Noah's Ark

“ THE NEW NOAH'S ARK;
Or, a Word to the Children of England on the Importance of Sea-power.
[As a part of our campaign to capture Germany's trade, it has been suggested that Noah's Arks should in future be made in this country.] ”

“ There is nothing to take the place of Noah's ark, as there is no one to take the place of Noah. In other lines trade may follow the flag, but in the Noah's ark industry it follows a belief in Noah and is known to every flag that has ever waved, paying allegiance to no particular banner. Before these fatiguing divines drive even a tack into Noah's coffin, let them provide us with a personage of equal interest and influence. If they are not permitted to move further in their scheme of destruction until they do this, Noah is safe. They can only try to kill; they cannot create. ”

“ Our magnificent Noah's Ark, however, more cosmopolitan than its ancient predecessor, floats upon the great cosmopolitan waters with an easy conscience, and is such a capital place altogether, that though I sometimes think of the Deluge and the Mississippi register of sin, and of De Soto's fate in these regions, and see the impression of his spirit stamped upon the gloomy landscape, upon the grey earth and sky, yet even so musing, I cannot but feel cheerful of mood. I seem to see myself here, like a citizeness of the world, conveyed along by the great citizen of the world ”

“ Noah had taken a great deal of pains to build the ark, and now he was himself preserved alive in it. Note, What we do in obedience to the command of God, and in faith, we ourselves shall certainly have the comfort of, first or last. (4.) Not he only, but his house also, his wife and children, are called with him into the ark. Note, It is good to belong to the family of a godly man; it is safe and comfortable to dwell under such a shadow. One of Noah's sons was Ham, who proved afterward a bad man, yet he was saved in the ark ”

“ The Cruise of the Noah’s Ark
This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day Mr. Noah invites Marjorie to go for a trip in the Noah’s Ark. She gets aboard just in time and away it floats out into the big wide world. ”

“ Among asphodel and forget-me-nots we left the zaptieh and the donkey; Selîm shouldered the lunch-bags, and we climbed the steep slopes for another half-hour. And so we came to Noah’s Ark, which had run aground in a bed of scarlet tulips (Fig. 184) .
There was once a famous Nestorian monastery, the Cloister of the Ark, upon the summit of Mount Jûdî, but it was destroyed by lightning in the year of Christ 766. [177] Upon its ruins, said Kas Mattai, the Moslems had erected a shrine, and this too has fallen ”

“ Many tales are told about it, how it grew so very high,
That the tops were broke and shattered where they rubbed against the sky.
And no man had ever ventured in that forest deep and dark
Till old Noah got to thinking he would build himself an ark. ”

“ Josephus says that remains of the ark were to be seen at his day upon Ararat; and Nicolas of Damascus reports the same. S. Epiphanius writes: "The wood of the ark of Noah is shown to this day in the Kardasan (Koord) country." [1] And he is followed by a host of fathers. El Macin, in his History of the Saracens, relates that the Emperor Heraclius visited the relics after he had conquered the Persians, in the city of Thenia, at the roots of Ararat. Haithon, the Armenian, declares that upon the snows of Ararat a black speck is visible at all times: this is Noah's ark. ”

“ Now Noah was warned that a great flood was to come, which would pour down from the clouds and drown the whole earth. He straightway told his neighbors what was to happen, but they refused to believe, and scoffed at him, and said: “Let it rain. [2] ”
2. BUILDING THE ARK
Then Noah went his way, and set to work to build him a great ship, to be ready for the day of deluge.
And he laid the keel in the pasture fields, among the daisies; while the idlers came to look on and laugh at such folly—a ship for a rainy day! [3]
3. ”

“ In this way are manufactured the varied collection of animals found in a Noah's Ark. Some families will cut out lions, tigers, camels, and elephants; others, sheep, oxen, and deer; others, chiefly birds; while another group will produce the wonderfully dressed little men and women popularly supposed to represent Noah and his seven human companions. The colouring of these productions is quite another branch of the trade; and while the carving goes on at all times with unabated regularity, the painting of the various articles is only added as they are required ”

