Genesis 7:6-17 - Where was the ark? (Part 3) - Only Noah’s Family Knew
In Genesis 7:6-17 - Where was the ark? (Part 2) - Noah Watched the Springs Burst Forth, we closed with the conclusion that Noah built the ark at a higher elevation than the springs that burst forth at the beginning of the flood. Where then did Noah build the ark?
I was raised with the tradition that people ridiculed Noah for building the ark. It is so inset within my mind, that I resist writing against that notion even now. My wife grew up believing the same thing. However, I have searched the scripture for references to Noah being ridiculed, and I cannot find it.
There are 56 verses in the Bible containing the name Noah. 38 of them are in Genesis alone, leaving 18 references to Noah throughout the remainder of the scriptures. I just reread the account of the flood in Genesis, and there is nothing of Noah being ridiculed at all. There isn’t even an indication that anybody besides Noah’s family was aware that he was building or had built an ark. What about the other 18 verses in scripture?
Well, these 12 are easily dismissed. Some are talking about Zelophehod’s daughter, others about Noah’s genealogy, and other about Noah’s faith. Nothing in the surrounding passages even mention the people who died, let alone them riduling Noah…
Numbers 26:33 — (Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)
Numbers 27:1 — The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.
Numbers 36:11 — Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah—married their cousins on their father’s side.
Joshua 17:3 — Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons but only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.
1 Chronicles 1:1-4 (3 verses)–  [Historical Records From Adam to Abraham To Noah’s Sons] 1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.  4 The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Isaiah 54:9 — “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.
Ezekial 14:14 — even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Ezekial 14:20 — as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.
Luke 3:36 - the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
Hebrews 11:7 - By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Peter spoke of those who died in the flood 1 Peter 3:20. Here is the entire passage…
18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
No knowledge of the ark recorded here.
Or how about 2 Peter 2:5?
 4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.Â
Not there either.Â
The closest we get is in Matthew 24 and Luke 17. They both record essentially the same event. Here they are…
Matthew 24: 36“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Luke 17:Â 26“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
From Jesus’ own mouth. They didn’t know. They knew nothing about what would happen. That means they didn’t know about the ark. Wherever Noah built the ark, it was a place where nobody but Noah and his family knew.
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