A NOONDAY TO THE ARK

A window shall you make to the ark, and in a cubit shall you finish it above; and the door of the ark shall you set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Genesis 6:16)

In Genesis chapter 6, God instructs Noah how he is to build an ark in preparation for the coming flood that would blot out all flesh on the earth with the spirit of life that did not find safety with him in the ark. And within that context, we see where God instructs Noah to make a "window" to the ark.

You might remember that Noah opened the window to the ark after the rains ceased and sent forth the raven and the dove to see if the waters had abated. We read in Genesis 8:6-9:

And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters [were] on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. (Genesis 8:6-9)

Was this the same and only window? Possibly so. However, God does not use the same word in the original Hebrew language in both passages. When we see the word "window" in both verses, we could easily assume it would be the same Hebrew word in the original text:

A window shall you make to the ark...

Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made...

But that is not the case. The Hebrew word translated "window" in Genesis 6:16 is normally translated as "noon / noonday / noontide / midday" elsewhere in the Bible. The word translated "window" in Genesis 8:6 is indeed the normal Hebrew word translated "window" elsewhere.

While the King James translators (and translators of other versions) had to use scholarship and discernment to translate the Bible in such a way that we could understand the text, this example illustrates why it's helpful to ascertain the original meaning of words whenever possible. Of course, Genesis 6:16 also speaks of the door that Noah was to add to the ark, and since the presence of the word "noon/noonday" in the passage points to the appearance of light, translating the Hebrew word to "window" seems to makes some sense. We know that Noah was to make this window to the ark in order to provide sunlight once the rains stopped.

The problem, however, is that the Hebrew word is not the typical word for "window" at all. It is the word for "noon" or "noonday." If you look at a few other translations of the Bible, a small number of them translate this word instead as the word "light":

A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (ASV)

You are to make an opening for daylight in the ark eighteen inches below its roof. Put a door in its side; and build it with lower, second and third decks. (CJB)

A light shalt thou make to the ark; and to a cubit high shalt thou finish it above. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side: [with] a lower, second, and third [story] shalt thou make it. (DBY)

But quite a few other translations, including those advocating for literal, word-for-word, accurate renderings, translate this word as "roof":

Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. (ESV)

You must make a roof for the ark, and {finish it to a cubit above}. And [as for] the door of the ark, you must put [it] in its side. You must make it [with] a lower, second, and a third [deck]. (LEB)

Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. (NIV)

Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. (NRS)

This example raises a couple of serious questions about prevailing Bible interpretation and translation. Now, this is just a single example of the use of one word, and no translation has every word translated from the original languages perfectly. But it nevertheless serves as a good illustration of how human scholarship can seriously affect the understanding and interpretation of the Bible.

The first issue is the fact that Bible interpretation has long fallen in favor of a perspicuous, historico-grammatical method of interpretation, which seeks to grasp the context and understanding of the original human scribe in direct contradiction to the Bible itself. So, in the case of this Hebrew word translated "window," scholars and translators might seek to understand how Moses, the original scribe of the book of Genesis, might understand its meaning and seek to relate that as much as possible for our understanding today. From very early on in Christian history, there has been a debate as to whether the Scriptures should be understood using a straight textual, historical, grammatical construct, or whether the Scriptures were written in such a way as to illustrate something deeper, spiritually, about the Gospel of Christ throughout its pages.

The former, more prevalent method (at least since the days of the Reformation) produces translations such as "window" and "roof" because they seek to simply convey the literal, historical, grammatically-correct meaning of the text. So even the "word-for-word" translations err when it comes to translating this word that means "noon/noonday" because it simply doesn't make any sense to translate it that way. How do you add a noon to the ark?

But that's the word God used in the original Hebrew, like it or not. And God is Spirit, the Word of God is Spirit-breathed, so it has a spiritual nature to it. It is not just a literal book written for our carnal understanding, it conveys a spiritual message.

Since the historico-grammatical, literal translators deny the spiritual-level at many a turn in favor of a human-level, textual-only understanding, even the "word-for-word" translations, which should have translated this word accurately as "noon" or "noonday", instead chose the word "window" or "roof."

It is only when we understand that Noah and the command for him to build the ark, calling his family and the animals into it for safety from the flood (that is, from God's wrath upon the wickedness of the human race of that day) represent Christ and the Gospel of salvation that this word "noon" or "noonday" makes any sense. In other words, we can only understand the sense and placement of this word on a spiritual level. The Bible itself directs us to see that Noah and the ark represent Christ and salvation. We read in 1 Peter 3:18-22:

For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [that is, made alive] by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

As Noah was building this great ship, the ark, it represented Christ as He builds His eternal church into which we come for safety from the judgment of God. We know that many times Christ taught from a ship. And once we become saved, we become fishers of men, casting in the net of the Gospel to bring more fish into the ship. And, according to the Bible, those who fall away make shipwreck of the faith.

