Topical Bible: Ark: Noah's: Noah and Family Preserved In

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The Ark of Noah is a central element in the biblical narrative of the Great Flood, as recorded in the Book of Genesis. This vessel was divinely designed and constructed to preserve Noah, his family, and representatives of the animal kingdom from the catastrophic deluge that God sent to cleanse the earth of its widespread corruption and violence.

Divine Instructions and Construction

God, seeing the wickedness of humanity, decided to bring a flood upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which was the breath of life. However, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord due to his righteousness and blamelessness among his contemporaries (Genesis 6:8-9). God instructed Noah to build an ark of gopher wood, specifying its dimensions and features: "The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high" (Genesis 6:15). It was to have a roof, an entrance on the side, and three decks.

Preservation of Life

Noah was commanded to bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature, male and female, to keep them alive with him, along with seven pairs of every kind of clean animal and bird (Genesis 6:19-20, 7:2-3). Additionally, Noah was to gather sufficient food for his family and the animals. Noah's obedience to God's commands is emphasized: "And Noah did everything that the LORD had commanded him" (Genesis 7:5).

The Flood and Deliverance

When Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives entered the ark, God Himself shut them in (Genesis 7:16). The floodwaters came upon the earth for forty days, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters prevailed for 150 days, covering even the highest mountains (Genesis 7:17-20). During this time, all living creatures outside the ark perished, but Noah and those with him were preserved.

Covenant and New Beginning

After the floodwaters receded, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah and his family, along with the animals, disembarked to a cleansed earth. God established a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy all life with a flood. The rainbow was set as a sign of this covenant (Genesis 9:11-13).

The account of Noah's Ark serves as a powerful testament to God's judgment against sin, His mercy in providing a means of salvation, and His faithfulness in preserving life. Noah's Ark remains a symbol of divine deliverance and the hope of new beginnings.

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Genesis 6:18
But with you will I establish my covenant; and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
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Genesis 7:8
Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creeps on the earth,
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Matthew 24:38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
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Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
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1 Peter 3:20
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
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Library

Concerning the Flood; and after what Manner Noah was Saved in an ...
... Now this ark had firm walls, and a roof, and was braced with cross beams, so that
it could not be any way ... And thus was Noah, with his family, preserved. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 3 concerning the flood.htm

Of the Era in Abraham's Life from which a New Period in the Holy ...
... flooded the whole world, there remained but the one family of Terah in ... of the flood
before God began to speak to Noah about the building of the ark, it is ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 12 of the era in.htm

Jewish Chronology.
... which Abraham sojourned, and the entire family descended from ... the dimensions and
relics of this ark are, as ... to specify those who, anterior to Noah, were both ...
/.../hippolytus/the refutation of all heresies/chapter xxvi jewish chronology.htm

Chapter vi
... instruction that it is only he and his immediate family who are to be privileged
to enter the ark. ... Noah is to know very exactly how many are to share in ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter vi.htm

Chapter ix
... Since now the sons of Noah are going to be ... of the three great branches of the human
family, they are ... mentioned, and their going forth from the ark is connected ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter ix.htm

Questions.
... What was the prophecy of Noah?"Gen. ... How did David regulate the service before the
Ark? 19. ... was his adopted son of another branch of David's family, or else ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/questions.htm

City of God
... Animals Which Were Preserved, Through the Deluge, in the Ark. ... Derived from the Stock
of Adam or Noah's Sons. ... Called Hebrew, from Heber, in Whose Family It Was ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/

The First Epistle of St. Peter
... Hebrew thought also associated the building of a house with a family, as in 1 ... out
during the construction of the ark in the days of Noah the ark by which ...
/.../moffat/the general epistles james peter and judas/the first epistle of st.htm

Chapter v
... Such communion with God went hand in hand with raising a family and begetting ... In
reality Noah did this by preserving the small godly remnant in the ark. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter v.htm

The Book of Jubilees
... the names and number of the members of Jacob's family that came ... on Mount Lubar, the
part of Ararat on which the ark grounded, and where Noah was afterwards ...
//christianbookshelf.org/deane/pseudepigrapha/the book of jubilees.htm