Ladies of the Bible Week 1 Day 3 - Noah's Wife
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Week 1 Day 3
Noah’s Wife
“But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”
Genesis 6:18 NKJV
“So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.”
Genesis 7:7 NKJV
“On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—”
Genesis 7:13 NKJV
““Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”
Genesis 8:16 NKJV
“So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.”
Genesis 8:18 NKJV
Those five verses seem kind of “uninspiring” don’t they? They seem to be the average, everyday kind of words. And, honestly, they don’t even seem worth a devotional. Yet, here they are. These are the only five verses that I’m aware of that mention Noah’s wife. She is not even named. Some would skip over her, many have, but I feel the need to dive as deep as we possibly can into her life’s story. She had a story, you know.
She and her husband had lived a good life, following God, raising three boys, they probably had grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She probably cooked dinner the day before Sabbath and the family all came around on Sabbath to eat and talk about God and His goodness. Then, one day, her husband came home: “Hun,” he probably started out, “God and I talked today.” I’m sure she looked up from her housework and listened as he continued to explain what God had said. “He told me to build this thing, a grand thing… He said He is going to destroy the Earth.” I can imagine, being godly people, that they both were somber, they may have even spent time in prayer, crying and repenting for the people of the Earth.
She spent the next little while of their life living faithfully by her husband’s side, following him as He followed God, even when everyone else laughed at them. She then lived on the Ark with her family and the animals; I’m sure she lost friends in the Flood, ones she loved dear, people she prayed daily for. Yet, she didn’t look back. She kept doing the next right thing.
We know she was faithful. We know she was obedient to godly authority. We know she trusted.
I know I’ve assumed the role as story teller here and I’m sure I’ve missed a thing or two. But, I love her story and here is why:
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In order to really think anything about her, we MUST rely on what we know of God. We know God called Noah a perfect man in his generation; we know God is all powerful, and if Noah’s wife wasn’t suitable for the Ark, God could have replaced her. But He saw fit to keep her in the story. Relying on God is our goal; knowing Him better is our reason for studying the Bible. The characters in these stories are all good and great, but are worthless if they don’t lead us to a deeper walk with Jesus.
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We don’t know her name; it may seem harsh, but listen to this. We don’t need our name on bulletin boards to be a part of God’s Kingdom. We don’t need everyone to know our name for God to know us. God saw her and saw fit to recognize that she was there by Noah’s side. While theologians can argue her name, we can rest assured knowing that we know the only NAME that matters, Jesus.