This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. – Genesis 6:9

Today's Scripture Reading (August 7, 2024): Genesis 6

In ancient times, it was very common for names to mean something. Later in the book of Genesis, we will meet a man named Abram; the name Abram means "Exalted Father." The name turns out to be a bit of a cruel joke because, for most of the story, Abram is not a father. As much as Abram and Sarai want children, their cradle is bare. A little later in the story, God seems to play an even crueler joke on Abram by renaming him Abraham, which means "Father of Multitudes," but even at the point of this name change, Abraham is still not a father to anyone. However, in the story of Abraham, the name is essential because it is part of a prophecy. The cradle might be empty in the home of Abraham and Sarah, but when they are long past childbearing years, Sarah will get pregnant. Abraham accepts by faith what the wise of his day would call foolishness. One day, Abraham would be not just be an "Exalted Father," but the "Father of Multitudes."

After the Exodus, the nation is led by a man named Joshua. Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies who believed they should possess the Promised Land forty years earlier. They both felt that, despite the opposition present in Canaan, God had a plan and that with God on the side of Israel, Israel could not be defeated. In this, Joshua lived up to his name; Joshua means "God is Salvation." God would save the people if they just trusted in him. The name Jesus is a variant of Joshua; Jesus also means "God is Salvation." Names were powerful, and to know someone's name was often thought to be able to exercise control over the person.

In the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the early creation stories of the ancient world, the hero is named "Utnapishtim," which means "The attainer of everlasting life." And the significance is the same for Utnapishtim as it was for Abraham. It seems that as the gods are raging and plotting the downfall of the human race, the hero's name is nothing more than a cruel joke; Utnapishtim is a weak target of the gods. But as the story goes on, we find the hero's name is very appropriate.

So, a good question as we begin the story of Noah might be, what does this hero's name mean? Are you ready for the answer? We don't know. There does not seem to be any known meaning to the name Noah. It would be like me telling you a joke and starting the story with, "A guy walks into a bar." If you stopped me at this point and asked, "What is the guy's name?" I would probably reply, "Just a guy; it really doesn't matter to the joke who the guy was; he just walks into a bar." Noah is that guy. And as much as the story of Noah is about Noah, it is also not about Noah.

The story is about a God who, while bothered by the wickedness of people, is also a God of compassion and love. "So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." (Genesis 6:13-14). The story begins with God telling a guy to build a massive boat. Noah becomes a placeholder, a cardboard cut-out. It could have been anybody willing to trust in the God of our Salvation and build the boat. It just happened that that trusting guy was Noah.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 7