- 2 days ago
A boat-shaped geological formation in eastern Turkey is making headlines again. It is referred to as the Durupınar Formation — a 157-meter-long mound located about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat. Researchers from the California-based group Noah’s Ark Scans claim that ground-penetrating radar surveys of the Durupınar Formation have revealed what appear to be interior corridors, angular subterranean structures, and a central tunnel large enough, they say, to walk through. Some archaeologists suggest that the age is consistent with Noah's Ark and the Great Flood (which happened about 4350 years ago). Could a valley location be consistent with the account in Genesis? What about the dividing of the earth in the time of Peleg? For some Protestants the very idea sends a familiar current of hope that this will lead many to convert to Christianity. But is that the case? Are there any risks? Did Jesus warn that the last days would be like the days of Noah? If so, what precisely did Jesus warn would be the case? What are two risks associated with concluding that Noah's Ark truly has been found? Might it be a turning point of sorts for the ecumenical interfaith power that the Bible warns against to rise up? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters in this video.
A written article of related interest is available titled 'Evidence for and against the view that Noah’s Ark is at the Durupinar site in Turkey' URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/old-testament-history/evidence-for-and-against-the-view-that-noahs-ark-is-at-the-durupinar-site-in-turkey/
A written article of related interest is available titled 'Evidence for and against the view that Noah’s Ark is at the Durupinar site in Turkey' URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/old-testament-history/evidence-for-and-against-the-view-that-noahs-ark-is-at-the-durupinar-site-in-turkey/
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:04Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel,
00:09bringing you news and analysis of world events in life of Bible prophecy.
00:14Dr. Thiel, are we any closer to finding Noah's Ark?
00:19Maybe. Somebody who knows me sent me a link to something that came out a couple days ago.
00:26And let me read from this article. It says,
00:29A boat-shaped geological formation in eastern Turkey is making headlines again,
00:34and for many Christians, the very idea sends a familiar current of hope through the soul.
00:39Researchers from the California-based group Noah's Ark Scans claimed that a ground-penetrating radar survey
00:47of the Dura-Pinar Formation, a 157-meter-long mound located about 18 miles south of Mount Ararat,
00:58have revealed what appears to be interior corridors, angular subterranean structures,
01:04and a central tunnel large enough, they say, to walk through.
01:08The secular press predictably oscillates between breathless wonder and performative skepticism.
01:17Neither reaction quite serves the truth.
01:19The story is not new.
01:23The Dura-Pinar site was first spotted from the air in September of 1959
01:29by a Turkish army captain, Ilan Yurinapar, during a post-earthquake survey.
01:39Then there was an amateur archaeologist and Bible believer, Ron Wyatt,
01:45who spent the better part of two decades promoting this through the 1980s and 1990s.
01:50But he also promoted the Ark of the Covenant.
01:52Anyway, the article says,
01:54What's new is the scope and the sophistication of the technology now being brought to bear on the site.
02:01Perhaps more significantly, the announcement that a formal evacuation,
02:07the first ever sanctioned at this location,
02:10is being planned in partnership with Turkish universities,
02:14including Istanbul Technical University and the Agri Ibrahim Seseen University.
02:23Now, the lead researcher, Andrew Jones and Noah Scans,
02:30has deployed ground-penetrating radar,
02:34infrared thermography, electrical resistivity,
02:38thermography, and soil analysis across the formation.
02:41The results, he argued, are anything but random.
02:46Quote, Jones says,
02:48This is not what you would anticipate the finding
02:51if the site were merely a solid block of rock
02:55or the result of random mud flow debris.
02:58However, it's precisely what you would expect to discover
03:02if this were a constructed boat
03:04consistent with the biblical specifications for Noah's Ark.
03:10End quote.
03:11Soil samples from 22 locations returns traces of clay,
03:15materials, marine sediments, and remnants of shellfish,
03:20with the radiometric dating placing the samples between 3,500 and 5,000 years ago.
03:27That was that article.
03:29Now, by the way, as far as the age of the Ark goes,
03:33I wrote an article called Timelines in Early Church History,
03:36and it has the time of the Great Blood dated to about the year 2325 B.C.,
03:42which is 4,350 years ago.
03:45So the dating range that they came up with is consistent with that.
03:51Well, so then, has Noah's Ark finally been found?
03:55Not necessarily.
03:57I want to go over some more things from that article.
04:01Quote,
04:02Some of the most pointed criticism of the Durapinar site
04:06comes from within the creation science community itself.
04:09Geologist Dr. Andrew Snelling of Answers in Genesis,
04:14who studied the site for decades,
04:15raises two significant objections.
04:19The first is geological.
04:23The Durapinar formation sits in a valley
04:25roughly 3,280 feet deep
04:29on the south slopes of Mount Ararat.
04:31A volcano last erupted there recently in 1840.
04:36The second is scriptural.
