There are so many amazing women named in the Bible. Eve, Sara, Rachel, Esther, Ruth, Mary. However, there is one important figure that we have to do some research on to find out what her name was. Like Eve, she was a mother of the human race. This woman is simply known as Noah’s wife. If you do just a little research outside the Bible, you will see that her name is most likely Naamah (pronounced Na-ah-mah). It just makes me feel better having a name for this woman. We don’t get a lot of insight into her life outside of the general story of the ark, but can you imagine?!
Noah’s wife is mentioned each time the Bible lists the people that were involved in the story. She is never mentioned by name, however. Neither are Noah’s son’s wives. But they, too, are mentioned each time. Take a moment and think back to the story of Noah and the ark. It is one of my daughter’s favorite stories. When she was afraid in a thunderstorm, she would crawl on my lap and I would tell her this story. And usually by the time I was done, she was comforted and the storm was ending.
Head on over to Genesis 6:9 and read the account of Noah and his family. You will miss so much if you don’t read it.
Right away in the story, we hear about how Noah was righteous among the men of the earth. We then read about how God was essentially disgusted with his creation, there is just this one family that is set apart. The human race was violent and wicked and corrupt. He decided that he was going to choose Noah and his family among all of the inhabitants of the entire world to save and start over with. What an honor! What a huge responsibility! And what do we hear about Noah and his family?
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22
The assumption I am making when I read this is that his family was in on this too. Knowing that God was about to destroy everything he created except this ONE family makes me think that they were led well by Noah, and they too were on the list of people worth saving. So what does all of this tell us about Noah’s wife? She was incredibly faithful.
She was faithful to Noah.
She stood by him and probably helped him in organizing, gathering, and building. It is widely thought that up to this point there had been no major rain - much less any flooding. For Noah to have been told from God that he was going to undertake building a large boat and that it was going to be made to float by a flood he would have had to have a family that stood beside him through all the work. Have you ever packed for a long road trip? My family loves doing stuff like this. One summer we went for six weeks camping around the USA. We loaded down our car, filled up the tank, and took off. Now, what most people don’t know is the amount of planning that had to go into that little trip. We planned financially and saved money so we could enjoy ourselves. We planned for lodging and campsites along the way. We planned for the stops we wanted to make along the way and all the sites to see. We planned for the different clothes we needed, the snacks we wanted in the car, and so many other minor things. This was three people in modern times that can stop by a Walmart and pick up whatever they forgot and it took months of planning. Imagine it being eight people and a ton of animals working toward what was going to be the end of the world as they knew it! I envision Noah’s wife calculating what everyone is going to eat and what supplies they needed for all the animals while the men were doing most of the physical labor. Oh, and Noah was 600 years old which means there is a good chance his wife was close to the same age!
She was faithful to God.
I don’t believe that Noah’s wife would have been chosen to be on the ark if she had not been a faithful believer. God was starting over and wanted the most faithful and pure start he could have. This would have been backward if Naamah had worshiped other gods or not truly believed what Noah was telling her came from the one true God. God knew that she was going to be one of four women responsible for starting the human race over again. She needed to be on His side with things.
The amount of faith it would have taken to listen to what Noah was saying, help him in preparation, and actually step onto the ark knowing that things were never going to be the same. Wow. My mind can’t comprehend it. I actually have a physical response to this thought. When I think about being in her shoes it makes my heart race! What an amazing example of faith.
This story focuses on a lot of physical details, but I wanted to share that insight with you. Just thinking about the faith of Noah’s wife - both to him and to God - makes me want to step up my game.
I know that my husband is happiest when we are on the same page. When we work as a team we can overcome so much. I would say we are healthier physically and emotionally when this happens. How can you come alongside your spouse or loved ones and show them that you believe they are living the life that God laid out for them?
I struggle with really giving myself time to align with God as well. Studying the Bible, taking time to really be in His presence, and truly talking to Him and worshiping Him are sometimes pushed to the side for normal everyday stuff. Since when is God less important? One of the things that I have been challenged to do is pray bold prayers. Our church is actually going through a time of challenging us to do that right now and journal our bold prayers and study bold prayers. How can you be more faithful to what God is telling you to do? Pray more? Serve more? Give more? Worship more?
The blessings that Noah’s wife - Naamah or otherwise named - was able to pass on to her family and future generations are directly related to her amazingly faithful life. I am so glad that when God looked down upon the world he saw at least one faithful family. He did amazing things with them and I know he can do the same with us if we are willing!
Comments