Vol. 11 No. 3 –November, 2013

Noah

Tom Edwards

A tenth descendant from Adam, this great patriarch Noah is first mentioned in Genesis 5:28, 29. In this passage, inference can be made as to the meaning of his name; for it was what his father Lamech had given him, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the Lord has cursed.” The Hebrew word (“noach”), for Noah’s name, literally means “rest,” according to Strong and other sources. How tragic, though, that many missed out on a “rest” they could have had if they only would have accepted Noah’s preaching; but, alas, they rejected that message and perished, as a result. Years later, in speaking of the curses that would befall God’s people if they would turn from following Him, they would also, as a consequence, “find no rest” — but, rather, they would find only a “trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul” (Deut. 28:65). To forsake God is to forsake eternal peace and rest — which far exceeds any worldly imitation or substitute — and that’s exactly what so many people did in Noah’s day.

Though Noah lived 950 years, the Bible focuses primarily on that time of his life which centers around the flood. For after that first, brief mention of his birth, the record shows without detail that he had brothers and sisters (Gen. 5:30); and then jumps to when he was 500 years of age and states, “…and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (v. 32). The flood began when Noah was 600 years old (Gen 7:6), and we can safely assume that he spent many years working on the ark prior to that. God had said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3). It was during this period that Noah not only worked on the ark, but also preached to the people — for he was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). Peter refers to this time as “…when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark…”  (1 Pet. 3:20). Though the Lord was going to destroy the world with a flood, he gave the people ample time to repent and be spared, reminding us of what Peter also writes (concerning those who have deliberately forgotten God and would scoff at the thought of the Lord’s coming, saying, “everything goes on as it has since the beginning”), that this seeming “delay” is actually the “patience” of God, which is to be regarded as His “salvation,” out of His desire to see no one “perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:15,9). Even though God knew that only 8 souls would be saved during the time of the flood, He still showed His patience and gave the world the opportunity to accept or reject Him — letting man run his own course. Therefore, in the Judgment Day, none of these lost souls will be able to say that the Lord never gave him or her an opportunity for pardon.

 Though the account tells us that “Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (Gen. 5:32), we should not assume that Noah’s three sons were born at the same time. For Ham was the “youngest” (Gen. 9:24); and Shem was 100 years old, two years after the flood (when his father was 603 — see Gen. 7:6,11; 8:13-18; 11:10); so that would put Shem’s birth around the time his father was 503; for these references show that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came. He was 1 year in the ark (601); and then 2 years later, Shem was 100 and Noah was 603. Japheth, therefore, is the firstborn and came into this world when Noah was 500. When listed with his brothers, however, Shem is always placed first because it was through him that the Messiah would descend. Therefore, this listing-order of family members does not show a rank of age — starting with the older or oldest. For it is without question that Ham was the youngest (Gen. 9:21-24), yet he is seen as second in the listing-order of the six verses that mention all three brothers together — and Japheth, as last in those same verses. Some Bible encyclopedias, Bible dictionaries, and commentaries would disagree with Japheth being the oldest and say that Shem was; but considering these previous references, it does appear that Japheth was the oldest.

One verse some have cited, however, to try to establish that Shem was the oldest is Genesis 10:21.  It reads (in the NASB): “And also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born.”  But does this actually mean he was older than Japheth?  First, ask yourself, “How many brothers did Japheth have?”  The answer, of course, is “two”: Shem and Ham.  Which of these two were older?  The answer: Shem.   So in that sense, Shem would be the older brother of Japheth — even though Japheth is older than Shem.  We can also note that in the King James Version this verse is stated as Shem being “the brother of Japheth the elder”; and that same phrase is also seen in the Modern King James Version, the New King James Version, the Webster Bible, the Literal Translation of the Bible, Young’s Literal Translation, the Darby Bible, and perhaps in some other versions, too.

Another point, too, is that though usually just one man’s son is mentioned in the Bible’s genealogical records, these three are mentioned instead; and I would think this is due to the great significance in the entire world being repopulated through these three men (Gen. 9:19). All of us today have descended through Noah — regardless of our race or nationality. We, therefore, don’t have to go all the way back to Adam to find the world’s common ancestry.

Noah lived 350 years after the flood; but, just as the 500 years prior to it, little is said about that period in his long life (Gen. 9:28,29).  Soon after leaving the ark, which Noah and his family had lived in for one year and 10 days (cf. Gen. 7:11 with 8:13-18), he then offered sacrifices unto God; and the Lord promised that He would never destroy the entire world again with a flood (8:20-22). The Lord then blessed Noah and his family, told them to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (9:1), giving them this similar command as He first did to Adam and Eve (Gen. 1:28). God also gave them a new dietary allowance, showing that now mankind can be carnivorous — whereas before, apparently, they were vegetarian, as well as the animals (cf. Gen. 1:29,30 with Gen. 9:3). Now things would be different. Man’s longevity would also change: it would begin to decline, which has been said to have occurred due to the loss of the “waters which were above the expanse” (Gen. 1:7) that had also served like a “canopy” that produced a “greenhouse effect” upon the planet and protected it from cosmic bombardments, such as radiation, from space; but all that water “above the expanse” is one of the sources from which the world had been flooded. Without that protective “canopy,” which some have also described as having been a thick area of water vapor in the upper atmosphere that surrounded our planet, mankind’s gene pool was gradually changed; and living shorter lives was one of the results. Abraham and Joseph, for example, were 175 years old (Gen. 25:7) and 110 years old (Gen. 50:26), respectively — and far short of the 950 years that Noah lived (Gen. 9:29), or the 969 years that Noah’s grandfather Methuselah lived (Gen. 5:27).  The historian Josephus places King David’s death at 70 years of age.  (David was born about 1,263 years after the time of the flood.)

