What’s All This Chatter About Finding Noah’s Ark?
We find it interesting that the recent headlines about Noah’s Ark are all happening right now. The site in Turkey has been known about since the 1950’s but scoffers always scoff and no one ever had any proof of what lied under this ship-shape that matched the Genesis 6 dimensions of the ark. But now that technology has advanced folks are having another look. Could this be another warning to mankind that Jesus is close and that the Bible is true? Jesus famously said, “As it was in the days of Noah…”
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Is it Yet Another Warning?
Once again, curiosity is building. On my Facebook feed, I’m seeing multiple posts each day about renewed interest in the possibility that the outline of a ship in the mountains of Turkey is indeed Noah’s Ark. Due to the heightened fascination with this discovery in recent weeks, I am revisiting this topic.
I will begin with a little background. In 1959, Turkish army captain and pilot Ihan Durupinar noticed what appeared to be the outline of a large ship near Mount Ararat on the eastern edge of modern-day Turkey. His photos of what appeared to be a large seagoing vessel encased in mud drew worldwide attention, prompted expert investigation, and have attracted thousands of visitors since then. The site bears the name of this pilot.
The Kurds who live near the Durupinar Site claim that Noah’s Ark emerged from the mud because of an earthquake that impacted the area in 1948. According to my research, a strong earthquake in nearby Kumukh, Russia, on June 29, 1948, could’ve affected the area and made the Ark’s outline visible from the air.
In recent months, archaeologists, college professors, and engineers have flooded the Durupinar Site to determine whether Noah’s Ark lies beneath the mud and sediment that has built up over millennia.
In last year’s post, I referenced Rick Renner’s book, Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters & the World Before the Flood. With the renewed activity at the Durupinar Site, Renner has returned to it and is recording videos from there, which has also piqued my fascination with what’s happening.
Is Noah’s Ark Buried Under the Rubble?
I believe that Noah’s Ark is buried under the rubble at the Durupinar Site. Although many experts have not confirmed it beyond a doubt, the evidence I see strongly suggests that it is the Ark. For many, the evidence will never be enough.
First, the outline of what appears to be the ark matches the length and width measurements recorded in Genesis 6:15.
Second, I have read reports that claim investigators have confirmed this is not a geological formation, but that something manmade lies beneath the mounds of dirt. Imaging reveals the presence of long passageways and a three-tiered structure.
Third, as Rick Renner points out in his book and in recent videos from the area, twenty-six huge drogue stones near the site indicate the presence of a nearby ship, over 500 miles from the nearest body of water. Ancient sailors used them to stabilize ships and keep them from capsizing.
Fourth, there’s the Village of Eight, which is down the way from the Durupinar Site and near a water source. In one of his Facebook videos, Rick Renner visited this village and explained why it is likely the place where Noah and his family settled after the flood. This, along with much other folklore and tradition from the area, suggests this is where Noah and his family settled.
Beyond this evidence, what intrigues me most are the prophetic implications.
Is it Another Warning of the Last Days?
Even if it’s later confirmed that this is not the final resting place of Noah’s Ark, what’s happening at the Durupinar Site has strong prophetic implications. Could even the interest alone be something God is using to focus Christians on what His Word says about the last days?
In His Olivet Discourse about the end times, Jesus warned that life in the last days would resemble Noah’s day. I believe that the probable reappearance of Noah’s Ark is yet another reminder that we live in the time Jesus described in Matthew 24:37-39:
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Our day resembles the preflood era in at least two ways. Just as Jesus warned, the world remains totally “unaware” of the next approaching time of worldwide judgment: the Day of the Lord. For most of humanity, it will be business as usual until the Rapture occurs and God’s wrath again descends upon the earth. Sadly, most Christians also remain oblivious to what lies ahead for this world.
The Lord also said that for most, it would be business as usual leading up to the onset of His coming judgment on the world. Just as His judgment surprised the preflood world, so the arrival of the Day of the Lord wrath will descend on the world “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
Do you know that the apostle Peter faulted the scoffers of the last days for overlooking the message of the Genesis 6 flood? In 2 Peter 3:5-6 we read:
“For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.”
What better way to keep us from overlooking the biblical account of the Noahic flood than to focus our attention on the possibility that Noah’s Ark exists at the Durupinar Site in Turkey? Although the coming Day of the Lord will look very different from a worldwide flood, the possibility of the Ark’s discovery reminds us that He will again intervene to judge humanity and fulfill His purposes.
In Noah’s day, God judged the world so as to preserve the integrity of the human race in order that Jesus could become a man and die for our sins. The coming judgment will also prepare the world for Jesus’ arrival and His millennial reign on the earth, which will immediately follow His return.