Noah

I'm re-reading the entire Bible in my devotional time with the Lord. Currently, I'm in the Book of Genesis, and this morning I read chapters 6-9 which contains the story of Noah. Noah's story is such an interesting story on many levels. Aside from Bill Cosby's routine on Noah, we don't know much about his personality or character. We know that "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time" (Gen 6:9) and that he had three sons and a wife. We know that Noah was obedient to every detail given by God in building the ark (Gen 6:22, 7:5). Noah was also the last person to live over 500 years.

What's interesting to consider about Noah is his patience as well as his response after the flood.

We read in chapters 6, 7 and 8 of Noah's patience. He built the ark according to every detail from God and brought all the animals on to the boat as God instructed. Both of those tasks must have taken a really long time to complete. We don't know for sure how long. From the time Noah entered the ark until the earth was completely dry was 375 days. That's a long time to be couped up with your family and a bunch of animals! Imagine Noah's sons asking, "Are we there yet?" for a year!

The Bible also tells us that Noah was "a man of the soil" (Gen 9:20). God's Word goes on to tell us that Noah planted the first vineyard recorded in the Bible, drank its wine, got drunk and passed out naked. The Bible doesn't clarify, but I wonder if this was a one time (perhaps the first time?) thing or if it was a regular occurrence for Noah. Either way, it's an interesting thing for Noah to do considering what he's been through. For such a great man (Hebrews 11:7), his drunken stupor and condemnation of his son's ancestry are the last recorded acts of Noah's life. I guess I'd want my life's record to end on a little more positive note than that if I'd been the forefather of all human civilization.