Though little is said of Noah after the flood, we do read that he then “…began farming and planted a vineyard” (Gen. 9:20). And in the next verse, we are informed that he “drank of the wine and became drunk” (v. 21). It’s been thought by some that perhaps Noah was not aware of the effects of alcohol at that time. But even if this were a shameful act in which Noah should have known better, it certainly wasn’t something that typified his life. Rather, we view this as being very uncharacteristic of him. Could you imagine people today, though, letting this brief event in Noah’s life be the only thing they remember him for? That to them, Noah is nothing more than “that old drunk.” That truly would be said, of course, from the Bible, we certainly do not receive the impression that Noah was just “that old drunk.” Rather, it was his righteousness that had gained him favor with God; and even centuries later (after Noah’s death), the Lord cited the righteousness of Noah, along with Daniel and Job, when speaking to Ezekiel (Ezek 14:14,20). These three men certainly represent individuals who walked with God. They were faithful, righteous, and dedicated. Men whom we should strive to be more like.

Though the Bible doesn’t say much about Noah’s life apart from around the time of the flood, we do know that he was truly a godly man — but, prior to the flood, he was a godly man in the midst of an ungodly world. For the wickedness of Noah’s day, during the antediluvian period, had become so great that the Lord had to resort to extremely serious measures. We are told in Genesis 6:5-8, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, `I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

Noah was a man who had pleased God. Out of all the people in the world, he stood out as the only one who had “found favor” with the Lord. Gen. 6:9 states, “…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” How strong his faith in the Lord must have been and his love and devotion toward Him, to live in the midst of such wickedness, with the allurements of sin abounding, yet not yield to those sinful ways. Who helped support him in his spiritual quest? When we think of his family who were saved on the ark, they probably gave him some comfort; but wasn’t Noah the true spiritual giant of that family? In spite of all the world’s rejection, and most likely their ridicule, Noah persevered in doing the will of God until that job was accomplished — and not only with the ark; but throughout his life.

Noah is also an example to us of the need for continual obedience.  For all the years of his previous righteousness would not have spared him from the flood, had he not obeyed the Lord’s command to build the ark. For as the Gospel declares, “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb. 11:7).

Noah was a man of true faith, which prompted him to prepare for these “things not yet seen” — regardless of how incredible it might have all seemed to him. For mankind had certainly never experienced a global deluge before; and it also appears that the world had never known of even rain until the time of the flood; but, rather, there had been a mist that would provide the needed moisture. And though some might think of this “mist” that would arise to water the ground as simply being a way of expressing the natural order of the water cycle (water evaporates, the vapor rises, clouds are formed, and the rain falls back to the earth), the Genesis’ account seems to be making a distinction between this “mist” and the “rain”: it explains that “…the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth…But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (Gen. 2:5,6).  So the Lord, at that time, did not send the rain — but He did send a “mist.” How could they, therefore, be the same? So, it appears that for Noah to believe in those “things not yet seen,” it would include believing in this rain — and not only that, but also that there would be enough water to do exactly what God said: to cover all the earth. As Genesis 7:19 shows, “…all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.” But isn’t that part of what faith is? “…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Noah had that kind of faith. He could believe in those things that his eyes had never beheld.

Furthermore, his continual obedience is what kept Noah righteous; and because of this, the Lord was able to say to him, “Enter the ark, you and all your household; for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time” (Gen. 7:1). With Noah, the Lord would establish His covenant (Gen. 6:18).

It was mentioned above that Noah had also been “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). No doubt, the “spirit of Christ” was in Noah as he warned the people of his day of the coming destruction and their need to turn back to God. Peter writes, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water” (1 Pet. 3:18-20).

The “in which also He went and made proclamation” refers back to “the spirit,” in the previous phrase. It was not Jesus who personally did this preaching, but it was Noah who preached by the “spirit of Christ,” just as the prophets of old did, whom Peter refers to as those who were “seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Pet. 1:11). Similarly, Peter states that “…the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David…” (Acts 1:16). God used these men to speak through them by the Holy Spirit; and surely he spoke through Noah, as well, giving the world a last chance to repent of their evil ways before it would be everlastingly too late. How sad to think, though, of virtually an entire world who had no concern about accepting the way of God. Noah and his small family — a total of 8 people — would be the only survivors. Noah stood for what was right — regardless of the other people’s indifference or abhorrence toward those things. He was not swayed, sidetracked nor misled by the world’s obsession with sin; but, rather, knew of the righteous course he was to follow and resolutely continued on that way.

We can truly be encouraged, motivated, and gladdened by this great man of faith, and may we each be blessed by taking the time to think about Noah and his unswerving walk with God. We can certainly thank the Lord for letting us know about Noah, one of God’s faithful followers.