OT Characters: Noah

For more notes and resources check out Douglas' website.

Hebrew words:

• Noach (Noah) -- rest
• Sheth (Seth) -- sounds like Hebrew for set, granted

Further study:

• Biblical:
  • Jude 14; Ezekiel 14:14,20; Matthew 24; Luke 17; Hebrews 11:1-7; 1 Peter 3:19ff; 2 Peter 2:5.
  • Verses mentioned in passing: 1 Peter 4:4; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Hebrews 13:15; Proverbs 22:6.
  • About the extreme longevities of Genesis 5, click here.
• Extrabiblical:
  • On parenting, see Principle Centered Parenting. The four "impossible" things in Hebrews are found in chapters 6, 10, and 11. Can you find them?
  • For more on Genesis, see my book Origins.
  • Take a look at the apocryphal and pseudepigrahal book of 1 Enoch.
  • In the Sibylline Oracles 175-233 Noah makes an impassioned speech condemning the people and announcing the imminent flood -- such a tradition may be reflected in 2 Peter 2:5. Yet, as Longman and Walton observe in The Lost World of the Flood, p.74, "... textual evidence argues against Noah engaging in evangelistic activity. Noah was instructed precisely who would be brought on the ark, and space was made for eight passengers. No others are anticipated or given opportunity."

Some things we learn about God:

• God hates violence (Malachi 2:16 etc). Violence was the trigger for the great flood. In our worldly society, we have been desensitized to violence, but this is something the Lord takes most seriously.
• God is patient. He gives the people 120 years before sending the Flood -- more time to repent. (Unless this means the average lifespan is being shortened to 120 years. Or that 120 years is an idealized [not actual] age.)
• God judges sin. The Flood is like chemotherapy; there is grace even in judgment.
• Even a God-fearing man may have a child who is not God-fearing. Each is held accountable for his own decisions. (See Ezekiel 18:1-32.)

For kids:

• God keeps his promises.
• By obeying God, we are saved, and we can save others, too.

Key verses:

• 6:9 -- Noah was a "blameless" man, and yet
• 9:21 -- he sinned (like all of us).
• 8:1 -- This verse is the exact center of the flood account, which is written in a chiastic pattern.

Next lesson: Abraham