Are you familiar with Noah and his story in the Bible? Have you heard about the ark? Also, do you know the first-ever global flood that happened during his time?
Perhaps, you know some of these from Bible trivia. However, there are ten other interesting facts you probably don’t know yet. Let’s find out.
Who is Noah?
Noah is a biblical character. He is one of the heroes who had contributed much to humanity. Hence, we can learn facts and lessons from him.
In the Bible, his story is in the Old Testament. Specifically, it is in the book of Genesis. As such, he is a descendant of Adam.
He is also the third longest-lived man on earth. Besides, he is the father of Ham, Shem, and Japheth.
What is His Story in the Bible?
God’s Unusual Plan
During this time, wickedness was widespread. People enjoyed doing evil things. Simply put, the world was sinful and hopeless.
Hence, God thought that it was time to clean the earth. He wanted to eradicate sin once and for all. Do you know what this plan was? It was to wash the world with a flood. Yes, with a flood!
Ever since the beginning of time, there had been no rain or any sort. Hence, it would surprise people who knew nothing about it.
Now, God used Noah to carry out this mission. He found him righteous in his generation. Also, his craftsmanship and resourcefulness qualified him for such a task.
The Building of the Ark and Preaching to the People
Genesis 6:14-16 contains God’s instructions to Noah concerning the building of the ark.
In particular, gopher was the wood to use. The vessel should contain rooms. Also, Noah should cover it with pitch. The length should be 300 cubits, the width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Lastly, the ark was to have three decks. It should include a window from the top down the door.
Noah did as God instructed. While constructing the ark, he began preaching about the coming flood. It took him 120 years.
Unfortunately, people didn’t believe him. They even made fun of him, saying that he was crazy. Besides, they thought that rain was impossible to happen.
Entering the Ark
As the Lord instructed, Noah brought his whole family into the ark. They had with them the animals, as well.
For clean animals, He told them to bring seven of each kind. For unclean animals, they selected two of every kind. It included males and their mates. Lastly, they chose seven of every species of birds, male and female.
The Flood
After seven days, rain poured down and flooded the earth. It took forty days and forty nights.
Now, Noah’s doubters and mockers realized how wicked they were. They confirmed that what he was preaching was indeed true. Thus, they wanted to get into the ark. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Imagine them shouting and pleading while slowly drowning to death! They had just suffered the consequence of their unbelief.
The Blessing After the Flood
Soon, the ark landed on Mount Ararat. However, Noah, his family, and the animals could not go out yet.
To test if the waters were now receding, Noah sent a raven and a dove. The raven stayed so long and did not return. Now, the dove could not find a resting place, so it returned.
Seven days after, Noah sent it out again. Fortunately, the dove came back with an olive branch. Another seven days passed. He sent the dove out for one last time. This time, it never returned. Hence, it meant that the earth was already dry.
Finally, Noah opened the ark. His family and the animals stepped out. Only eight people survived the flood. They were himself, his wife, his three sons, and their three wives.
Leaving the ark, the first thing Noah did was to build an altar. He laid an offering of thanksgiving to God.
There, God blessed Noah and his sons, too. He instructed them to multiply and fill the earth. Also, He permitted them to eat meat but with a warning against killing people.
Finally, God established a covenant with men and all living creatures. That is, there would never be a global flood again. Later, a beautiful rainbow appeared as a sign of this covenant.
10 Things To Know About Noah
- His name translates to “rest and comfort.”
Do you know that we can also spell Noah’s name as “Noe?”
It means “rest and comfort.” That is, God would bring rest to the world through him. It is freedom from constant sin that burns in the hearts of wicked people.
From what Noah has just accomplished, we can see the significance of this translation. Specifically, he carried out a mission that involved the entire humanity.
Though only eight people survived, there was no doubt that he successfully fulfilled God’s plan. As such, it promised hope for the next generation to live on earth. With the world starting anew, there was a total rest from all evil.
- His grandfather was the oldest person in the Bible.