Likewise, Jonah, a great type of Christ, had to be tossed overboard from a ship in order to still the stormy waves of the wrath of God for those onboard, as he was then swallowed by the fish into its "belly of hell." And just as Jonah was 3 days and 3 night in the belly of the fish, so Christ was 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth, representing the fact He suffered the wrath of God as He paid for the sins of the elect.

Yes, every detail and every aspect of Noah building the ark represents something of the Gospel. Even the very pitch that God instructed him use represents the Gospel. We read in Genesis 6:14

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

In this verse, the Hebrew verb for the first instance translated "pitch" means "atonement, purge, reconciliation, pacify." The Hebrew noun for the second instance of the word "pitch," is, of course, related. It means "a ransom, satisfaction." Notice that God instructed Noah to "pitch it with and without with pitch" -- the whole ark, inside and out, was to be "atoned, purged, reconciled, pacified" (via the Hebrew verb translated pitch) with "a ransom, a satisfaction" (via the Hebrew noun translated "pitch"). You can't get much clearer than this that the ark represents the atoning work of Christ, even in the very pitch used in its construction.

The Hebrew word translated "rooms" in Genesis 6:14 is actually the Hebrew word for "nest", as we see in Deuteronomy 32:11-12, which has to do with God's leading:

As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: [So] the LORD alone did lead him, and [there was] no strange god with him.

There are many, many other details that could be explained, from the animals that Noah brought into the ark for safety, along with his family, to the fact the ark had 3 levels like the temple of Ezekiel 41-42, to the fact the Lord shut them all in the ark, and to the fact the great rains/waters brought judgment and salvation (depending on whether one was in or outside of the ark) that point to the message of the Gospel.

So what about the "noonday" that Noah was to build to the ark? Here are just a few verses to illustrate how it relates to the Gospel:

And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday. (Psalm 37:6)

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make [your flock] to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of your companions? (Song of Solomon 1:7)

And [if] you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness [be] as the noonday: (Isaiah 58:10)

In fact, this same Hebrew word for "noonday" that is translated "window" in Genesis 6:16 KJV comes from a root that means to "press oil." This points to the oil that was used to keep the light of the lamps burning. So this same Hebrew word meaning "noon/noonday" comes from a root word that means to press the oil for the light. And the oil for the light points to the anointing of the Holy Spirit and altogether relates to the Gospel meaning of the noonday. So in every way this Hebrew word points to the Gospel in its original intent. It effectively has no relationship to a physical, historical roof, which was the choice of word for many a translation.

You see, in order to prevent heretical spiritualizing in the churches, well-meaning interpreters have sought to put a lid on it by adding their own guardrails around Bible interpretation and translation by attempting to literalize everything to the historical and grammatical context. But these guardrails are unbiblical, they are a solution proposed and produced by human intellect to control outcomes. While it's certainly true that many do spiritualize fanciful ideas into the Bible to promote and support heresy, it is regardless true that the Bible is a spiritual book, and it is not up to us to produce human-devised, unbiblical barriers. It is incumbent upon us to prayerfully and carefully study the Bible and compare spiritual things with spiritual, trusting upon God's guidance, to combat this issue.

The sad result has been that the churches have shut off the spiritual character and nature of God's Word in favor of systematic interpretation, which does not lead to eternal Truth but controls the outcomes of strict doctrinal adherence. It has effectively blotted out the light of the Gospel message. This isn't something that has occurred suddenly, but gradually over time as academic theology has taken precedence over the grand Tableau that God has painted throughout Scripture.

A final word: The fact that God portrays the Gospel throughout the pages of the Bible does not negate the historical accuracy of the Bible. God is God of history and thus had complete control over historical events so that the Word of God, in relating those events, illustrates the Gospel message.

For example, Boaz, the Kinsman-redeemer, purchased the "cursed" Ruth-the-Moabitess to be his bride that she and Naomi might have an inheritance. This represents Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, Who purchased and marries us to give us an eternal inheritance with Him. But this was a true, historical account. So it was with Noah and the ark -- it was an actual, historical account. Nothing about the spiritual level of meaning pointing to Christ's redemption and the Gospel negates the accuracy of the historical accounts.


3.18.2023