Noah’s Ark

Yes, a big boat with animals. But there is a lot more to this story than most of us can recall. Genesis chapters 6-9.

Why it is important

Have you ever thought, “If we could just get rid of all of the bad people and start over, THEN society would be much better off”? I think this story proves that to be false. We are not in paradise. Noah and his son sinned after the flood ended.

What is in this story

Noah brought his family and two of every bird and land animal on his ark (a big boat) to survive a worldwide flood. Afterward a rainbow seals the promise that God will never again destroy the earth by a flood (Gen 9:11-13).

Noah was chosen because, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God,” (Gen 6:9, ESV). That is no small praise!

I also tend to lump into this story the epilogue of the sins of Noah and Ham (Gen 9:20-27) and the preface of the wickedness of mankind (Gen 6:1-7).

Things that are not so well-known

1. Some animals had 14 of each on the ark, not just two. (Gen 7:2-3)
2. It rained 40 days and nights, but Noah and the others were in the ark for 1 YEAR and 10 days. (Gen 7:11 and 8:14-16)
3. Rain was not the only source of water for the flood; “the fountains of the deep” were opened also. (Gen 7:11)
4. Eight people were on the ark. Genesis explains it was Noah and family, but we get the firm number from 1 Peter 3:20.
5. Interesting connection from Noah’s father’s prediction (Gen 5:28-29) to Noah becoming a farmer in his 600’s, apparently (Gen 9:20).
6. Many believe that the earth had never seen rain before the flood of Noah. See Gen 2:5-6.
7. There were no fish, whales, etc. on the ark – water animals did not need to be rescued! (Gen 6:20)
8. The “Ark of the Covenant” has nothing to do with this story. It’s a box. Basically every time that the word “ark” appears in the Bible after this, it’s talking about the Ark of the Covenant, not Noah’s ark.

Theology and doctrine

• Who are the “sons of God” in Gen 6:2?
  • Oh man, this will never be settled. The language sure points to heavenly beings. But could they interact with humanity in that way? Angels often (always?) appear as men in Bible stories, even being undetected as angels many times. And yet, I don’t know of any other place in Scripture where anything like this happens (except when the men of Sodom try).
• There is an interesting parallel in language with the sins of “the Sons of God” and Eve’s sin:
  • Gen 3:6, she “saw that the tree was good for food, and… she took of its fruit and ate” (ESV)
  • Gen 6:2, they “saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took… any they chose.” (ESV)
  • Same words in Hebrew for “saw,” “good/attractive” and “took” in both passages
• The LORD “repented”? (Gen 6:6 in KJV)
  • I prefer that word. Other translations say God “regretted” or “was sorry” that he made mankind.
  • God apparently does this a lot in Scripture! Ex. 32:14 (in a REALLY similar situation with Moses); 1Sa 15:11 (with Saul); 1Ch 21:15 (commanding an angel); and many other places
  • The word is “nacham” in the original Hebrew
  • In these other passages, it seems to be the idea of “doing the opposite of what has been happening,” and in a very generic (and boring) sense. It’s not about motives, necessarily. Just changing.
  • I really can’t ever justify the notion that God made a mistake.
  • The end of Gen 6:6 does say, “and it grieved him to his heart” (ESV), but perhaps this is not stating the cause of the “repenting,” but rather the reaction to it.
• Canaan’s curse (Gen 9:24-26)
  • The sin was on Ham, yet his son Canaan gets the curse
  • In the same passage, Shem is told he will rule over Canaan
  • Canaan is the land conquered by the Jews which becomes the land of Israel
  • Shem’s descendants are the Jews. The geeky term is “Semites,” but you are probably more familiar with the negative version of that term.
  • So, in this is a prophecy: the Jews will conquer Canaan. And so they did.