Noah and the Ark

1829 Words4 Pages

Noah and the Ark

The story of Noah and the ark is probably one of the most read stories of the bible. Perhaps it is because of the great tragedy it portrays, or because it is a story of salvation. Noah and his family along with the animals were saved from the flood, while the other people and animals perished as a result of it.

Growing up the story of Noah and the ark was one of my favorites; Quite simply because of the drawings depicting the story. They appeared so beautiful, when after many years I'm realizing the whole of the story. The story of the destruction of mankind, and the story of regrowth. I chose this topic because I realized how little I really do know about Noah and the ark. I will relay the story of Noah and the ark as well as answer a couple questions I have. Who was Noah, and why was he chosen by God? What did he possess that God didn't see in others? I will also look at what was going on at the time as far as why God wanted to erase all of life. “The story of Noah and the ark is one of the most cherished episodes and the most terrifying.”(Readers Digest)

This paper is not going to explore the possibilities of building such an ark, or weather it was sufficient enough to hold all the animals Noah was to board. I will not be comparing different stories of the flood, although that would be interesting as well. I am going to look deeper into the story of Noah and the ark. I am looking for reasons for the flood, and reasons Noah was chosen for the task of building the ark.

Noah was the ninth decedent from Adam. Noah was the son of Lamech, and the grandson of Methuselah, and the great-grandson of Enoch who “walked with God”. Lamech called his son Noah as to say, “This one will console us for the pain of our hands' work from the soil which the Lord cursed.” (Genesis, pg 25)

Men began to increase in number.“ The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth and it grieved his to his heart.(Genesis 6:5-6) The LORD was going to wipe out the human race, the cattle, the crawling things and the fowl. God said “I regret that I have made them. (Genesis 6:7-8) The LORD found favor in the eyes of Noah. Noah was chosen by God to build an ark. Noah was chosen because he was a r...

... middle of paper ...

... the purpose that God commanded it, which was to save Noah and his family. This shows others that we too will be saved if we do as God commands.

The story of Noah is a story that should remind us that there are consequences for abusing God's laws. We are to remember that we all have a responsibility to abide by the laws God put forth. It is a story of salvation. Noah was saved as opposed to the others who died in the flood. The others didn't do as God commanded them.

As the LORD says in Jeremiah 18:7-8 “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.” It appears that the LORD would have allowed other people to repent and perhaps be saved from the flood, just like Noah.

I would assume that people made fun of Noah and his sons for building the ark. The other people, much like Noah had probably never seen rain, and therefore failed to believe that a flood was coming. These nonbelievers perished in the flood. It was to late for them to repent. They had their chance, but chose not to change their ways.

Open Document