The Women of the Ark

Have you ever considered what you would do if face with a choice like that of the Ark? 

There is this crazy 500 year old man, who is saying a flood was coming. A flood? What was that? It probably sounded to far fetched to be true, and to top it all off he is building this big boat in the middle of nowhere. His family is going right along with him. But everyone else thought he was crazy. Then if that wasn't crazy enough animals of all kinds just started appearing at this huge monstrosity of a thing. Seven of some kinds and 2 of others. Strange, but would it be strange enough to make you act? Would you decide to follow Noah? Remember the only information the people around Noah had was what Noah himself was saying, That crazy guy!

Why did his family believe and trust him? There are many instances in the Bible where family members didn't follow the God fearing person, and it got them into trouble. Yet Noah's wife, Sons and their wives all believed and trusted Noah, and entered the Ark with him. 

So what can we learn from these women of the Ark? Who were they and what kind of life might they have had on the Ark? 

Here is the lesson I wrote about these women. I hope you enjoy reading it. Let me know what you think. 

Women of the Ark

 In the Bible (Genesis 6:18, 7:1, 7, 13; 8:16, 18; 2 Peter 2:5), the women who were in the ark are not named. Noah and his sons Shem, Japheth, and Ham all had wives. It is believed they were included in the righteousness of Noah as 2 Peter 2:5 states. This would seem to indicate that they lived according to the way Noah lived, or they probably would not have been included in the ark.

It took 75 years for Noah to build the ark, it does not say that he had help, but I imagine that his wife had to have had a hand in the construction, if only in the way of encouragement to her husband. She had to have had a lot of faith to stay with him. It is the same with the wives the sons had, they had to have faith to believe their fathers-in-law’s preaching, when even their own parents obviously didn’t.

Many times, it is taught that it hadn’t rained before the flood, and that Noah was laughed at for building a boat. People thought he was crazy is what is taught, that cannot be proven from the Bible. In Hebrews 11:7, it says God warned Noah of things he had not seen which caused him to be moved with fear to prepare the ark. This is where people believe he had never experienced rain, but it could mean flooding also. There had never been a flood like that before and will never be one like it again, hence the rainbow. So, the people just thought he was a crazy old preacher trying to scare them into believing in a God they didn’t want to believe in. This is another example of faith that these women had to have had, can you imagine going to market and being whispered about, or laughed at because Noah was a crazy old coot!

Then, they were told by God to take not just 2 of each animal on the ark, but 7 of the clean animals and 2 each of the unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the earth. He told them to go in the ark and He (God) shut the door and sealed it. They were in the ark 7 days before the flooding started, and the rain lasted 40 days and 40 nights. Everything on the earth died but those in the ark were saved. Imagine being in the ark, those women listening to the animals, the waves, the rain, the screams of those outside the ark, banging to get in. What faith they must have had.

They were in the ark a little over a year, 370 days, before God told them it was safe to leave the ark and opened the door. That is a long time to be secluded in a small space. The ark was not small really, but I am sure it could have become small feeling, not being able to see much outside, there was only one small window. The smells, the sounds, how much can a person take of that? What faith!

Then upon leaving the ark, it was up to these wives of Noah’s sons to replenish the earth with people. It was their lives that would now be ancestors, witnesses, and teachers of the new generations. What would they teach them, could they leave a legacy of faith?

These women of the ark were unnamed but not unseen. They had to have a lot to offer for God to be willing to use them in such a mighty way. They were so small not to be mentioned by name but so strong to endure the flood and become the mothers of the nations we know today. Just think about the faith they had and the example they can be to us and future women of God.

 

How do you see these women of the ark? How would you describe their character?

 

What stands out for you about their story?

 

What can we learn from these women?

 

Do you think you could have been on the ark the way these women were? 

 

Thanks for reading. God Bless You!