The Bible Says Noah Was Blameless Among the People of His Time

SOURCE: http://christianity.about.com/od/oldtestamentpeople/p/noahprofile.htm

Who Is Noah in the Bible?

In a world taken over by evil, violence and corruption, Noah was a righteous man. However, Noah wasn’t just a righteous man; he was the only follower of God left on the earth. The Bible says he was blameless among the people of his time. It also says he walked with God.

Living in a society saturated with sin and rebellion against God, Noah was the only man alive that pleased God. It’s hard to imagine such unwavering faithfulness in the midst of total godlessness. Over and over again, in the account of Noah’s life, we read, “Noah did everything just as God commanded.” His life of 950 years, exemplified obedience.

During Noah’s lifetime, the wickedness of man had covered the earth like a flood, so God decided to start over with Noah and his family. Giving very specific instructions, the Lord told Noah to build an ark in preparation for a catastrophic flood that would destroy every living thing on earth.

You can read a Bible story summary of Noah’s Ark and the Flood here.

The ark-building project took longer than the average lifespan today, yet Noah diligently accepted his calling and never wavered from it. Appropriately mentioned in the book of Hebrews “Hall of Faith,” Noah was truly a hero of the Christian faith.

Noah’s Accomplishments

When we meet Noah, we learn that he is the only follower of God remaining in his generation. After the flood, he becomes the second father of the human race. As an architectural engineer and shipbuilder, he put together an amazing structure, the likes of which had never before been built.

With the length of the project spanning 120 years, it was quite a notable achievement. Noah’s greatest accomplishment was his faithful commitment to obey and walk with God all the days of his life.

Noah’s Strengths

Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among the people of his time. This does not mean Noah was perfect or sinless, but he loved God with his whole heart and was fully committed to obedience. Noah’s life revealed qualities of patience and persistence, and his faithfulness to God did not depend on anyone else. His faith was singular and unshakable in an entirely faithless society.

Noah’s Weaknesses

Noah had a weakness for wine. In Genesis 9, the Bible tells of Noah’s only recorded sin. He became drunk and passed out in his tent, making himself an embarrassment to his sons.

Life Lessons

We learn from Noah that it is possible to remain faithful and please God even in the midst of a corrupt and sinful generation. Surely it wasn’t easy for Noah, but he found favor in God’s eyes because of his remarkable obedience.

God blessed and saved Noah just as he will faithfully bless and protect those of us who follow and obey him today. Our call to obedience is not a short-term, one-time call. Like Noah, our obedience must be lived out over a lifetime of faithful commitment. Those who persevere will finish the race.

The story of Noah’s drunken transgression reminds us that even the godliest people have weaknesses and can fall prey to temptation and sin. Our sins not only affect us, but they have a negative influence on those around us, especially our family members.

Hometown

The Bible doesn’t say how far from Eden Noah and his family had settled. It does say that after the flood, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, located in present-day Turkey.

References to Noah in the Bible

Genesis 5-10; 1 Chronicles 1:3-4; Isaiah 54:9; Ezekiel 14:14; Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 3:36 and 17:26; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5.

Occupation

Shipbuilder, farmer, and preacher.

Family Tree

Father – Lamech
Sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth
Grandfather – Methuselah

Key Verses

Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (NIV)

Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.(NIV)

Shem, Ham, and Japheth Renewed the Human Race

Noah had three sons according to the book of Genesis:  Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  After the Flood, these sons and their wives and their offspring repopulated the world.

Bible scholars debate over oldest, middle, and youngest.  Genesis 9:24 calls Ham Noah’s youngest son.  Genesis 10:21 says Shem’s older brother was Japheth; therefore, Shem had to be born in the middle, with Japheth being oldest.

The issue is confusing because birth order usually is the same as the order names are listed.  However, when the sons are introduced in Genesis 6:10, it’s Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Shem was probably listed first because it was from his line that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, descended.

It’s logical to assume the three sons and perhaps their wives helped build the ark, which took over 100 years.  Scripture does not give the names of these wives, nor of Noah’s wife.  Before and during the Flood, there is nothing to indicate Shem, Ham, and Japheth were anything but loyal, respectful sons.

The Defining Episode

Everything changed after the Flood, as recorded in Genesis 9:20-27:

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!
   The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.”
 He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
    May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God extend Japheth’s territory;
    may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
    and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” (NIV)

Canaan, the grandson of Noah, settled in the area that would later become Israel, the territory God promised to the Jews.  When God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, he ordered Joshua to wipe out the idolatrous Canaanites and take the land.

Noah’s Sons After the Flood

Shem means “fame” or “name.”  He fathered the Semitic people, which included the Jews. Scholars call the language they developed shemitic or semitic.  Shem lived 600 years.  His sons included Arpachshad, Elam, Asshur, Lud, and Aram.

Japheth means “may he have space.”  Blessed by Noah along with Shem, he fathered seven sons:  Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.  Their descendants spread to the coastlands around the Mediterranean and lived in harmony with Shem’s people.  This was a first hint that the Gentiles also would be blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ham means “hot” or “sunburnt.”  Cursed by Noah, his sons were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.  One of Ham’s grandsons was Nimrod, a mighty hunter, king over Babel.  Nimrod also built the ancient city of Nineveh, which later played a part in the story of Jonah.

The Table of Nations

An unusual genealogy occurs in Genesis chapter 10.  Rather than just a family tree listing who fathered whom, it details descendants “by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.” (Genesis 10:20, NIV)

Moses, the author of the book of Genesis, was making a point that explained later conflicts in the Bible.  Descendants of Shem and Japheth might be allies, but Ham’s people became enemies of the Shemites, such as the Egyptians and Philistines.

Eber, meaning “the other side,” is mentioned in the Table as a great-grandson of Shem.  The term “Hebrew,” which originates from Eber, describes a people who came from the other side of the Euphrates River, from Haran.  And so in Chapter 11 of Genesis we are introduced to Abram, who left Haran to become Abraham, father of the Jewish nation, which produced the promised Savior, Jesus Christ.

(Sources:  answersingenesis.org, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, general editor; Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Trent C. Butler, general editor; and Smith’s Bible Dictionary, William Smith, editor.)