Lessons from Noah

Genesis 7:5 “And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him”

In the first chapters of Genesis, the Earth has many generations of people living on it by now, but Noah’s family is the only ones that are following the Lord. The rest of the people at this time were unrighteous and wicked. Corruption, evil, and slander filled the hearts and minds of creation. Sadly, the Lord needed to send flood waters to destroy everything and start over. 

To protect Noah, his family, and hundreds of animals from the Flood, the Lord told Noah to build an ark. The Lord was very detailed in His instructions. This ark was going to have to survive both flood waters and housing all the animals for several weeks so it had to be built to withstand a lot. Would the boards creak with the weight of the large animals shifting in their pens? Did the brothers each have their own jobs and chores? What would Noah’s wife cook and how did she manage all the food for her family and all the animals? 

As I was rereading through Genesis 7, I realized that Noah was actually surviving on the ark for almost an entire year!  There were several days when they just had to wait until it was safe enough to return to the land. There was shelter, food, and people on the ark. Noah was protected from the storm that took out all of creation. Everything that was left on the ground- houses, structures, farms, cattle, crops– was completely destroyed. The ground would be so saturated and muddy that it would be impossible to start building anything until the earth had dried up. The dirt would have to be worked and cultivated until it could grow plants again. The debris from trees, people, and animals that were left off the ark would be scattered across the earth from the currents and waves. 

Have you ever felt that it was safer to stay on your own ark? Maybe there is a storm raging around you, destroying the things that were familiar. Getting off of the ark took as much faith as building it did. It had been so long on the ark, that maybe the new normal for Noah was life on the boat. I think it would be scary to take that first step off of the ark after waiting for 365 days to do so. The world as they knew it was totally flipped upside down. Noah might have gotten comfortable on the ark. That was the place he built by hand and lived in for weeks after weeks. He endured storms, waves, rainfall, thunder and lightning, as the entire world was destroyed in the Flood. The family may have fought, argued, or complained, but at the end of it all Noah honored God by offering some of the animals as a sacrifice to show gratitude.

Genesis 8:20 “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” 

I cannot imagine what Noah learned and thought about while on the ark. Did he discover things about himself and his family? Did he talk to the animals? Did they play games together? What stories did they tell in the dark before dawn came again? When you have endured a personal storm, what are some things that you have learned or discovered? Another lesson we can learn from Noah is that we do not know how long our storm might last. The Flood waters did not fully recede until months after it stopped raining. No matter where you might be in your storm– hang on. 

I mentioned that at the end of it all, Noah wanted confirmation from God that it was safe to return back to the earth. I think Noah understood that God was looking out for him: from the very first day Noah got those directions to build the ark, to the final day when he planted his feet on the earth again– God had prepared Noah for this time.

Genesis 9:16 “When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember that everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

God blesses not just Noah, but his sons, their families, and their animals. God remembered Noah. In the midst of the conflict, evil, and slander going on in the world before the Flood, God was looking out for those who were righteous. He will not forget the faith you showed even when you may be going through a storm. Another lesson that we can learn from Noah is that blessings can be passed down onto the next generation. Because of Noah’s faith and obedience, his sons were blessed as they also followed in the path that Noah walked. The decisions you make now can help others later, even though they may not be as drastic as surviving on an ark for a year with a bunch of animals. The last lesson that I was thinking about when reading Genesis 7 was about Noah’s age. Noah lived to be 950 years old! You are never too old or too young for God’s plan, so always be ready and listening. Remember these lessons we can learn from Noah, and if there was something else that stood out to you, please add it in the comments!