Tracing the genealogy, Noah was the tenth descendant of Adam. He was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah.
Now, Methuselah was the longest-lived character in the Bible. Specifically, he existed for 969 years, making him the oldest man who has ever lived.
Can you imagine living life this long?
- He was a farmer and a shipbuilder before he built the ark.
Did you know that Noah used to be a farmer? Yes!
He planted a vineyard. Genesis 9:20-22 states, “Noah, a farmer, was the first person to plant a vineyard…”
Besides, Noah knew how to build ships even before his mission. It was for this reason God chose him. However, constructing the ark did not become easy for him. He still needed detailed instructions from God.
Indeed, the construction of the ark had been a success. It was not because of Noah’s ability but because of God’s help.
- He was 480 years old when he began building the ark.
Genesis tells us that Noah died at the age of 950. It was 350 years after the flood. Hence, he should have been 600 when he finished building the ark.
Now, verses 3-7 of chapter 6 gives us a clue. That is, Noah built the ark for 120 years. Subtracting 120 from 600, we conclude that he was 480 when he began the construction.
- He was 500 years old when he had his sons.
According to Genesis 5:32, Noah had his sons at the age of 500. In the sequence of birth, they were Japheth, Shem, and Ham.
We verify this fact with verse 10 of chapter 11. Specifically, it mentions that Noah had Shem two years after the flood.
We learned earlier that Noah was 480 when he started building the ark. Adding two years, he must have been 500 years old upon his first son’s birth.
- His ark was three times smaller than the Titanic.
The Bible specifies the dimensional measurements of the ark. As we mentioned earlier, it was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
Altogether, the volume is about 1.5 million cubic feet. The ratio is 30:5:3. Meanwhile, the Titanic measures 4.6 million cubic feet.
In modern measurements, the ark yields 450 x 75 x 45 in feet. On the other hand, Titanic measures 850 x 92 x 64. Hence, the latter is about three times larger than the former.
- He stayed in the ark with his family for 380 days.
Commonly, we know that Noah and his family stayed in the ark for 40 days. We get this idea from how long the flood occurred, according to the Bible.
The truth is, this 40-day period was just a small part of their entire stay. Noah and his family remained inside the ship for about 380 days. Let us find out why.
From the time they entered the ark, the flood came after seven days. The rain stopped after 40 days. Then, 110 days passed before the vessel landed on Mount Ararat. It was only after 74 more days when mountains appeared.
Then, 40 days went by before Noah sent the raven and the dove. He had four attempts, each with an interval of 7 days. Three intervals summed up to 21 days. After 29 more days, he removed the covering of the ark. At the same time, the earth had dried completely.
Finally, he left the ark with his family and the animals after 57 days.
- He was the first drunk.
We learned earlier that Noah was a farmer. Thus, we can assume he mastered soil cultivation. Because of this, he planted a vineyard.
He made wine out of it and drank it. Unfortunately, he got drunk and stayed in his tent naked. How ironic isn’t it? The man God called “righteous” and “perfect” fell into sin.
- He cursed his son Ham.
His son Ham saw his naked father in the tent. He told his brothers. Shem and Japheth brought with them a cloth to cover their father’s body. Together, they carried him out, covering their eyes.
Later, Noah woke up and saw Ham. Since it was a mortal sin to see one’s father naked, he cursed his son. That is, Ham would become a slave to his brothers.
Years passed. This curse resulted in the first fight between Canaanites and the Semites. The former were the descendants of Ham and Canaan. Meanwhile, the latter was of Shem.
- He died 350 years after the flood.
Genesis 9:29 says that Noah lived for 950 years. Then, he died.
Earlier, we learned that he finished building the ark at the age of 600. Hence, the 350-year period before he died makes sense.
Short Bio
Heroes 2: The Game is a Bible trivia game released by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Hope Channel. It is a sequel to the game, Heroes, which was released way back in 2013. The latest game version is on its new 3D animation, comes with unique features, and has more challenging Bible questions in four languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. The game is available on both iOS and Android.
