GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GENESIS 6:10
10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Here is the chronology of the 120 years the God permitted before the coming of the flood (the dates are given in years after the creation):
1056 Birth of Noah
1536 God’s warning: 120 years left to man (Noah is 480)
1556 Birth of Japheth the elder brother (Gen. 10:21)
1558 Birth of Shem (see 1658 below)
1560 Birth of Ham (approximate)
1596 Midway point of the 120 years
1651 Death of Lamech
1656 Death of Methuselah
1656 Flood begins (Noah is 600)
1657 World dry once again
1658 Shem 100; birth of Arphaxad
We already considered the ages of Noah’s sons and their order of birth when we meditated on Genesis 5:32. To ask a question, had God told Noah about the 120 years that remained to man? We will, without insisting either way, explore this question just a little:
1, If Noah did not yet know about God’s command regarding the 120 years, then he decided on his own to find a young wife and begin to have children. This would have been his choice despite the terrible reality of the state of the believing church in his time, which was less than a handful of believers.
2, If Noah was told about God’s command, either by the Lord himself, or by an angel, or by one of the other remaining patriarchs, then he wanted to continue the human race already now, with the help of his father and grandfather as witnesses of God’s holy truth of the account of the creation, the tragedy of sin and the gospel promise of the Savior. In addition, the sons he had would have been a help to him in building the ark.
Of these, I think that the second is the more likely possibility, but I will not insist that it must be the case. Yet I will point out that this is also the conclusion of Professor Jeske (Genesis 1-11, p. 239), Professor Lawrenz (God’s Unique Judgment of the Flood, WLQ 71:4 p. 270) and of Dr. Martin Luther as well (LW 2:57).
Luther: “Just as before the Flood a new church begins in Paradise through Adam and Eve, who believed the promise, so at this point also a new world and a new church take their beginning from Noah’s marriage; it is the seedbed, as it were, of that world which is to endure until the end of the world.”
Now, in the New Testament, the Apostle writes, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). Once again his preaching is emphasized, as he went from place to place and condemned those who had abandoned the faith. But his sons, as they grew in wisdom and strength, were able to help him construct the very ship that would save their lives.
In that Hebrews passage we can hear echoes of the jeering Noah received from his neighbors and even from his own cousins about starting a family at this time. “How can you start a family now, when you’re five hundred, and yet you’ve been claiming that the world is about to end? What a joke!” But Jesus has the answer: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:37-39).
By starting his family now, at the approach of the face of the coming disaster, Noah was showing his faith. The first part of the making of the family is omitted, but we must imagine that he went and found a woman who either believed or was at least willing to listen to his preaching and become a believer (this is how my father-in-law met and married my sons’ grandmother). Perhaps she was part of the faithful line and had not yet fallen away; a young cousin of Noah’s. She would have been told about the coming doom and (we imagine) bravely and faithfully agreed: “I will be the mother of the children who live after this.” Now, we do not remember her like Eve, because she was already sinful, and three other women joined her on the ark by marrying her sons. But she and Noah raised their boys in the faith of Adam, Seth, and Enosh. They trusted in God, and they did his work while they had time to do it.
In this way Noah was able to preserve the human race, which was God’s intention. This was done both spiritually and physically. But how can we be certain that all of Noah’s sons were believers? Here Moses helps us with the words of this verse. We were already told about Noah’s sons, but now, just after we are told that Noah was a righteous man, we are told again that he fathered these three sons. It was an act of faith to begin this family at this time, and Moses is showing us that he and his wife raised these young men in God’s word and in God’s way.
Permit me to quote Professor Lawrenz: “The repeated mention of the begetting of these three sons here, directly upon the statement of Noah’s faith and piety, would seem to mean that Noah showed himself as a devout believer, also in the begetting and rearing of these three sons. The very fact that it was not until his 500th year that he reared this family of three sons is certainly very striking. It is all the more striking when we consider that this was twenty years after God’s announcement of the final 120 years of grace. The strong implication is there that righteous Noah reared his family in devout obedience to a divine mission assigned to him. Through his sons the human race was to be preserved in the midst of a universal judgment of God, so that God’s promised plan of salvation might after all go into fulfillment. That is what actually did happen.”
We do not get asked to show our faith in such dramatic ways, but we are asked to show our faith according to God’s plan in the moment in which we live. It might be that some of your friends or co-workers live sinful, even wicked lives. You do not, or you have struggles but go to your Savior in repentance. Do not be afraid to stand up for Jesus! Noah was mocked for his faith, but God saw his faith and cherished that man. God cherishes you, too. He loves you. He shows this in the forgiveness you already have in Jesus, and in the way he preserves you day by day, and guides your life with his word. “My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 17:5-6). May God guard your steps.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Now on Spotify: “God’s Word for You with Pastor Tim Smith”
Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/. Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Genesis 6:10 A family, now?