The story of what happened inside Noah’s ark during the Biblical Flood
Soon after being hired men wondered what they are building. Curious crowds assembled in the lower hills in Eden.
“There will be a flood that will cover the earth. God has given me instructions how to build this boat,” Noah announced to about thirty men.
“And why do you think your God would want to cover the earth with water?” one man asked.
“God will not let rampant sin and evil to take over this world. You have time to change your ways and have faith in Him. He desires all to be saved.”
They thought Noah was a nut, but the salary was great. Each day men feasted on fish, bird, butchered oxen and lamb, bread-cakes and wheat all washed down with beer, wine and ale. The workmen enjoyed a meal only seen on feast-days.
Cutting wood from a gopher tree, large beams framed the ribs of the boat. Noah used bitumen, resembling the feel of petroleum and color of asphalt, to seal the ark’s joints making it waterproof. As Noah built the ark he preached to the nearby unbelievers daily that a worldwide Flood was coming soon. Soon became decades.
The sky darkened during the day. Earth’s occupants became disturbed. Earthquakes and thunder shook the ground. Limbs on nearby trees rustled and branches cracked some falling to the ground. Strange light flashed in the sky. Rain poured down. Surface water covered the ground and began to rise. Some ran for higher ground after seeing this would not stop. Others shouted at Noah standing on a high platform preaching to the crowds. Noah paused and wondered if the rain would stop. If so, would they blame him for God’s predictions about this day happening for the last 120 years?
The water deepened to knee level, then rose more. Frightened people screamed in terror. Some below the towering ark looked around for trees, buildings or rocks to climb for safety. Others begged Noah to let them in. “I’ll believe in your God now.”
God instructed Noah to keep huge wild beasts outside the ark, as he could not take many.
Noah shouted out, “It is too late for you to be saved. Didn’t you hear God’s teachings for the last one hundred and twenty years? Why do you beg now when there is no hope?”
Screams and shouts filled the air in a crowd of thousands. Dozens of giant Nephilim in front rushed the ark. Beasts growled. Giants swung barbed clubs in the air. A beast leaped toward one nearing the ark. Those half-human and half-angel beings stood tall and strong as humans behind them perished in the strong currents in rising water. The beast’s instinct and guidance from God attacked. Those not ripped apart died from fatal blows by clawed hands the height of a wall or something worst. Hot rain poured down. Nephilim fell into the swirling water helpless to stand up. Trashing about in agony, bubbling pieces of red tissue covered scalding burns. Like a three-day old drowned corpse blobbing near the top of water, large bodies of giants floated about, then disappeared under the water.
Noah entered the ark and began to climb down a ladder. The ark jerked. Noah lost balance, slipped, falling to the floor. Stunned he laid there. No one came. Did he shut the door? Rising up, he climber back up the ladder. Before closing the hatch, he glanced out over the water. A few visible, lifeless bodies floated out to sea among the sound of crashing waves and strong winds. A boom sounded. The ark shook. A wall of ocean spray fell. drenching Noah. Drenched by a waterfall of ocean water, he shut the hatch and descended down the ladder. Several steps before the bottom rung on the stair Noah fell again as the ark rocked. Grimacing he touched then massaged the pain in his hip.
A sound like frightened animals in a jungle echoed in the dim lit area. Walking between a long row of stalls he made sure each animal is safe, evidence of unbroken pens heading to the opposite side of the ark where his family stayed. A head stuck out over a pen. Lighted by slits near the roof he caressed and comforted a camel’s face. Many animals he passed seemed semi-dormant and tranquil. The ark rocked. Caged birds peeped and chirped. A smile came to his face. There is enough fresh air blowing through the ark.
Not long after midnight the ark shook. Creaks and moans echoed. It shook again. The other seven gripped wooden posts as the boat swayed left and right. This is an experience in a boat few knew. Most awoke.
“The Lord’s work has begun,” Noah said.
Ocean spray entered the one slit near the ceiling wetting beds close to it.
Booms and bangs filled the next few hours. The sound of fallen tree trunks banged into the ark. Strange flashes of light streaked across the room followed by a loud boom. Nahalath screamed. Shem, her husband, comforted her.
Late the second day Japheth slipped on wet floor as he watered an elk. Grimacing, he crawled over and grabbed a torn, moist cloth nearby used to dry animals. Regaining his balance, he placed it over the back of his head and sat down. After a while Noah’s wife, Haykel saw him lying on the floor.
“Shem, are you alright? Can I help you?” she said.
“How does it look?” as he removed the cloth.
With her mouth wide open with a look of surprise he said, “It must be bad?”
“No, there is a swollen whelp, but it’s the cloth.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s full of worms and maggots,” she said. “Let me find something clean.”
On returning to their living space Zedkat, Ham’s wife and Arathka, Japheth’s wife took small bites of hardened bread. The boat tilted and turned.