04:38Genesis 8.4 places the Ark's resting point high enough
04:41that it would take another 74 days after the grounding
04:45before the tops of the surrounding mountains became visible.
04:49A valley floor does not fit that description.
04:53Snelling notes that geophysical surveys,
04:56whether GPR, LIDAR, or restivity imaging,
05:01always requires interpretation.
05:03That interpretation inevitably reflects
05:05the assumptions of the interpreter.
05:08Now, I want to interject something here
05:10that's actually not in my notes on this.
05:14In the Bible, in Genesis,
05:15it talks about a guy by the name of Pele
05:18that says during his time,
05:21the earth was divided.
05:23And I've wondered if this is where we saw
05:26the big continental divides happen,
05:30et cetera.
05:31Maybe this happened shortly right after the flood.
05:33And perhaps that type of thing actually affected
05:37this, if this is actually the site of Noah's Ark.
05:39So there could be some geological formations
05:42that we didn't know about.
05:43Okay.
05:47But so far, you know,
05:49scientists haven't figured this out
05:51because they haven't settled the question,
05:53which is,
05:54and here, according to the article,
05:55the answer is,
05:56has Noah's Ark been found?
05:58Remains for the moment, no.
06:00What has been found,
06:01the article says,
06:02is a generally remarkable site
06:03that warrants serious,
06:05methodical,
06:06and fully transparent scientific investigation.
06:09So again,
06:10there's possibilities there.
06:12And again,
06:12there could have been earthquakes.
06:13If this truly is Noah's Ark,
06:16then earthquakes or something else
06:18when God divided things
06:20after the flood
06:21could have affected it.
06:23Now,
06:24that said,
06:25there saw this other article
06:26related to the same site.
06:30And this is from a Protestant writer.
06:33It says,
06:33Jesus warned,
06:34the last days would mirror the days of Noah.
06:36Now,
06:37fresh claims about Noah's Ark in Turkey
06:42arrive as another witness
06:43to the world ripe for judgment.
06:46For a generation racing at full speed
06:49toward the judgment of God,
06:50it's more than a little remarkable
06:52that new claims about Noah's Ark
06:53are surfacing now.
06:55The very hour where Jesus told us
06:57to look back to the days of Noah
06:58as a prophetic template for the end.
07:02The lost world hears these reports
07:04and shrugs, shrugs.
07:06The scoffers mock,
07:07the scientists argue,
07:09and life rolls on uninterrupted.
07:12Exactly did before the flood came
07:14and swept them all away.
07:16Whether this latest discovery
07:17in Turkey turns out
07:18to be the final word on Noah's Ark
07:19or just more breadcrumbs on the trail,
07:22the larger truth remains fixed and unmovable.
07:25The world of Noah laughed at the warning
07:27until judgment fell.
07:29And this Laodicean generation
07:31is doing this very same thing here
07:34as we come to the end of the church age.
07:38Jesus did not say the last days
07:40would merely contain
07:41interesting archaeological discussion.
07:43He said they would be like the days of Noah,
07:46time marked by normalcy,
07:48indifference,
07:49and total spiritual blindness.
07:51Men would eat, drink, marry, build, buy, sell,
07:53carry on,
07:54and tomorrow are all guaranteed.
07:56So when headlines circle around
07:58about Noah's Ark and the Flood,
07:59Bible believer doesn't have to force a connection.
08:03It's already there in plain sight.
08:04The issue is not whether the world
08:06can locate every timber of the Ark.
08:08The issue is whether the lost world
08:11will heed the warning of the Ark
08:12represents the doors most closed once more.
08:20Then he goes into some of the same things
08:22about the study that I went over before
08:26and said, you know,
08:28they found fossil remains, et cetera.
08:30Now, back in 2023,
08:33Israel 365 News also reported about this.
08:38And they say that this site shows human activity
08:42between 5,500 and 3,000 B.C.
08:46And as I mentioned before,
08:48when I took a look at it,
08:50when was the time of the flood,
08:52we're pointing to 4350 B.C. approximately.
08:59And others are not sure.
09:01One professor by the name of Baruch Kaya said,
09:04with the dating,
09:05it's not possible to say the ship is here,
09:08but it's possible.
09:11And, you know,
09:13but the Israel 365 article years back said,
09:18quote,
09:19geologists claim that the mountainous bump
09:21that was discovered half a century ago
09:23is nothing more than a unique rock formation.
09:26Before you comment on that,
09:29now with this new technology they're using,
09:33they're finding, no, it's not.
09:34So it's different than what they thought
09:35a few years ago.
09:38So is it or isn't it Noah's Ark?
09:42We don't know.
09:44It's still not clear.
09:46But look,
09:47I've been posting about this for a long time.
09:50Actually, back in 2014,
09:52I posted that there was a team
09:54of Turkish, Dutch, and Belgian researchers.
09:58They went over there.
09:59They took a look.
10:03They say that it's not possible
10:05that it was deliberately planted there.
