The Story of Noah: An Example for Our Time Based on Contributions From Jake Monson
T he account begins in the Gar- den of Eden: After Adam and Eve sinned, God explained to Adam that the ground was cursed (Genesis 3:17). Before their sin, the ground yielded its fruit without any need for hard labor. When Adam’s son Cain murdered his brother Abel God cursed the ground again, making it even less productive when man worked it (Genesis 4:12). Earth’s soil was cursed twice, only two generations into mankind’s existence. Mankind did not get off to a very good start and the next several gen- erations just continued along the same general trend. TWO LINES FULL OF MEANING There are two main lines of Adam’s descendants in the Bible: Cain’s and Seth’s. Cain’s name essentially means “to get” or “gotten” (see Gen- esis 4:1), and his story represents the “getting” way of life. Cain gave offer- ings to God that were not accepted because he lived selfishly and sinful- ly—his actions culminating in the murder of his brother Abel. Cain’s descendants, like Lamech, became infamous, with Lamech even tak- ing multiple wives and committing murder (Genesis 4:19-23). In contrast, Seth’s descendants, start- ing with his son Enosh, sought God,
calling on the name of the Lord. This line produced notable figures like Enoch, a prophet who walked with God. Enoch begot a righteous man, a preacher of righteousness, and a faithful servant. This man’s name was Noah. In Genesis 5:28- 29, it states: Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son. And he called his name Noah, saying, ‘This one will comfort us...’ The name Noah means “comfort.” But what was Noah comforting them in? “...concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Noah was to bring comfort to man. As time passed, violence continued and filled the Earth. Powerful men known as the nephilim—meaning bullies or tyrants—took whatever they wanted, including wives not given to them by God. God had enough of mankind’s sin and gave them a 120-year warning before destroying the Earth with a flood. This was a sign of God’s grace, giving people time to repent and re- turn to Him. God has always worked this way with humanity throughout time. If we create a timeline with Adam’s
creation at year 0, Seth’s life began at year 130 and ended 912 years later at year 1042. Seth’s family line start- ed off better than Cain’s. God told Adam in Genesis 2:17, “the day you eat of it you will surely die.” This was a dual warning: Sin would lead to death, and humans would not live to see 1,000 years (II Peter 3:8). Adam and his descendants all died within a 1,000-year period. When we look at Seth’s line, Enoch stands out, dying relatively young at the age of 365. This is only about 30-40% of the life expectancy at the time. Jewish tradition claims that Enoch invented writing but was also killed by Lamech (one of Cain’s de- scendants, Genesis 4:19). Genesis 4:23 corroborates Lamech’s confes- sion of having killed a man. Enoch was a preacher of righteous- ness, and because of his closeness with God, God took him without allowing him to experience the pain or fear of death (Deuteronomy 34:6). This is similar to how God lat- er took Moses. Enoch’s son, Methuselah, lived to be 969 years old—the longest recorded human lifespan. His name means “it will come,” and the irony is that he died when it came: The Flood. The flood occurred in the 1656th year since creation, precisely 120 years after God’s warning to Noah.
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