Unnamed heroine, Mrs. Noah, is one of the Bible’s most unsung heroines. Only Mrs. Noah, her three sons, and their wives supported Noah. She was the glue that kept the family together. Yet she remains unknown.
How would you like to be the wife, locked in with a menagerie of animals and birds, a husband, three sons and three daughter-in-laws? Domestic violence flared during the COVID pandemic.
Unnamed Driving Force
Unnamed heroine, Mrs. Noah, was the driving force of the family, like most mothers are. It took a long time to of build the ark. Then there was the year spent locked inside the ark. Who would have kept the family intact in very trying circumstances? Unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah.
If Noah became dejected and things weren’t going as well as he wanted, who encouraged and comforted him? Mrs. Noah. Who attended to their cuts and bruises when minor accidents happened? Mrs. Noah. When Noah hit his thumb with a hammer, who consoled him? Mrs. Noah. Who dealt with the day-to-day frustrations? Mrs. Noah.
Jaded Nerves
Who kept the daughters-in-law in line when they began grumbling that they hadn’t signed up for this kind of life? Mrs. Noah.
The endless questions and mockery from the onlookers would have tried the patience of every family member. Who soothed their jaded nerves? Unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah.
Married To a Crazy Man
Noah lived in a world that didn’t understand what rain was. Yet, he told everyone that God had instructed him to build a massive boat. What for? There wasn’t any need for a mega boat. It was alien to their thinking.
No one had any concept of what Noah was trying to do. What was rain and how would it affect them? Noah had lost his mind. He was a madman. His own extended family tried to dissuade him from the madness. Mrs Noah had to keep on encouraging him, even when her own spirits were fading.
While everyone turned deaf ears to Noah’s pleas, the immediate family had to turn deaf ears to the crowd’s insults and taunts. Relatives were the strongest voices of protest. How could Noah bring such disgrace to the family name? Mrs. Noah had a full-time job soothing frayed nerves.
Unnamed Heroine Mrs Noah A Woman Of Faith
Unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah had to bolster the faith of her family. They continued in the tedious task of building a gigantic boat, but there were doubts whether Noah had heard from God.
The work was tedious and heavy. Just cutting and providing the wood was bad enough. But the day came when they had to pitch the hull. That tried everyone’s patience, including Mrs. Noah.
Through it all, she had to continue to have faith in her husband, despite what she thought. If she left, the project would disintegrate into a hopeless mess. She was the glue holding everything together.
Tourist Attraction
Noah and his family were the most exciting tourist attraction. There were the usual feasts and celebrations in the name of pagan gods, but these paled into insignificance, compared to baiting Noah and his family.
The higher the boat became, the more the crowds came to jeer and taunt the workers. They took bets on how long it would take to finish the boat. Some even tried to get bets on whether the boat would float.
Hawkers began selling food. There was lots of drinking and entertainment. The locals never seemed to tire. Someone had started selling tickets to the front row seats.
Butt Of Jokes
The family was the butt of ribald jokes. They sang songs about the family. None were complimentary. Here was a man who said he talked to God. He was going to float away on dry land. There would be enough firewood for his neighbours use for years to come.
When the endless heckling got to them, who was the soothing voice of sanity? Unnamed heroine, Mrs. Noah. Relatives and neighbours were among the hecklers. People they had known for a long time.
The Ark Was Huge
Noah was 600 years old when the flood came, though he lived to be 950 years old. It is estimated it took over 50 years, or longer, to build the ark.
The day came when the ark was finished. It had the capacity of 522 standard railroad stock cars. A car could hold around 240 sheep. The ark was 300 cubits long, which is around 145 metres. Half the size of modern super oil tankers.
There still exists 17,600 species of animals, not to mention bird life. With many now extinct, they would have had around 45,000 animals as guests. All kinds of fauna began arriving in pairs. Elephants, lions, snakes, ostriches, bears, cows, oxen, rhinos. The parade went on day after day.
It was necessary to supply fresh food for the months ahead and preserve seeds from the flood. Flora would have been in abundance. After all, you can’t live on a diet of coconuts only. In the early days of sailing ships, going without greens in the diet allowed scurvy to run riot.
Always An Entrepreneur
Wherever a crowd gathers, you find enterprising individuals. It’s deeply embedded in the human psyche. Bets taken whether Noah could fit all the guests in. More bets on how many animals would turn up the next day.
How long would the family members stay inside the ark with so many creatures around them? This included the birds of the air. The unnamed heroine Mrs Noah had her hands full to breaking point.
Mrs Noah As Receptionist
Added to all her other duties, Mrs. Noah had to help house the guests. You can’t put a couple of wolves beside a flock of lambs, for the sacrificial animals didn’t stop at just a pair.
Then there were the family disagreements. Eight people cannot agree on everything, as well as succeed in a gigantic project. Unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah became a receptionist and arbitrator. Much more than most mothers have to contend with.
