Noah Before the Flood

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and he and his immediate family entered into the ark.  We don’t know a lot about his life before that, but we do have a few details about his life before the flood.  From the Doctrine and Covenants we know that he received the Priesthood at the age of 10 under the hand of his grandfather Methuselah (D&C 107:52).  Noah’s father was Lamech who lived “five hundred and ninety-five years” after Noah’s birth, which means that he died only about five years before the flood.  Noah had three sons named Shem, Japheth, and Ham, and they were born over a period of 50 years, with Ham being born exactly 100 years before the flood.  Exactly what Noah did for the first 450 years of his life before his first child isn’t known, but it’s likely that at least part of that time was spent preaching to the people.    

He and his sons were righteous: “And Noah and his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed, and they were called the sons of God.”  But his sons’ posterity apparently were not.  In what I believe is referring to these three sons of Noah, we read that “these men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them.”  The Lord apparently wasn’t pleased with them because He said to Noah: “The daughters of thy sons have sold themselves; for behold mine anger is kindled against the sons of men, for they will not hearken to my voice” (Moses 8:10-15).  What struck me today as I thought about this was that when Noah got on the ark and it floated away, he surely was leaving a lot of family behind.  He had his three children and their wives with him, but none of his children’s children or their descendants.  With 100 years from the time of his last son’s birth and the flood, his posterity had plenty of time to rapidly expand.  It’s likely that there were at least three or four generations after his sons who were alive and who died in the flood.  So it must have been a very sad day indeed for Noah as the ark floated away and he knew his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren all perished in the flood. 

               It also seems apparent that the years leading up to the flood were very difficult ones for Noah.  We read that “in those days there were giants on the earth, and they sought Noah to take away his life” (Moses 8:18).  Surely Noah faced much persecution as he tried to preach the gospel.  “Noah called upon the children of men that they should repent; but they hearkened not unto his words” (Moses 8:20).  Noah was very upset by this: “And it repented Noah, and his heart was pained that the Lord had made man on the earth” (Moses 8:25).  He was so saddened by the wickedness around him that he wished man had not even been born.  It must have been so difficult to preach in that era with almost a complete rejection of his words.  But Noah himself continued faithful despite the negative responses.  It was perhaps the Lord’s way of helping to compensate for Noah’s great difficulties while on the earth that the Lord gave him the great privilege to be the angel Gabriel at the time of Christ’s birth.