The Bible reveals that Noah's name means "relief" or "comfort" from all the hard work man has had to endure since the curse (Genesis 5:29). The "curse" referred to goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when man was condemned to a life of hard labor so that he could eat (Genesis 3:17 - 19).
At the age of 480, God told Noah something he suspected based upon his experiences in life. Man, for generations, had been sliding steadily into a life dedicated to plotting and carrying out evil against others. What may have been surprising, however, was God's solution to the situation. This solution entailed wiping mankind off the face of the earth (Genesis 6:5 - 7)!
God commanded Noah to build an ark and gave humans 120 years to repent before the floodwaters would come (Genesis 6:3). God’s warnings, however, went entirely ignored. The deluge drowned all humans then living, estimated to be around one billion. Only eight people total survived the floodwaters.
After the waters subsided and the eight people saved on the ark left it, God promised Noah, and all mankind, never again to exterminate humans through a flood. He gave the rainbow as a sign that he would keep his promise to all the generations of man (Genesis 9:12 - 13).
Important events and people in the life of Noah include God making a promise to him to save him and his family (Genesis 6:18) from a watery death. Those saved to repopulate the earth after the deluge include his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. After the flood God blesses him and makes a covenant with him, sealing his eternal promise with a rainbow.
Noah lives 350 years after the flood and dies at the great age of 950. Many years later, God stated that the righteous man he used to save mankind was one of the three most righteous people to have lived up to that time (Ezekiel 14:14, 20).
This man of God died just three years before the birth of our next person in this series of lessons. We will now learn about the life of someone who is considered the father of those faithful to God. His name is Abraham.
Important Noah Dates
2913 - Noah is born.
2433 - God commands Noah, at the age of 480, to begin building a large ark (Genesis 6). As a preacher of righteousness (2Peter 2:5) Noah, while building the ark for the next 120 years, calls on humanity to repent of their wickedness and turn to God.
And if God did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness, when He brought the Flood upon the world of the ungodly . . . The Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptation . . . (2Peter 2:5, 9, HBFV).
2313 - God causes the Great Flood (Genesis 6 - 8) which will kill at least two to three billion people!
1963 - Noah dies at the age of 950 (Genesis 9:29). He will ultimately become one of only seven people in history to live at least 900 years.