Do you know who the real Noah was?
Everyone knows about Noah and the ark.
The story has been the subject of mystery plays in the Middle Ages, of movies, and of television shows such as Captain Noah and His Magical Ark. Noah and the ark have been the subject of board games, toys, children’s books, and nursery wallpaper. And there are even a handful of theme parks built around Noah and the ark.
But what do we really know about Noah? Not much that we can say for sure.
Noah was the grandson of Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, and father of Ham, Shem, and Japheth. We don’t know when Noah lived, but estimates range from 5,500 BC to 2,300 BC, putting him squarely in the Neolithic Period—the last part of the Stone Age when metal tools were becoming widespread, agriculture was developing, and humans began to domesticate animals.
Noah is remembered for having built an ark in preparation for a Great Flood that destroyed the world, with only Noah, his family, and a boatload of animals being saved. It’s a story told in the Bible and in the Quran. And similar stories are found throughout the world.
The Statler Brothers recounted the beginning of the Bible’s Noah story pretty well.
The Lord looked down from His window in the sky,
Said, "I created man, but I don't remember why.
Nothing but fighting since creation day.
I'll send a little water and wash ’em all away."
The Lord came down to look around a spell,
And there was Mister Noah behaving mighty well,
And that is the reason, the Scriptures record,
That Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
After Noah, his family, and animals got on the ark, a flood came that covered “all the high mountains.” When the waters receded, the ark rested “on the mountains of Ararat,” Noah opened the door, let the animals out, built an altar, and worshipped God.
God promised He would never again destroy the earth with a flood and gave the rainbow as a sign of that promise.
Noah is mentioned several times in the New Testament and praised in Hebrews as a hero of faith: “It was faith that made Noah hear God's warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith.”
There’s much more to the story of Noah—the animals, the ark, the Flood, the search, flood stories around the world, and the movie starring Russell Crowe opening on March 28. Read about Noah and more in Noah: The Real Story.
Everyone knows about Noah and the ark.
The story has been the subject of mystery plays in the Middle Ages, of movies, and of television shows such as Captain Noah and His Magical Ark. Noah and the ark have been the subject of board games, toys, children’s books, and nursery wallpaper. And there are even a handful of theme parks built around Noah and the ark.
But what do we really know about Noah? Not much that we can say for sure.
Noah was the grandson of Methuselah, the oldest man in the Bible, and father of Ham, Shem, and Japheth. We don’t know when Noah lived, but estimates range from 5,500 BC to 2,300 BC, putting him squarely in the Neolithic Period—the last part of the Stone Age when metal tools were becoming widespread, agriculture was developing, and humans began to domesticate animals.
Noah is remembered for having built an ark in preparation for a Great Flood that destroyed the world, with only Noah, his family, and a boatload of animals being saved. It’s a story told in the Bible and in the Quran. And similar stories are found throughout the world.
The Statler Brothers recounted the beginning of the Bible’s Noah story pretty well.
The Lord looked down from His window in the sky,
Said, "I created man, but I don't remember why.
Nothing but fighting since creation day.
I'll send a little water and wash ’em all away."
The Lord came down to look around a spell,
And there was Mister Noah behaving mighty well,
And that is the reason, the Scriptures record,
That Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
After Noah, his family, and animals got on the ark, a flood came that covered “all the high mountains.” When the waters receded, the ark rested “on the mountains of Ararat,” Noah opened the door, let the animals out, built an altar, and worshipped God.
God promised He would never again destroy the earth with a flood and gave the rainbow as a sign of that promise.
Noah is mentioned several times in the New Testament and praised in Hebrews as a hero of faith: “It was faith that made Noah hear God's warnings about things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a boat in which he and his family were saved. As a result, the world was condemned, and Noah received from God the righteousness that comes by faith.”
There’s much more to the story of Noah—the animals, the ark, the Flood, the search, flood stories around the world, and the movie starring Russell Crowe opening on March 28. Read about Noah and more in Noah: The Real Story.
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