Noah: Man of Resolve

by Tim Chaffey

  Chapter 15: In this chapter, Emzara has a nightmare of having her child taken from her, and then she is forced to watch as the child is sacrificed to the serpent idol. While this was just a dream for her, the Ark Encounter depicts a similar scene in the Pre-Flood World exhibit on the second deck. There is a large diorama featuring a pagan temple with people offering their small children as sacrifices to the serpent god.

  Chapter 16: While traveling to Havil to find out whether their suspicions about Lamech were correct, Noah is shown working on a map of the coastline they are sailing past. This map and a wider map of the world can be seen hanging on a wall in Noah’s study on the Ark’s second deck.

  Chapter 17: In this chapter, Noah and Emzara witness two strange creatures involved in a clash. Dinosaur lovers may have recognized the creatures being described as pachycephalosaurs. These dinosaurs are usually recognized by the large bony crest on top of their skulls. It is generally believed that these were used for sparring with other males, perhaps to earn the right to mate with the females in the group. Two pachycephalosaurs can be seen in one of the cages on the Ark’s second deck, although they are juveniles at this point, so they have not yet grown the large bony crest.

  Chapter 23: In one of the more disturbing moments of the book, Naamah announced the institution of ritual prostitution during their annual serpent ceremony. The people were told that they could engage in a high form of worship by uniting with one of the temple prostitutes. These sorts of religious practices were quite common in the ancient world. The pagan temple diorama from the Pre-Flood World exhibit, mentioned above in the chapter 15 description, shows people meeting outside of some rooms on the side of the temple, and it is apparent that they are there to take part in ritual prostitution.

  Chapter 25: While Noah is walking with his grandfather Methuselah, he thinks about the widespread wickedness in the world contrasted with the many wonderful things to see in creation. In Noah’s Study on the second deck of the Ark, people can ask questions of the animatronic Noah figure. In two separate responses, he references the world having been such a beautiful place but now had been overrun with corruption. To hear these responses, ask Noah what the world was like before the Flood and why his globe only has one land mass.

  Chapter 30: As Noah is being led through the old city square and is distraught over how decadent Iri Geshem has become, a man tries to persuade Noah to purchase an idol from him. Noah puts out an arm and turns away. An illustration conveying this scene can be found in the Who Was Noah? exhibit on the Ark’s second deck.

  Chapter 32: In the dramatic sequence when Tubal-Cain is forced to choose between serving the Creator or saving his wife, we describe a unique creature that is brought into the arena. We called it a pithoct, but the creature being described is known to us today as a thylacosmilus. This cat-like animal featured two large saber-like teeth and grew to about the size of a jaguar. They are thought to have been marsupials, so the females may have had pouches. The Ark Encounter features two of these very cool-looking creatures on the second deck.

  Chapter 33: After his arrest, Noah is brought into the arena where he encounters two foes that no one would ever want to encounter in such a situation. The guard who drags him into the arena is a giant warrior, but the more terrifying creature is what comes through the door moments later. The “horned grendec” seen on the book’s cover is based on a carnotaurus, a T. rex-like dinosaur with horns on its head. The Pre-Flood World exhibit on the second deck features a large arena diorama featuring this dinosaur and a giant guard. The arena in Iri Geshem is described as being quite a bit larger than the one shown in the Ark. Also, if you visit the Ark Encounter, take a very close look at the giant in that diorama. One of the authors of this book, Tim, posed for the images used to 3D print the giant, so the character looks just like him.

  Borrowed from the Bible

  Since the Bible does not give us many details about Noah’s life, we needed to use artistic license to tell the story. To keep the story more closely tied to the Bible, we decided to borrow and slightly adapt some concepts found in elsewhere in Scripture and work them into Noah’s story.

  Major spoiler alert! Do not read this section unless you have first read the novel.

  Chapter 23: In the serpent ceremony in Havil, Lamech boasted about killing a young man who wounded him. Of course, this plotline goes all the way back to the first chapter of the first book and forms the basis of Aterre’s tragic story. He was the young man who wounded Lamech in self-defense. This boast of Lamech is taken directly from Genesis 4:23–24.

  Chapter 23: During the same speech mentioned above, in response to being called a murderer, Lamech boasted about being the most powerful man in the world, although he was unable to finish his sentence because a violent earthquake interrupted him. This concept of judgment immediately falling on a boastful king is found in the Bible. In Daniel 4:28–33, Nebuchadnezzar boasted about all that he accomplished even though he had been warned to humble himself, and immediately God caused Nebuchadnezzar to live like a beast for seven years. In the New Testament, Herod Agrippa gave a speech causing the people to hail him as a god. We are told in Acts 12:20–24 that he failed to give glory to God, so an angel of the Lord immediately struck him so that he was eaten by worms and died.

  Chapter 25: After our story jumps forward 450 years, we learn that Noah and Emzara are still childless and that they have been praying for a child throughout those centuries. Of course, if you are familiar with the account of Noah in the Bible, you know that he will eventually have three sons. The idea of a barren couple praying for a child is not uncommon in Scripture. Hannah prayed for a son and eventually gave birth to Samuel (1 Samuel 1:10–11). We do not specifically read about Abraham and Sarah praying for a child, but we know they longed for a son, and even though they tried to fulfill God’s plan in a different way, Abraham trusted the Lord (Genesis 15:1–6). Our story probably parallels the experience of Zacharias and Elizabeth in the New Testament. She was barren and both were advanced in years. When Zacharias entered the temple to fulfill his priestly duties, an angel appeared to him and announced that his prayer had been heard and that he and Elizabeth would have a son. Unlike Noah in our story, Zacharias did not believe at first and was struck with muteness until his son, John the Baptist, was born (Luke 1:5–25).