Supplies
They carried supplies on board and stashed them away. Anyone who has organised a lengthy sea voyage knows how much work that entails. This would have included fresh water. Once the family were locked into the ark, they couldn’t go out to collect water.
There would be clothing and all the other necessities, such as cooking utensils, etc. How much do you take when you go on just a two-week vacation? Mrs. Noah had to oversee all the essentials in setting up the family’s living quarters. Anything they did not take would be gone forever.
Anyone who has prepared a family to go on vacation will know what Mrs. Noah had to deal with. Total chaos. Everyone going their own way, doing their own thing. She was in the thick of it. This was not a luxury liner but a working ship with limited crew.
Outside, the voice of the crowd was like the sound of many waters. One long endless gabble of noise. Only when night time came did things settle down, or the locals tired of baiting the Noahic family.
The Door Closed
Then came the day when all the guests were on board. God closed the door. This was just as well. Noah would have opened it when panic set in. Outside were relatives, neighbours and those who had once been their friends.
Longevity was the norm. They had 600 years to establish relationships. Did Mr. and Mrs. Noah have sisters and brothers and parents still alive, as well as all the other relations? The list would have been humongous.
It Started To Rain
Then the unthinkable happened. Dark, water-laden clouds formed. A sight never before seen. Then, just a drop or two at first, until more and more rain fell. Water falling from the sky?
There was an unbelievable display of nature’s fireworks, as thunder and lightning rent the sky. The more dramatic the lightning, the more people stopped and stared. These people had never witnessed rain, let alone a thunderstorm.
Consternation reigned in the thousands of onlookers and mockers. What the ‘mad family’ had predicted was happening. Maybe it would only be a passing shower?
It Rained And Rained And Rained
The rain kept coming. The water formed puddles, then streams and soon wild, flowing rivers. When would the desperate people stop banging on the walls of the ark?
Inside, the unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah tended the guests. Many hypothesize that the animals went into a kind of torpor, or hibernation state. A year is a long time to keep animals confined, happy, fed and watered. Just the ventilation and supply of fresh air would be ginormous.
There were family meals to prepare and the living area kept clean. Noah and family couldn’t drop into a torpor state. Everything needed to be kept in its place. There was the continuous chore of making sure all the guests were where they should be.
The unnamed heroine, Mrs. Noah, barely had time to catch her breath. A time to recharge her batteries. She was the one who kept the family glued together.
The Ark Moved
The day came when the Ark moved. Enough rain had fallen to float the Ark. What a terrifying experience, from sitting on solid ground to floating on water. Did Mrs. Noah have to deal with seasickness?
And still it rained. Forty days and forty nights it rained.
On board the ark, there was no time to brood. The wellbeing of the guests to check and the family to be kept at peace with each other.
Higher And Higher
The jeers and taunts from those outside had long since died away. Followed by screams of panic. How many people tried to scale the ark when there was no land left to stand on?
Then had come the silence, more deafening than the noise. The sound of the animals became like soothing background music.
The family, secure in the ark, knew that everyone outside was gone. Tears flowed for lost friends, relatives and neighbours. All condemned to a watery grave.
They were only a memory. Did Mrs. Noah get woken by someone crying because they were having a nightmare, or mourning lost friends? Though, in the time it took to build the ark, many ties would have been cut. Friends and relatives don’t stick around when the publicity is all bad.
The flood waters rose higher and higher. The ark, with its massive cargo, drifted on the waves.
Billions Lost
The numbers that were lost were astounding. Equate the population growth-rate to the same as that in the year 2000. The first estimation is that there would have been around 750 million people drowned.
Longevity would have increased the population. They also lived in benign climate conditions. The mist watering the earth made it like living in a glasshouse. The population would probably have been closer to four billion. Half the number alive in 2022.
The birds of prey would have had a carrion feast with so many dead carcases. Either they died of gluttony, or had nowhere to roost.
Noah and his family remained in the ark for an entire year, before it was safe to leave the ark.
As In The Days Of Noah
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In the days of Noah, there were only eight souls saved.
Only the few harken to the word of God, today. The unbelievers mock those who believe. When the Messiah returns, only the few will know salvation.
Mrs Noah A Saint
People read Bible stories without seeing them from a three-dimensional point of view. Many treasures go unappreciated, like the unnamed heroine, Mrs. Noah. We are not told how old she was when she died, but Noah died at 950 years. Mrs. Noah could have been around for just as long.
Every woman has a voice and an area of influence, no matter what circumstances she finds herself in. Tragedy did not define Mrs. Noah and it should not define who you are.
A few women become well known. But, like the unnamed heroine Mrs. Noah, the vast majority go unnamed and unsung. Hidden in obscurity. They are the glue that binds society together. Every woman has a voice that deserves to be valued.
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