10:07So we wanted to talk, you know,
10:08bring that up.
10:11And then they also did some stuff
10:13in 2010 in Hong Kong.
10:16And they took a look at some of these things.
10:20And it's certainly possible
10:23that there's something there.
10:25And whether it's actually Noah's Ark or not,
10:27we don't really know.
10:28But having said all that,
10:31I personally have long felt
10:34that the day might come
10:35when Noah's Ark would be conclusively found.
10:41Why?
10:41What might be the consequences
10:43if the Ark is found?
10:45Well, there's at least two risks.
10:48One would be that
10:50if everybody goes out and says it is,
10:52and later it's said,
10:54people would say,
10:55no, that's false.
10:56That would embolden biblical skeptics.
10:58So that's one.
11:00But the other,
11:01and this is one that the Protestants
11:02miss about this.
11:03The Protestants tend to think,
11:04oh, we find Noah's Ark,
11:05but that proves the Bible
11:06and everybody's going to become
11:08a Christian, right?
11:09Well,
11:11both the biblical
11:13and non-biblical prophecies
11:15warn about a time
11:16when an ecumenical religion
11:17is going to take over
11:18much of the world.
11:20And if Noah's Ark
11:21is ever conclusively accepted,
11:25this could be
11:26a major turning point
11:27in getting more of humanity
11:29to accept a coming
11:30world religion
11:31that claims to be Christian.
11:33Look,
11:34many cultures
11:35have a tale of a flood.
11:37As a matter of fact,
11:38I saw one time
11:40I wrote an article
11:40called
11:41300 Versions of the Flood.
11:43So,
11:44if this is proven
11:47by scientists
11:48or accepted generally,
11:49this will make
11:50the coming ecumenical religion
11:51acceptable
11:52even in certain cultures
11:53because even if they
11:54don't believe in the Bible,
11:56they say,
11:56oh,
11:56well,
11:56the Bible
11:56is supporting
11:57their beliefs.
12:00Does the Bible
12:00make any reference
12:01to Noah
12:02in the New Testament?
12:04Certainly.
12:05A couple of people
12:06that I wrote
12:07referred to it,
12:08but let's read
12:09what Jesus said
12:09in Matthew chapter 24,
12:12starting in verse 36.
12:14But of that day
12:16and hour
12:16no one knows,
12:17not even the angels
12:18of heaven,
12:19but my Father only.
12:20But as the days
12:22of Noah were,
12:23so will also be
12:24the coming
12:24of the Son of Man be.
12:26For,
12:27as in the days
12:28before the flood,
12:29they were eating
12:30and drinking,
12:31marrying and giving
12:31in marriage
12:32until the day
12:33that Noah entered
12:34the ark.
12:34They didn't know
12:35until the flood came
12:36and took them all away.
12:38So also will be
12:39the coming
12:39of the Son of Man be.
12:42Then two men
12:43will be in the field.
12:44One will be taken,
12:44one will be left.
12:45Two women
12:46will be guiding
12:47at the will.
12:48One will be taken,
12:49the other left.
12:50Watch, therefore,
12:52for you don't know
12:53what hour
12:53your Lord is coming.
12:55But know this,
12:57that if the master
12:58of the house
12:58had known
12:59what hour
13:00the thief would come,
13:01he'd have watched
13:02and not allowed
13:03his house
13:03to have been broken into.
13:05Therefore,
13:06you need to be ready
13:07for the Son of Man
13:08is coming,
13:09however you don't
13:10expect.
13:11You know,
13:12the reality is
13:12many do not understand
13:14end-time prophecies
13:15and pay especially
13:16attention to them.
13:18And, you know,
13:19we know that
13:20the Great Flood happened.
13:21There's evidence
13:22in many cultures
13:24that it did.
13:25But if this ark
13:27is conclusively found,
13:29again,
13:29it may get people
13:30to accept
13:30the false religion
13:31that pushes it.
13:35Would the provable
13:37discovery of Noah's ark
13:38finally turn
13:39the hearts
13:40of many
13:40to God
13:41before Matthew
13:4224, 36
13:43is fulfilled?
13:45No, I don't think so.
13:46I think it'll be
13:47a finding
13:47that'll be used
13:48by the forces
13:48of Satan
13:50to push
13:51his end-time agenda.
13:53In this age,
13:54I do not believe
13:56the discovery
13:56would truly
13:57turn people
13:58to the God
13:59of the Bible.
14:00And that's
14:01a risk,
14:02one of the major
14:03risks of Noah's ark
14:04possibly being
14:05conclusively found.
14:07Thank you, Dr. Thiel.
14:09For more interviews
14:10with Dr. Thiel,
14:11in addition to written
14:12as well as audio articles,
14:14visit our website
14:15at BibleNewsProphecy.net.
14:17This is Steve Dupuis
14:18for the Bible News
14:19Prophecy program.