Article #3
You believe in Jesus Christ, but do you believe in Noah? This is where many Christians are uncertain about their faith. Was Noah symbolic, a myth, or a real person? Rather than being negative and reactionary, I choose to teach through an affirmative approach. We push people away by attacking them and their beliefs. While there is a place for pointing out flaws in logic, much better results can be obtained by building a positive case for our faith in Noah.
I believe that Noah was the father of all mankind. All life that was on land was destroyed (Genesis 7:4), so all people alive today belong to the same human race. The Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Cro-Magnons were also part of our family. There was no pre-Adamic race.
I believe that Noah was incredibly healthy. DNA research led by John Sanford from Cornell has demonstrated that each generation accumulates genetic mutations which cannot be reversed. Life on earth is limited and cannot go back more than 200 generations. No one since Noah has had as healthy a genetic makeup as Noah did. He lived a long and healthy life.
I believe that Noah was highly educated. He was home-schooled at the university level. His father Lamech and grandfather Methuselah were his personal tutors for six hundred years. Four other grandparents, going back seven generations, could confirm facts of history. Noah’s father knew Adam personally during the last 56 years of his life.
I believe that Noah was highly skilled. His knowledge was practical to the extent that he could oversee the construction of a nautical vessel on the scale of an ocean liner. Early megaliths such as Gobekli Tepe, the ziggurats, and the pyramids remain today as silent witnesses of the mystifying technical abilities of the children of Noah.
I believe that Noah could write. Noah’s grandfather wrote the Book of Enoch. Although highly corrupted in its present form, it was counted worthy of being quoted in the book of Jude, verse 14. The oldest document known to archeology is The Instructions of Shuruppak, which is attributed to the one who went through the Flood. So the oldest cuneiform document was written by Noah. The book of Genesis seems to be a compendium of ten toledots or written eyewitness accounts, the first one about Creation being written by God himself and handed over to Adam.
I believe that Noah was the first farmer and the first rancher. Civilization began in the Near East, also called southwest Asia. The earliest crops are found on the “hilly flanks” near Çayönü and Karacadag, a mere 150 to 250 miles downhill from the Mountains of Ararat. The earliest domesticated animals are also found in this region. The three major pottery types, Halaf, Samarra, and Hassuna, have been identified there. It makes sense that Noah is described as “a man of the soil” in Genesis 9:20, that he had experience caring for animals, and that his three sons would have inspired three unique cultural identities. Civilization spread out to the rest of the world from the “cradle of civilization”, the fertile region near the Mountains of Ararat.
I believe that Noah was a monotheist. His ancestors were. Although Abraham’s father Terah lapsed into idolatry, according to Joshua 24:2, Abraham was not the first monotheist. The Sumerian pantheon of gods was a deliberate corruption of monotheism. God’s remnant passed through Shem and Heber. Abraham is described as a Hebrew, which many believe refers back to the followers of Heber. It is difficult to believe that a resistance movement would not have existed before Abraham and that Abraham was not aware of his heritage.
I believe that Noah had exceptionally integrity. God describes Noah as righteous (Gen. 7:1), or in right standing before God, notably with respect to his generation. God described antediluvian society as corrupt, particularly in the area of violence. Violence can take many forms, such as oppression and persecution. While the Flood is remembered as judgment, it was also salvation for those believers who were probably on the verge of extinction. Noah taught his values to his children, and they would have prevailed for several generations, perhaps a hundred years, before being corrupted by natural tendencies.
I believe that Noah shared the same faith that we have today. In the faith hall of fame, Hebrews 11, Noah is listed after Abel and Enoch and before Abraham. It is written that Noah “became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (verse 7). These early believers looked forward by faith to the coming savior, as we look back on the finished work of the cross. “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Who has the greater faith, the one who sees and believes, or the one who believes without seeing (John 20:29)? Noah had great faith.
Share your faith in Noah.