  Chapter 26: In our story, when God appeared to Noah in a vision, we borrowed several ideas from other portions in Scripture. The Lord opened by saying, “Do not be afraid, Noah, for you are greatly loved.” Many times in Scripture when God or an angel appears to a person, the first words often spoken are, “Do not be afraid” (see Genesis 15:1 and Matthew 28:5 for some examples). The line about being “greatly loved” comes directly from Daniel, who was told multiple times by an angel that he was greatly loved (Daniel 9:23, 10:11, 19). Since Noah is described as being righteous, like Job and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20), we thought it was fitting for Noah to hear from God that he was greatly loved too. Finally, when Noah replies to God, he begs forgiveness for daring to ask a question. We borrowed this concept from Genesis 18 where Abraham pleaded with God to not be angry with him for asking about possibly sparing the city of Sodom on behalf of a certain amount of righteous people that might be found in it (Genesis 18:22–33).

  Chapter 26: After the Lord appeared to Noah in our story, Noah tripped over a stone and knocked it loose from the ground. He decided to stack several rocks together as a way of remembering the place where God spoke to Him. Jacob did something similar to this in Genesis 28:18. He stood one stone on end and poured oil on top of it after the Lord appeared to him during the night in a dream. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the land promised to them, God instructed them to take 12 stones from the river and set them up as a memorial to what He had done for them (Joshua 4).

  Chapter 31: When the city of Iri Geshem is taken over by the Havilites, one of the first rules they make is that everyone must bow down to an image of Nachash. Of course, the city council made su
re that Noah was in attendance, knowing full well that he would refuse to bow and they would have an excuse to arrest him. This scenario is quite similar to the situation faced by Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in Daniel 3. They refused to bow and were subsequently thrown into the fiery furnace. In our story, Noah refuses to bow to the statue, so he is arrested and eventually brought into the arena, presumably to meet his doom.

  Chapter 33: In another scene reminiscent of the Book of Daniel, Noah finds himself in the coliseum being ordered to bow before a false god or face what would seem to be certain death. In Daniel 6, King Darius signs a law forbidding anyone to petition any man or god over the next 30 days, or they would be thrown into the lion’s den. The entire plot was a setup by the Medo-Persian governors and satraps who were envious of Daniel. They knew Daniel would refuse to follow such a law, and after he continued praying to the true God, they brought him before the king who reluctantly ordered for him to be thrown into the den of lions. The Lord miraculously delivered Daniel, and those who accused him were then thrown into the lion’s den. Similarly, in our story, Noah is delivered from a terrifying beast while some of those calling for his death met their own end.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for continuing our tale of Noah’s life, as we have imagined it. As you probably know by now, one of our goals in this series is to encourage readers to carefully study the Bible so that they can rightly discern fiction and biblical fact. And the main reason we want readers to examine Scripture is so that they might learn the most important message we could ever tell — the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins, was buried, and then conquered death by rising on the third day.

  As we explained in the first book, Noah could not have known all of these details since he lived long before they occurred. However, the Bible describes Noah as a righteous man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Even though he lived in an extremely wicked world, he faithfully completed the tasks that God gave him, and he trusted that God would remain true to His promises.

  We also live in a time when many people are opposed to God’s truth. In an effort to make the gospel message more appealing, some Christians teach that trusting in Jesus will make everything better in this life. While God does grant joy and peace to believers, Jesus taught His followers to deny themselves (Luke 9:23) and to consider the cost of following Him (Luke 14:25–29). We are also told that godly people will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).

  In the climactic chapters of our book, Noah and Tubal-Cain refused to compromise their faith in the Creator even in the face of death. Serving God was more important than life itself. The same can be said of those who follow Jesus today. We understand that He gave His life on the Cross for us and grants eternal life to those who trust in Him, so His followers should be willing to give up everything for Him. This commitment to follow Him at all costs is not derived from efforts to obtain salvation. It is rooted in a desire to love and serve Him because He has first loved us and obtained salvation for us (1 John 4:15–19).

  What about you? Have you placed your faith in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ, and are you willing to stand for Him no matter the cost? The reward of serving Him makes it all worthwhile.

  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

  About the Authors

  Tim Chaffey is the Content Manager for the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. A former pastor and teacher, Tim is also a leukemia survivor and competes in half-marathons with his wife and son while his daughter cheers them on. He has earned advanced degrees specializing in apologetics, theology, and church history. Tim maintains a popular blog (www.midwestapologetics.org/blog), contributes regularly to Answers magazine and the Answers in Genesis website, and has authored over a dozen books, including The Truth Chronicles series and In Defense of Easter: Answering Critical Challenges to the Resurrection of Jesus.

  K. Marie Adams has an obsession with words that once resulted in her being grounded for reading too much. Later, it served her well as she worked for many years at a bookstore and as a literature and grammar instructor. Now, as a graphic designer, her love of language goes by the fancy name of typography. K. Marie also volunteers for several ministries dedicated to rescuing young girls from modern-day slavery.