Sunday, August 15, 2010

A TALE OF TWO SHIPS

By Oguta Jude Watchman

Do you know that amateurs built Noah’s Ark while professionals built the Titanic? Surprisingly, the Ark rested safely on a mountain (+17,000 feet high)after 370 days of storm with no casualty, whereas the Titanic of 20th Century technology sank (-12,460 feet) down the ocean floor 5 days into its maiden voyage killing 1,516 people onboard. The big question is what made an ignorant Noah, with crude tools succeed where proven experts failed?



To answer that question, let us visit Noah and Sons Engineering Workshop and locate wise nuggets on building a lasting structure. You will find how you can build Your live, career, business, marriage, ministry, etc to survive the storms of life. You will also discover why you should never build your marriage on Hollywood values, nor build your wealth on the unpredictable financial market.

Let us start with giving the two ships their historical precedence

THE TITANIC
The Titanic was a brand and luxurious British passenger ocean liner built between 1908-1909 by over 15,000 Irish shipyard workers. It was designed by Thomas Andrews, a notable engineer of world repute. Captain Edward John smith was its first captain, a man with an impressive 38 years experience as a captain. Towering in dimension and elegance, the Titanic became the largest and most Luxurious ship of her time and of course before her time.

The Titanic was not only a dream, but also a British technological marvel: British ship designers and builders had designated her “unsinkable”. In fact the chief supervising engineer had so much confidence in the durability of the ship that he boasted, “Even God cannot sink this ship”. It was said that the main purpose of the Titanic was to fly the British flag and show the power of Great Britain. The British, like the builders of the tower of Babel wanted to “make a name” for themselves (Gen 11:4).
In the words of Rick Joyner;
“When built, the Titanic was a symbol of the opulence and sense of invincibility the British Empire felt in those days. She reflected that period’s extravagance, and arrogance, as well as the belief that nothing could sink its expanding world economy and dominion”.1

On April 10, 1912 RMS Titanic set sail for New York, on her maiden voyage, from Southampton. She had on board 1,500 of the richest and most powerful industrialist of her day. The voyage its self was a dream: partying all the way. Traveling at a high speed of about 20.5 knots, the Crew of the Titanic ignored six warnings from other ships within the vicinity, informing them of the presence of Icebergs on the Titanic’s path. At 11:40p.m., on April 14, 1912, the ship struck an iceberg 400 miles off Newfoundland, Canada.2
“When the Titanic hit the Iceberg there was a disconcerting jolt. Just about every one noticed it, but after a few minutes the party continued. From the Captain to the last third class passenger, no one imagined that in just a couple of hours most of them would be on the bottom. The ship was so big and warm, and all of the ‘experts’ said it was unsinkable”.3
Water soon filled the bow of the ship, the weight of which raised her up and snapped her into two. In less than three hours after that iceberg glazed her side, RMS Titanic had been swallowed up by the North Atlantic Ocean. Only 705 survived out of the 2,227 people who had been on board the ship. It was the end of a dream.

Lessons learned from the titanic disaster:
Following the Titanic disaster, the first ever International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was held. These are some of the recommendations that came out of that meeting:

Creation of the International Ice Patrol to monitor icebergs;
• Separate frequency for distress signals and messages;
• Universal adoption of the distress call S.O.S.;

• 24-hour radio watch on all ships carrying 50 or more passengers;
• Shipping lanes shifted farther south;
• Steamships now carry search lights;
• Passenger ships must carry enough lifeboats to hold everyone on board;
• Lifeboat drills must now be conducted by both passengers and crew.



NOAH’S ARK
Noah's Ark
Noah’s ark is the boat built by the Biblical character Noah. At the command of God, Noah built a boat that could accommodate his family, about 50,000 species of animals and about 1 million species of insects. The craft had to be constructed to endure a divinely planned universal flood aimed at destroying every other person and animal on earth4. The Ark was about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet deep. For its time in history, the Ark was truly an amazing feat of divine engineering and human accomplishment.

Noah, a 600 years old man with no previous practical experience in piloting a ship was to be the ‘captain and builder’. By approximately 2456 BC, the Flood came upon the earth and the ship left Shurrupak (Modern Iraq) where it was built. The bible records that after a protracted 370 days of storm, the ship rested on Mount Ararat (Modern Turkey). All the passengers onboard arrived safely.

