeremiah 51:27  Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

Mount Ararat is located in extreme Eastern Turkey. Some have claimed to have seen the remains of the ark on that mountain but travel has been difficult there partly due to the geopolitical situation in that area with Armenia, formerly of the USSR, and Iran so near. Still, a number of expeditions have failed to produce conclusive remains of Noah’s Ark, although supposed eyewitness accounts are very interesting.(32)

Still, whether or not Noah’s Ark has been seen should not impress a Bible-believer who has faith in the written word of God and needs no relic to confirm or bolster that faith in an argument. Relics like the Shroud of Turin and the possible remains of Noah’s Ark tickle the fancy of people who do not believe the Bible explicitly and are always searching for the place where the Hebrews landed after crossing the Red Sea or claiming to have found, during the Crusades, a piece of the spear that pierced Christ’s side and on and on. Stick with the Bible as all of the archaeologists’ spades and shovels in the world will never dig up most of history which is lost in the dust as long as this earth lasts. Do not hinge your faith on the finding of an object that you think verifies your belief. If you need relics to confirm your faith you have a weak faith indeed.

John 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Still, it is a fascinating thought to imagine where mankind issued from after the Flood.

(32) Mount Ararat – Noah’s Ark Search, http://www.noahsarksearch.com/ararat.htm. (accessed 8.4.2016).

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