We have two words for today that share the same root word. One of them is a name. Just like Adam’s name was from the root word for ground or dirt that fits where he came from. We find Noah’s name also has an interesting meaning that fits his story. And it is the word used the most in chapter eight. נֹחַ Noah the proper noun. It is used 45 times in the Old Testament, 7 times in Genesis chapter eight. Our other word is נחם regret, be sorry, console oneself, be comforted, to be grieved, to groan. It is used 108 times in the Old Testament. You may recall we have already looked at this word back in Genesis chapter six when God needed to be consoled or comforted because of the pain in his heart over those who had sinned against him. The sense we find here in Chapter eight has the idea of comfort or relief or if you will rest. So נֹחַ is a shortened word from נחם rest. This is what Noah’s name and experiences were all about. Before he was born his parents gave him this name. Genesis 5:28-29 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name נֹחַ Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us נחם relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” So the purpose God gave Noah, through his parents, was in his name to find rest. We find God doing this through out the Bible, so we will see it come up several times. I’m sure his parents didn’t realize the kind of rest Noah was going to provide and how life and death this resting place really was. We see our word show up right in the middle of, I would say probably the most unsettling time the world has ever seen.
Genesis 8:6-9 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no מָנוֹחַ place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. Did you hear the word for place? מָנוֹחַ sounds like נֹחַ with the prefix attached. So, we see resting place has the root of Noah’s name in it. He was on the ark and needed to find a resting place from the storms and all the water everywhere. Throughout Genesis chapters 6 through 9 we see just how Noah accomplished his God-given purpose for his life. And God has a word that summarizes how Noah did this. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Notice how God calls this real historical event an opportunity for faith both the people who didn’t have it and Noah and his family who did. We will see this word used a lot as we continue our journey through the Bible together.