“We will be taken to the bottom of the sea,” Arathka screamed. She went to her bed and broke into tears.
Noah entered the room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. As he approached Arathka she looked up and explained.
“Our God will protect us, He always has.”
As the ark gently rocked side to side bouncing up and down, much needed to be done. Frightened animals gave off more manure than normal so their pens needed cleaning more often and manure dried. With gentle hands and voices they could be calmed. With thousands of species on board they needed weeks to observe and record behaviors, resting habits and breeding. Fortunately, God placed a spirit of rest for each kind once the ark began to float a distance from the shore.
On the fortieth day they noticed the pounding of rain ceased. Brighter light entered slots. With a tall ladder Ham climbed to the ceiling. He opened special windows designed to lighten the ark. Now recordings behind schedule could be done.
Shaken during sleep most woke up. Utensils and food fell to the floor. Slightly tilted to its side each grabbed onto a post to keep from falling. The ark became still but squeaked. All were up at sunrise.
“Where’s Noah?” Haykel asked.
On the seventeenth day of the seventy month Shem found Noah searching a turtle’s shell for parasites. “The boat’s not moving. It hasn’t for a while.”
Curious to know where they are, Noah climbed up the ladder and opened the window. They were surrounded by ocean.
“Maybe the land is hidden over the horizon,” Japheth said.
Clouds reflected off a peaceful, glass-like sea. A still dirty sky hovered above, covered with altostratus clouds of grays and brown. Each with hope, a little time was spent each day looking for land. The next day the ark began to move but in a different direction as cloudy, swirling waters appeared.
Down below Noah and his family gathered daily to praise God in song and word. Japheth and Shem played harps, made from strings of twisted silk as the ladies blew flutes made from bird bones. Noah played tambourine created with hollowed out elk antlers. Ham beat on two different shaped drums made from animal skins and a hollowed-out tree.
As each day’s assignments became complete, each climbed up to search for land. Day after day only water stood.
On the first day of the tenth month several jagged pyramids stood in the distance. Wide grins filled their faces. Small pieces of land emerged each day.
“How long will our food last?” Zedkat asked Noah.
“Three or four months, maybe longer.”
“We will need to butcher animals for meat before that,” Ham said. “I know you will say God always provides, but no man or woman has gone through this before.”
Overtaken by restlessness and fear of death by a few, the sound of harmony in song diminished after that.
On the three-hundredth and fortieth day Nahalath carried a light cage with a dove and Arathka carried one with a raven to a plank below the window as God had instructed Noah to do. The dove had an estimated flying range of six-hundred miles and the raven five-hundred miles. The birds flew away in the morning, disappearing over the horizon. Fins of fish seldom peeked above the sea as they waited. Before the sun reached midday, the raven appeared landing on the boat’s rim. The other bird returned before sunset.
A few weeks later those with doubt shouted in ecstasy. Several hours after release the dove returned with an olive leaf between its beak and gray mud on its feet. A little more hope returned with it. On a clear morning after days of thunderstorms and morning rain, Noah released the birds again. Not one returned.
“Maybe they were killed?” Arathka said.
“God has a purpose in all he does. I do not believe we will finish the remainder of our life on board,” Noah replied.
Joy increased several days later. A half a mile off bow a long flat island of rock stood. No one knew how to steer the ark to get to it or if it could be done. Fortunately, larger land masses came into view each day as the ark stood still.
As Japheth and Shem grew closer in song, Ham and Zedkat spent longer periods of time each day away from others as the journey progressed. Against Noah’s warnings before he got married, Ham’s infatuation with her beauty was too strong to overlook her deep interest in the ancient wisdom of the Nephilim. Disturbed, Noah prayed and sought God’s word how to deal with this once they landed. Their true dedication to God would be known.
A sense of happiness, like people near Christmas occurred one day. Outside th window long stretches of mud flowing down the mountain below the ark stood.
“God will let us know when it’s time to leave, but it should be soon,” Noah said. During this eager anticipation for returning to land, each woman had episodes of seasickness although the ark was still. Soon after landing each became aware they were pregnant.
Ham estimated about one-hundred feet of new land appeared each day. More of the surrounding mountains had appeared as usual, but sea still filled much of the view around them. From hours of observations written on tablets, final planning on which animals should be released into the wild and which to keep were shared. Each had a different opinion as well as what to do once landing. But that time came soon.
“What is that colored light in the shape of a banana in the sky?” Nahalath asked the others.
“It is the color of light that comes from Zedkat’s crystal,” Ham said.
“She still wears that gift from Olith (a Nephilim). I am surprised she would,” Nahalath said.
“Let’s call it a rainbow,” Zedkat replied. “Noah, how do you think it is made?” she continued deflecting the conversation to him.