Who Is Noah in the Bible?
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One of the most well-known Old Testament Bible characters for kids is Noah. He was the man who led the animals two by two onto the ark he built for the flood. What’s not to love about this when sharing his story with children? However, his story is one filled with deep spiritual lessons for adults as well. He was an exemplary man of God who we can look up to and learn from still today. We are going to dive into things to know about Noah in the Bible.
Noah Was a Righteous Man
The story of Noah found in Genesis 6 begins with the concept that there was great wickedness in the world. The Lord saw great evil in humanity with every thought and within their hearts. God wanted to eliminate the human race from the earth because of how awful they had become. Then we see this redemptive verse in Genesis 6:8 which says, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Why did Noah find favor with God? How did the Lord find mercy through this man and his family?
Genesis 6:9 says, “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”
Strong’s Concordance says that the Hebrew word for a righteous man is ṣad·dîq. He was, “just, lawful, righteous.” In the midst of a generation who was denying and rebelling against God, Noah chose to honor the Lord of his ancestors. He took a stance to live blamelessly and right.
This causes us to reflect today. Sometimes we feel as if sin keeps getting worse and evil multiplies rapidly around us. However, when we look at Noah, he too lived in challenging times. The beautiful reminder to us is that just as God saw Noah in the time of outrageous immorality and wickedness, He sees those who are wholeheartedly seeking after Him today. 2 Chronicles 16:9a says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
Noah Was an Older Man
Back in the time of Noah, people lived a lot longer than they do today. Genesis 5 tells of the family line from Adam to Noah. Verse 32 says, “After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.” Noah was 500 years old when he became a father to his three sons, he had quite a life span. Can you imagine how many great grandparents we would have if this were the case today?
In the time of Noah, there was a gift of longer life. However, due to the corruption of sin, the longer people were around, the worse and worse decisions they seemed to make. This sinful example was then passed on to the next generations. Think about the many lines of dysfunction. This can serve as a warning to us that just because we gain years of life, does not mean that we gain years of holiness. Each day, we have to actively surrender to the Holy Spirit’s work no matter what age we are on this earth. All of us are susceptible to sin.
Noah Lived Out Obedience
Donald B. DeYoung from Blue Letter Bible shares that based on Scripture, he believes there was no rain before the time of Noah. “No mention is made of rain on the earth until the Flood (Gen. 7:4,12). The original earth and the Garden of Eden were watered by streams, rivers, and mist instead of by rain (Genesis 2:5, 6,10)." Donald points out that if there was never rain before Noah’s time, then his obedience in building the ark must have looked extremely foolish to the people. Donald expounds, “Likewise, the faith of Noah described in Hebrews 11:7 was especially strong. Noah was warned about things not seen, which is perhaps a further indication that rain was not part of humanity's early experience.”
In Genesis 6:14-21, God instructs Noah on how to construct the ark. He provides exact materials and measurements for Noah to follow. Even in the way that Noah obeyed the Lord’s command in creating this massive boat, we see his great trust in God. Noah took this mission seriously, even though he knew that others would not understand. The Lord might not be calling us to build an ark, but He does ask us to live by His Word and to follow Him. The world around us will not look on with delight and understanding but will likely criticize and laugh at our obedience. However, we can remember that Noah lived out in obedience faithfully to the Lord and it was a blessing back to him.
Noah’s Family Was Blessed through Him
Genesis 7:1 says, “The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.”
Not only was Noah blessed for his righteousness, but his whole family was included in the blessing. It makes me think about the promise to Abraham (another man of God) years later that the nation and people of God would be blessed through him. Noah’s choices affected the lives of those he loved in a positive way. This reminds us that our decisions impact those who are closest to us in life. We can either bring them into a closer relationship with the Lord through our words and actions, or we can be sinful and hurt them. Noah’s leadership and love for his family speak volumes to us today. We too can influence and care for those entrusted to us like Noah.
Noah Trusted God by Getting on the Boat
It was one thing to build the ark, but it was another to get you, your family, and a male and female of every kind of animal onto the boat, lock it, and wait for the rain. Noah showed great trust in the Lord by his actions and he and his family waited on the ark as the rain came pouring down for 150 days. This is almost five months' worth of rain. After the rain stopped, it was another 7 or 8 months until they got off of the ark. Noah sent out a raven who did not return and then a dove who brought back an olive branch. An olive branch is a symbol of peace. God was making peace with humanity. Genesis 8:15-22 shares that Noah and his family got out onto dry ground and he sacrificed clean animals and clean birds to God.
Then we see that the Lord makes a covenant with Noah to never flood and wipe out humanity again. God used the rainbow He created as a sign of this covenant. Genesis 9:12-15 says, “And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
Noah’s son Shem eventually leads to the father of the faith, Abraham. God beautifully ties together His faithful promise of a covenant between this family and ultimately anyone in the world who believes in Jesus. Noah’s life and story point us to how wicked our hearts are in sin. Christ has rescued us from eternal destruction, and our choices to live by His Spirit will also result in amazing spiritual blessings. Noah was righteous, he lived many years, was obedient, his family was blessed through him, and he fully trusted in the Lord. We can look at his life as an example for our own today.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Fred de Noyelle