In 1853, the remains of the Ark was discovered on this 17,000 feet high mountain. The remains of the Titanic was also discovered deep down the Atlantic ocean floor(-12,460 feet) in 1985.

Lessons to be learned from the Ark's success
Noah’s Ark did not just make history; it has continued to inspire writers over the century more than any other incidence in the Bible. Here are some inspirational quotes from this event.
On procrastination,
“Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark”;
On physical fitness,
“Stay fit. When you are 600 years somebody may ask you to do something real big”;
On critics,
Don’t listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done”;
On teamwork,
“for safety sake, it is better to travel in pairs”;
On patience,
“speed is not always an advantage. The snail was on board with the cheetah”;
On stress
“when you are stressed, float a while”;
On Hope,
“No matter the storm when you are with God, there is always a rainbow waiting.”


Build Self-confidence
One major lesson to be learnt from the tale of these two ships is that amateurs can succeed where experts failed. In geology for instance, the theory of continental drifting was debunked by all the known professors in geology because it was propounded by a novice Alfred Wegener who had training as a meteorologist. He died trying to prove his theory, but today Tectonism- a refinement of the continental drifting theory is the most important theory in geology. Also consider the case of UNIVAC who made the first computers, but today they are extinct. Their demise was orchestrated by relying on expert advice from scientists while IBM took the market by storm by merely listening to non-scientists who deciphered the market potentials of the product. This is not to discredit the contribution of professionals but to encourage more creative individuals to build their self-confidence,  think off-the-box and refuse to be intimidated by the giants. Consider some quotes by experts
“ Television won’t be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring into a box every night.”  
(Darryl F. Zanuck, Head of 20th Century Fox, 1946)
“ That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?” 
(US President Rutherford B. Hayes, after participating in a trial telephone conversation between Washington and Philadelphia in 1876)  
We can see that time has proven these people wrong, notwithstanding their public personality 
I like the way Elihu in the book of Job puts it
                “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment”5
The wise King Solomon is of no different opinion, he also said,
“…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill…”6

Implicit Faith in God
This is one of the major difference between the Ark and the Titanic. Noah was a man who believed God; he had faith in God. He was a man that walked by faith rather than sight. The Bible explains that
By faith (not science), Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet (not a scientific prediction), moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house….”7
Faith brings things ‘not seen yet’ into the visible realm while science is based on empiricism-what we can see and observe. Though science has been very beneficial to man but when it runs contrary to issues of faith, a wise person should follow the later. In Noah’s time for instance, there had never been rain on earth, but he dared to believe God to the point of building a massive structure like the Ark on a dry land. That does not make scientific sense, does it?

That is why I’m put off when believers try to prove every aspect of the Bible scientifically. An example is the Creation or evolution debate. I don’t need to prove creation scientifically to believe in it. The Bible says it is by faith we believe in creation8and like Noah I choose to believe God’s word. When professors saw Noah building an Ark on a dry land they dismissed him as religious psychopath. It looked foolish just like the preaching of the Gospel appear foolish to many today9.

Return the Glory to God
Today, we call it Noah’s Ark but the truth is that Noah’s success can be attributed to his connection with God. God told Noah to 'come in' not 'go in' to the Ark10. This indicated that God would be with Noah during the flood. In contrast, British engineers boasted that even God cannot sink this ship-challenging God to His face. Was it not this same Britain that ruled the world and brought us the Gospel? yet in the height of their success they forsook God and even challenged Him to a contest. The Bible says of such people
“Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened”11
Britain failed to realize that it was because of their missionary exploit that God made them great and brought them to their promised land. They felt their efforts and scientific know-how was behind their success. God once warned the children of Israel against such ego maniac thinking, He had promised to bring them to wealth and prominence but warned them not to forget their source because it is human nature
“And (lest) thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.”12

Build According to Pattern
Jesus gave us a pattern for building anything in life starting from hearing his word concerning the particular building and doing it. He said that building according to the pattern of His word is building on a strong foundation while building without His word is building without foundation and such buildings endure only before the storms come13
That is exactly Noah’s secret
And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me…make thee an ark…and this is the fashion(pattern) which thou shall make it of…thus did Noah; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he  14    
Friend! Once more I ask you: what are you building- Family? Career? Business? Is it built to pattern showed you in the Bible? Never build a business or career on cheating, lying; or build a marriage on deceit and lust for all such structure will flourish but sooner or later they will hit the wall and crumble like the Titanic masterpiece. I trust your building will not collapse.