“ When they reached the Ark the gang-plank was lowered and they all marched aboard.
Everything below decks was in apple-pie [Pg 145] order and the animals all seemed glad to be once more back in the Ark.
"All's well that ends well," said Capt. Noah, turning to Mr. Jonah. "My duty is to land these animals safely after the rain is over. But it looks to me as if it were going to commence again."
"There's a big black cloud in the west," shouted the Weathercock, who had flown up to his perch on the flagpole and was keeping a sharp lookout. ”

“ A still more interesting relic is a fragment of Noah’s ark—a ragged and rotten piece of a plank, about four feet long, eighteen inches wide, and two inches thick, which is alleged to have been taken from the hull of that venerated vessel. There are no written guarantees, and therefore it is impossible to establish identity, but as it is equally impossible to disprove the statement, it is easier to accept the faith of those good people without question. ”

“ When the devil saw that his plan had failed, he ran away and left Noah’s ark in peace and all those who were in it. As soon as the Flood had passed away, Noah brought a thanksgiving sacrifice to God for having been miraculously saved. In the midst of these rejoicings the snake took courage and came up to Noah, asking for the human being of which he had promised to give her one every day to be eaten by her and her seed. When Noah heard it, he got very angry, for he said to himself, “There are so few human beings now in the world, if I give her one every day, the world will soon come to an end.” ”

“ Every righteous sermon, and every blow struck in building the ark, condemned a careless, scoffing world. As the time drew nearer, the people grew more careless, more hardened, more bold and impudent, and their condemnation surer. Noah and his family stood alone. And could one family know more than all the world? The ark was a matter of ridicule, and Noah was regarded as a willful bigot.
But the Lord calls Noah into the ark. And by the hand of Providence the beasts are led into the ark; and the Lord shuts Noah in. This is regarded at first by the scoffing multitude as something wonderful ”

“ The sea was getting rough and the Ark rolled about in a most uncomfortable manner.
The Weathercock clung tightly to his post, however, and flapped his wings now and then.
"Look out!" he cautioned as the Ark neared the berg. "Be careful or you'll stave a hole in the Ark!"
"Hurry up!" shouted the polar bears. "We're nearly starved. We want our breakfast."
"Want your breakfast!" muttered Capt. Noah under his breath. "You'll be wanting something more than breakfast if we don't find a way to get you aboard!"
"Let them swim!" suggested Ham.
"Run up close and let them jump!" advised Shem. ”

“ Then Noah took on board in plenty foods of every kind for men and beasts. While the hungry animals inside complained that he should have done this first instead of last.
And then he took his wife and his sons’ wives into the Ark, though Mrs. Noah was loath and rebelled: “For the domestic arrangements,” she said, “are impossible. [14] ”
14. ”

“ Those animals which could climb were soon scrambling to the roof of the Ark, where they sat on or clung desperately to the ridgepole.
The deck grew hotter and hotter, and it was necessary for every one to dance about in order to keep his feet from blistering.
"Holy sufferin' mackerel!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, now realizing the seriousness of the situation. "Are we to be burned at sea?"
"Get the Elephants to squirt water down the hold," suggested Ham.
"Get busy," said Capt. Noah to the Elephants. "Your trunks are nearly as good as hose. Why don't you help us?" ”

“ God does not bid him go into the ark, but come into it, implying that God would go with him, would lead him into it, accompany him in it, and in due time bring him safe out of it. Note, Wherever we are, it is very desirable to have the presence of God with us, for that is all in all, to the comfort of every condition. This was it that made Noah's ark, which was a prison, to be to him not only a refuge, but a palace. ”

