Noah, a righteous man, is the son of Lamech, whose ancestry can be traced to Seth, one of Adam’s son, born when he was 135 years old (Genesis 5:3).
Lamech who lived for 777 years was 182 when son Noah was born (Genesis 5:28), a 10th-generation descendant of Adam. With Noah, a farmer, God made His Second Covenant with man before he turned 600 years old (Genesis 7:6).
Noah, a righteous man
Samuel Baxter, in the Days of Noah, narrates that there were billions of people living on Earth. And wickedness prevailed. “Every imagination of man’s heart was evil. God regretted that He made man on Earth, and His heart was grieved” (Genesis 6:5).
God waited for man to have a change of heart and repent. But until the very day the floods came, men were eating and drinking (Luke 17:26-27).
Noah was an exception. He was a good man, an example of righteous living with an enduring faith in an immoral and faithless environment. He preached repentance for sins to others, to no avail.
The Lord told of His plan to destroy the world to Noah. He instructed Noah to build an ark exactly seven times longer than its width. It is interesting to add that according to the study application of the Bible, this is the same ratio used by modern shipbuilders.
“This is how you shall build it; the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, its width 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits” (Genesis 6:15). There was an opening for daylight above and entrance on the sides.
Noah and his family built the ark for 100 days (Genesis 5:32) and (Genesis 7:16). Other bible scholars claim, for 120 days. (Genesis 6:3) When it was finished, Noah was instructed to take in seven pairs, male and female of every clean animal and birds, but only one pair of unclean animals and birds. (Genesis 7:2-3)
Noah was likewise instructed that the arch will have eight passengers: Noah and his wife Naamah, his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives.
The Great Flood
After seven days when Noah was 600 years old, rain started to fall on Earth. Rain poured for 40 days until the entire Earth and the all mountains were submerged.
Bible scholars, however, stated that the flood lasted for a year since Noah was 600 years old (Genesis 7:6) when he entered the ark and the Earth started to dry when he was 601 years old (Genesis 8:13) so he came out of the ark with all the living things.
Mary Fairchild, in Learn Religions, stated that there were about 45,000 animals inside the ark.
Covenant with man
The ark rested on the top of Mount Ararat, ancient Urarte, North of Mesopotamia, and now Modern Armenia. On the 17th of the seventh month (Genesis 8:4) and on the first day of the 10th month, the mountain top can be seen.
After they were instructed by the Lord to leave the ark, Noah built an altar to pay homage.
When the Lord “smelled the sweet odor” of His offerings, He said: “Never again will I doom the Earth because of man, since the desires of man are evil from the start, nor will I ever again strike down all living things, as I have done” (Genesis 8:21).“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. Whenever I bring clouds over the Warth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” (Genesis 9: 12-15).
Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.
Image credits: Wikimedia Common