Noah, a patriarch of Christianity, was the son of Lamech. His greatest claim to fame is the "Ark," a giant ship constructed under orders from God, by which Noah saved mankind and animals from a great flood. The story of Noah is often taught to young Christians as a lesson in obeying God’s commands.
The story of Noah marks a chronological division of events in the Old Testament, as those events prior to the flood are called antediluvian. Noah is sometimes called the last antediluvian patriarch, although this is thought to be a technical error, since Noah's son Seth was born prior to the flood.
The scriptures are silent about Noah’s life until age five hundred, when Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. During this time, the descendants of Seth, who were considered to be religiously devout, and the descendants of Cain, who had renounced the faith, began uniting in marriage. They gave birth to what the Bible calls "Nephilim," or giants. The Lord did not approve of these mixed marriages, was displeased, and placed a restriction on man’s age of 120 years.
Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years…. The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually."
During the time of Noah, God saw that the world was full of corruption and wickedness. God then decided to destroy humanity and create again from nothing. Since "Noah walked with God," he and his family were chosen to be spared. God commanded Noah to build an ark, a great ship of gopher wood, 300 by 50 by 30 cubits in size. This ancient Hebrew measurement was equivalent to the distance from elbow to fingertips—roughly 18 inches. By comparison, the biblical measurements of the ark are approximately 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. In this ark, Noah, his sons and their wives would ride out the flood with "seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate" along with food and other supplies for the voyage.
Every type of animal filled the ark. When Noah was six hundred, the rain began and the ark was loaded. The rains did not last forty days and forty nights, as is popularly cited. This was merely the time required for the floods to raise the ark from its dry-dock. According to scripture, the rain continued for 150 straight days.
After the pouring rain finally ceased, the Earth began to dry; mountaintops finally became visible again, eight months after the rain first started. After two months, Noah uncovered the ark, and after one year and ten days, God commanded Noah and his family to leave the ark and to replenish the earth with his descendants. Noah first built an altar and offered sacrifice, which pleased God:
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard and, one day, became drunk. Ham, Noah’s son, saw his father naked in his tent, and mocked him. However, Ham’s brothers walked backward into the tent and laid a garment over their father, not looking at him. For this, Noah cursed the descendants of Ham and blessed the descendants of Shem and Japheth.
Biblical records state that Noah lived three and a half centuries after the flood. There is no biblical record of where Noah and his family settled, or how much contact they had with succeeding generations. According to the Bible, Noah fulfilled his purpose and did what God commanded him to do.
The story of Noah marks a chronological division of events in the Old Testament, as those events prior to the flood are called antediluvian. Noah is sometimes called the last antediluvian patriarch, although this is thought to be a technical error, since Noah's son Seth was born prior to the flood.
The scriptures are silent about Noah’s life until age five hundred, when Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. During this time, the descendants of Seth, who were considered to be religiously devout, and the descendants of Cain, who had renounced the faith, began uniting in marriage. They gave birth to what the Bible calls "Nephilim," or giants. The Lord did not approve of these mixed marriages, was displeased, and placed a restriction on man’s age of 120 years.
Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years…. The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually."
During the time of Noah, God saw that the world was full of corruption and wickedness. God then decided to destroy humanity and create again from nothing. Since "Noah walked with God," he and his family were chosen to be spared. God commanded Noah to build an ark, a great ship of gopher wood, 300 by 50 by 30 cubits in size. This ancient Hebrew measurement was equivalent to the distance from elbow to fingertips—roughly 18 inches. By comparison, the biblical measurements of the ark are approximately 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. In this ark, Noah, his sons and their wives would ride out the flood with "seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate" along with food and other supplies for the voyage.
Every type of animal filled the ark. When Noah was six hundred, the rain began and the ark was loaded. The rains did not last forty days and forty nights, as is popularly cited. This was merely the time required for the floods to raise the ark from its dry-dock. According to scripture, the rain continued for 150 straight days.
After the pouring rain finally ceased, the Earth began to dry; mountaintops finally became visible again, eight months after the rain first started. After two months, Noah uncovered the ark, and after one year and ten days, God commanded Noah and his family to leave the ark and to replenish the earth with his descendants. Noah first built an altar and offered sacrifice, which pleased God:
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard and, one day, became drunk. Ham, Noah’s son, saw his father naked in his tent, and mocked him. However, Ham’s brothers walked backward into the tent and laid a garment over their father, not looking at him. For this, Noah cursed the descendants of Ham and blessed the descendants of Shem and Japheth.
Biblical records state that Noah lived three and a half centuries after the flood. There is no biblical record of where Noah and his family settled, or how much contact they had with succeeding generations. According to the Bible, Noah fulfilled his purpose and did what God commanded him to do.
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