“ Noah, looking up at the Weathercock, "I don't propose to take any chances running up that mountain side. Suppose our motor gave out? We'd be in a nice fix. We'll run up on the shore and heave to."
The Ark, obeying Capt. Noah's guiding [Pg 88] hand, swept up on the beach and came to a standstill some 200 feet from the water.
"We can cut all the timber we need for repairs now," said Japheth, looking over toward a big forest that lay back from the beach. "The animals, too, can have a nice frolic on the sand. It will do them good after being cooped up on board ship for so long." ”

“ Every one must die, because they are all wicked. But you and your family shall be saved, because you alone are trying to do right."
Then God told Noah how he might save his life and the lives of his sons. He was to build a very large boat, as large as the largest ships that are made in our time; very long, and very wide and very deep; with a roof over it; and made like a long, wide house in three stories; but so built that it would float on the water. Such a ship as this was called "an ark." God told Noah to build this ark, and to have it ready for the time when he would need it. ”

“ It was not his righteousness; it was not his faith nor his works that saved him; it was the ark. And, my friends, we have not, like Noah, to be one hundred and twenty years making an ark for our safety. God has provided an ark for us, and the question is: Are you inside or outside this ark? If you are inside you are safe; if you are outside you are not safe.
GOLD.
-- It is our privilege to know that we are saved. ”

“ Louise volunteered. “The message was such a queer one—an invitation to take refuge in the ark during the Great Deluge. Someone’s idea of a joke, I suppose.”
“It’s no joke,” Sara corrected. “Noah is a very real person. He actually lives in an ark too—a weird looking boat he built himself.”
“You mean the old fellow actually believes there’s going to be another great flood?” Penny asked incredulously.
“Oh, yes! Noah is so sure of it that he’s collected a regular menagerie of animals to live with him on the ark. ”

“ Noah was 120 years building the ark, we are informed in the Scriptures, and during that time he preached the Gospel. How many who were willing to believe his testimony? Only eight souls in all, including himself. He was very unpopular, I presume, and had as much derision heaped upon his head, for building an ark on dry ground, as any man that ever lived on the earth. But Noah was a prophet and a messenger of God, called to warn that generation and to build an ark, and if he had not done it he would have been held responsible for the lives of himself and family and all that generation. ”

“ Jonah and the boys came in, rubbing their hands and stamping their feet to keep warm.
"Merry Christmas!" laughed Ham, "the skating's fine out on the ice floe!"
"How jolly!" cried Marjorie. "Let's go skating after breakfast!"
"No, sir-e-e," said Capt. Noah. "The boys must help me float the Ark. One of the rubber-tired wheels is crushed and it will take a lot of hard work to get her off." ”

“ And one day, there was a grinding noise as if the Ark had touched the ground, and Noah looked, and, behold, the Ark had landed on the top of a mountain, which was like a little island in the deep sea. By and by, Noah sent out a dove, and the dove flew here and there and found no rest for the sole of her foot, and so came back. And again, after a week, Noah sent the dove a second time, and now she brought back a leaf plucked from an olive tree. Thus Noah knew that the water had gone down below the treetops. ”

“ With the river Noe in Derbyshire may be connoted Noe, the British form of Noah: The Newburns in Scotland and Northumberland can hardly have been so named because they were novel or new rivers, and in view of the fact that British mythology combined Noah’s ark (Welsh arch) with a mare, it may be questioned whether the place-name Newark (originally Newarcha) , really meant as at present supposed New Work. [494] It may be that the Trojan horse story was purely mythological, and had originally relation to the supposition that mankind all emerged from the body of the Solar Horse. ”

“ Among all the winged creatures of the air within the ark, canst thou name one with instinct more subtle than the raven's? Black and uncanny looking, forsooth! Witness his speech, I tell thee," decisively, "the bird hath understanding."
As Noah ceased speaking, there came a low, faint tapping at the window. With a glad countenance he hastened to open it, and in flew the raven, quite exhausted.
"Water, water, everywhere," croaked the bird, and after wearily eating the food Noah gave him, tucked his head beneath his wing and was soon fast asleep. ”

“ Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ”