Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat

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Genesis 7:17 - "And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth."

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The Story of Noah's Ark for Little Kids

This map shows where Noah's ark ended up after the Great Flood was over, on the Mountains of Ararat! Do you know the story of Noah's ark? When Noah was alive, people were being very evil and disobeying God. But God knew that Noah was not like the rest of the world, so He spoke to Noah and told him to build a huge boat, called an ark. Before the flood people lived a lot longer than we do today. Noah was 480 years old when God told him to build the ark, and it took him 120 years to build it. The ark was so big that two of every kind of animal would fit on it; no wonder it took so long!

The bad people of the world laughed at Noah for years while he made his big boat because they had never seen rain before, and they thought Noah was making up the story that God had told him. When the rain finally came, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and all of the bad people were washed away.

After floating on the water for three months, the ark finally landed on the mountains of Ararat. God made a promise to Noah and his family that He would never destroy the world with water ever again. Rainbows are the symbol of this promise, so next time it's raining and you get scared, remember God's promise to you and be happy knowing that He is in control.

Noah's Ark for Big Kids

The Flood of Noah in Bible History. The Bible reveals that mankind had become corrupt upon the earth and God sent a great flood to destroy the world. A man named Noah found favor in God's eyes, and the Lord spared Noah and his family and had him build an ark. Noah would call all living things into the ark, two of every kind, and seven of every clean animal. After seven days the Lord shut the door behind Noah and the flood began.

The World at the Time of Noah. The entire world had become darkened by their sins. Every thought and intent of man's heart was continual evil, until the flood came and swap them all away. The Bible reveals that the heart of man is desperately wicked, but no one knows just how wicked the period was called the "antediluvian" era.

Noah. Noah was a descendant of the godly line of Seth, and he worshipped the true God. God called Noah at the age of 480 years old to build an ark and he was obedient. It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. It is interesting that 22 years after God called Noah to build the ark he gave birth to Shem. One year later Japheth was born, and a year after that Ham was born. This means that Noah's three sons spent the beginning of their lives around the ark. The Bible does not record that Noah had any other children, even though he lived to be 950 years old.

Noah's Ark. The ark was three stories high, 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. There was only one entrance into the ark. The ark was made of gopher wood, and Noah was required to use pitch or tar to waterproof it inside and out. The actual word "ark" is rarely used in the Bible, the other time was when the baby Moses was set in an ark on the Nile River. The ark was three stories high with a roof, there were windows and a great door which God closed flood began. there were eight people on board, Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives. They had no way to navigate the boat because the Ark had no sail, no oars, and no engine. The Ark was like a floating box and whichever way it went, or where it ended up resting was up to God.

Miracles. Noah called every animal into the ark 2 x 2, male and female of every kind. The Bible does not explain exactly how Noah did it, but God is a God of miracles. The definition of a miracle is "an event that cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws" or "something that only God can do." Actually no one can know for certain if calling all the animals into the Ark was truly a miracle. Before the flood the relationship between man and animals was different. We know this because after the flood God put the fear of man on every beast, indicating that something within animals had changed and man's relationship with the animals became entirely different after the flood. How the animals repopulated the entire world is also difficult to understand, but if we believe in God, then we believe in miracles. Something else important to keep in mind is that Jesus spoke of Noah and the flood, and confirmed the events in the Old Testament as Scripture.

The Great Flood. In the beginning God created the earth with a firmament around it, and it was called the "upper waters." The firmament was some sort of a water canopy above the earth keeping the entire world in sort of a tropical environment. When the flood came this firmament burst forth and rained for 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:11-12). Also the fountains of the deep burst forth and the whole world was flooded, no living thing survived. God closed the door behind Noah, and protected him and his family and the animals throughout the period of the flood. The flood finally ended and after three months from when the flood began the ark finally rested on the mountains of Ararat.

The Dove and Raven. Noah sent birds to scout whether the land still had water covering it, a raven returned back to the Ark and so did a dove. Later Noah released the birds again and a dove returned with an olive branch. Noah released the birds again a third time and this time they did not return at all. Noah looked out and saw that the surface of the ground was dry (Genesis 8:13). The gentle white dove was a symbol of peace in the Bible, and Noah's name means "rest."

The Mountains of Ararat. Mount Ararat is the highest peak in the Ararat mountains of eastern Turkey. It stands nearly 17,000 feet above sea level, yet the Bible says that the Ark came to rest on the "mountains of Ararat", and this suggests that the Ark could have rested anywhere in that whole region. Mount Ararat is around 200 miles north of ancient Nineveh.

The Altar. After the flood Noah built an altar and sought the Lord.

The Rainbow. After Noah prayed the Lord spoke and promised that He would never again destroy the world by water. He set the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of his promise.

Man and Animals. Before the flood there was kind of a vapor canopy that enveloped the whole earth which preserved it in probably a tropical atmosphere so that people were recorded as living up to ages of 900 - 950 years, but when the upper waters were released upon the earth, lifespans were decreased and the physical characteristics of the world changed dramatically. After the flood, God put the fear of man on the animals, and gave man permission to eat animals for food. God commanded the death penalty for murder and ordered that men establish a form of justice.

Noah's Three Son's. Noah's three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives repopulated the earth and became the three great races of mankind. Ham was Noah's second born son and shortly after the flood he sinned against God by disrespecting his father, Noah (Genesis 9). Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan, the reason is not clear. Then God spoke through Noah again and prophesied about his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and also that the Messiah would come through Shem's family, and Japheth's family would share in that salvation.

Shem. (Asia) Shem would be the father of the near east nations.
Ham. (Africa) Ham would be the father of the African nations.
Japheth. (Europe) Japheth would be the father of the European nations.
See this Map of the Table of Nations for a map and list of their descendants.

The study of Noah and the Flood is very important in the study of the Bible, let's pray:

Dear Jesus, we thank you and praise you for your word. He revealed throughout all of Scripture your everlasting love for mankind. Your word declares that the heart of man is desperately wicked and full of evil. Yet you have overlooked every sin because of the blood of Jesus. We thank you that the Ark was a symbol of salvation, and yet the true salvation is in Jesus Christ. We thank you and praise you for your awesome plan. In Jesus name? Amen!

Noah's Ark for Kids

Map of Noah's Ark and Mount Ararat for Bible Study

Kid's Bible Maps
Bible History Online

The Geography of the Bible