The Ark Encounter
Recently on my way from Tennessee to Detroit, I visited the newly opened Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY. This $30 million dollar extravaganza proved an incredible feat and delightful tourist attraction devised by Australian biologist Ken Ham. So well done, it was painstakingly built to biblical dimensions and fashioned with great skill by craftsmen, artists, and artisans, many of them Amish. Requiring a demonstration of highest efficiency and work ethic, the Holy Spirit surely inspired workers… “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23 KJV).
Sometimes we err thinking ancient generations lacked construction or engineering knowledge and yet quickly credit the Egyptians with ability to design/execute the pyramids. Bible students know God often instructed men how to work with materials like metals, stone, clay, fabric, jewels, skins, and wood. Therefore, I was not surprised to observe the highly researched, archaic, yet ingenious methods used in the Ark for trapping/dispensing fresh water; collecting/removing waste products; and storing/distributing food for both animals and people alike.
Specialized areas held a carpenter shop to make repairs on the ark; a kitchen to prepare meals; decorated living quarters to reflect the taste and diverse cultures of the wives of Noah’s sons: Ham had married a black woman; Shem, another Semite; and Japheth, a fair-skinned woman. These progenitors represented mankind as one blood, one race while hinting at great variation suspended in the DNA of people whose traits changed or distilled gradually as they spread over the earth to different environments.
The question of how the Ark held all the world’s animals was explained in the term “kind.” God gathered to the Ark every “kind” of creature that had potential over time to mate, reproduce, and diversify within its DNA range. The petting zoo exemplified that premise with its Zonkey (zebra+donkey) and Zorse (zebra+horse). God chose immature animals and smaller versions of a species that needed less space and food for the journey.
To learn more about visiting this fascinating attraction, go to www.arkencounter.com.
-Beth Fine
Author of popular mysteries for middle schoolers including the new series, The Picaresque of Ímagine Purple, www.imaginepurple.com