Finally
Do you know that the coming of the Lord is exemplified by the flood of Noah’s time?
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the Ark. And knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” 15
The rapture will take many by surprise. When many are more occupied about marriage, business and other seemingly legitimate affairs of this life, they will neglect the pursuit of God.
Run to Jesus today, for just as the Ark saved all that were in it so the blood of Jesus saves all that run to it. Jesus Name is unsinkable.

NB : This article was debated by the writer and atheist who don't believe the Noah's story. The debate is on a social networking site: Nairaland. To read, follow the link: Real Reasons the Titanic Sank and Noah's Ark Sailed

REFERENCES


  1. 1.      Joyner, Rick. Leadership Management And The Five essentials For Success. (Lagos: African Pastor’s Literature Trust, 1990). Pp. 21
    2.       Culled from http://www.octapus.gma.org/
    3.       Joyner, Rick. Leadership Management And The Five essentials For Success. (Lagos: African Pastor’s Literature Trust, 1990). Pp.22
    4.       Genesis 6:13-20
    5.       Job 32:7-9
    6.       Ecclesiastes 9:11
    7.       Hebrews 11:7
    8.       Hebrews 11:3
    9.       Romans
    10.   Genesis 7:1
    11.   Romans 1:21
    12.   Deut 8:17-20
    13.   Luke 6:47-49
    14.   Gen 6:13-15,22
    15.   Matthew 24:37-39
    All scripture from the King James Version


4 comments:

  1. This is lovely.learnt a lot from it,thanks man

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  2. This would make sense. If it weren't for the fact that there would be no way that Noah would be able to fit every single species (Even two of each)Into the arc. Not would the wood be able to support all of the weight. It would either sink or snap.

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  3. thank you. i was searching for information regarding this.

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  4. That a global cataclysmic flood occurred cannot be denied by considering all the evidence. All nations and all tribes have a story about the flood which has been likely corrupted if the story was passed down orally. I feel so sorry for those who have no knowledge that people in the past (around 1600 AM or 2500 BC) had technology much better than us and we are just beginning to catch up. We still cannot cut large blocks of stone like those ancients in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Who built the Great Pyramid?? Who built the structures on Easter Island?? One block in Lebanon is so massive NO CRANE ON THIS PLANET CAN CARRY IT!!

    Noah built the ark mainly of gopher (cypress) wood but he had metal rivets and washers in the ark. The rivet contained titanium, aluminum, manganese, vanadium and chromium. He need not take the fish with him according to Genesis. He only took a pair [female and male] of every unclean kind and seven of every clean kind. If anyone tells me the dog, wolf and coyote are of the same kind, I would believe the person. The horse, zebra and donkey are the same kind of animal. If the animals could originally bring forth, then they are of the same kind. He did not need to carry massive animals. THE SMALLER ANIMALS CAME TO HIM!! READ: http://www.wyattmuseum.com/noahs-ark-07.htm and WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ORpMTebI .

    How did clams in the closed position get to the top of Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro or the rest? Might I add that clams CANNOT walk? FOSSILIZATION (the hardening of organic tissue) requires a RAPID BURIAL BY WATER to occur. Clams also open when they die so this evinces the clams were not expecting to die.

    ALL ANIMALS ARE SMALL BEFORE THEY GET LARGE. Noah could easily have taken 1000's of tiny land animals which would later grow large and adapt to their environment after the flood. In humans, we have seen a White South African give birth to a Black and a Black Nigerian give birth to a White. A similar phenomenon occurs in animals at times. I would rather believe in the most high GOD through his son (Yeshua the MESSIAH) my whole life and when I die find out he is fake than scoff at him my entire life to find out he is real at RESURRECTION.

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