Noah

Noah lived in a time when humanity had become thoroughly corrupt, and violence filled the earth. Yet Scripture declares that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. In a generation that had turned away from their Creator, Noah stood out as a beacon of faith and obedience.

When God decided to judge the world's wickedness through a catastrophic flood, He chose Noah to build an ark that would preserve righteous humanity and representatives of all animal life. God gave Noah detailed specifications for this massive vessel—450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high—and Noah obeyed exactly, despite having no previous experience with boat building and likely facing ridicule from his contemporaries.

For perhaps as long as 120 years, Noah worked on the ark while also serving as a preacher of righteousness, warning people of coming judgment. Yet despite decades of warning, only Noah's immediate family—his wife, three sons, and their wives—entered the ark when the time came. Noah gathered animals as God commanded, two of every kind and seven of the clean animals, demonstrating meticulous obedience to God's instructions.

When the floodwaters came, they covered even the highest mountains, and every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out. Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived. For over a year, Noah's family lived on the ark, caring for the animals and trusting God's promise of deliverance. When Noah finally sent out a dove and it returned with an olive leaf, he knew the waters were receding.

After leaving the ark, Noah's first act was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to God. God established a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood and setting the rainbow as a sign of this promise. God blessed Noah and his sons, commanding them to be fruitful and multiply and repopulate the earth.

Noah lived 350 years after the flood, dying at age 950. Through his three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—all the nations of the earth were populated. Noah's account demonstrates God's judgment against sin, His provision for the righteous, and His faithfulness to preserve His creation. Noah's faith, displayed through decades of obedient ark-building, has made him an enduring example of trusting God even when circumstances seem absurd.