How long Noah and his family stayed on Mount Ararat nobody knows. It is quite likely that they made it their home for a long time, using the ark as a storehouse for the food and seed they had brought with them.
There was indeed nowhere else for them to live. Not a house or a building of any kind. So here they stayed while Shem, Ham, and Japheth went exploring in the nearby valleys looking for a good place to settle down and start farming again.
At last the day came when they decided to leave the ark and take all their belongings to their new home.
As they started down the mountain they must have looked backed sadly many a time at the great ship that had meant so much to them all for so many years, until at last it was hidden from view in the mists that covered the peak. Whether they ever returned to it we do not know, or what became of it. Perhaps it was buried under the deep snow that later fell upon it, and finally rotted away.
The downward trek was difficult, for there was no road, of course, not even a trail of any kind. They had to clamber over jagged rocks, massive boulders, and fallen trees. In the hollows of the hills they came across large bodies of water and vast areas of swampy land. Every step of the way they saw fresh evidence of the awful destruction caused by the Flood. Everywhere there seemed to be some fresh mark of the curse that sin had brought upon the world.
But there was no time to be lost. They needed to build a new home, and quickly for there was a baby coming. The Bible says that Arphaxad was born "two years after the flood". He was Shem's little boy, and Noah's grandson, and when he was born I am sure Noah was very proud of him. He is the first baby mentioned in the Bible as being born in the new world.
But he was not the only baby born in those pioneering days. Many other babies were born after him. Shem, Ham, and Japheth all had very large families. Soon the first home they built wasn't large enough to hold them all, and they began to spread out. As the children grew up and got married, they too went off and started homes of their own. Thus, slowly at first, then more and more rapidly, the earth began to be repopulated.
By the end of the first century after the Flood, Noah's family had grown into hundreds of families and lots and lots of children. There may well have been half a million people on the earth.
One of the big questions all these people talked about was where to live. Should they divide up and go away to some distant, unexplored part of the world, or should they stay near home?
Chapter 11 verse 2 says: And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. Shinar is modern day Iraq. Chapter 4 of the Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus says that after they settled in Shinar (1) God also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth, and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner. But they were so ill instructed that they did not obey God, for which reason they fell into calamities, and were made sensible, by experience, of what sin they had been guilty: for when they flourished with a numerous youth, God admonished them again to send out colonies; but they, imagining the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived from the favor of God, but supposing that their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the Divine will, the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies, that being divided asunder they might the more easily be Oppressed.
We are told in Genesis 10:6-10 that Ham had a son named Cush and Cush had a son named Nimrod. Nimrod was a mighty hunter “and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” According to chapter 4 of the Antiquities of the Jews, Nimrod was the one who convinced them that their prosperity and happiness was because of him not God. “He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again, for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!”
So, they started building the tower and it went up quickly because there were so many people working on it. When the LORD saw what they were doing he gave them different languages so they would not be able to understand each other, thereby stopping the tower. It was named Babel because that is where the confusion came after God gave them different languages.
When they could no longer understand one another, they decided to spread over the earth as God had originally instructed them. Life goes much smoother when we follow His will to begin with. Even though we have free will, His plans will not be changed. We should always pray and ask His guidance and will in everything we do. Even something that seems so tiny it does not matter in the big picture could have a significant impact on the future. A smile to a child, food to the hungry, a few minutes teaching someone something could be helping the future world evangelist have the courage to take the steps toward reaching the destiny God has laid out for him. I saw a quiz on Facebook the other day that asked questions such as: Who won the first Heisman trophy? Name 5 Miss Americas. Who won the most Oscars in 1995?, etc. Then it asked more personal questions such as: Which teacher had the most influence on you? Name the 1 friend that you can always count on. What is your favorite childhood memory of your parents?, etc. It is not always the big things that make a difference and will have you remembered.
I hope this has been a blessing to you as it has been to me. Have a wonderful and God blessed day.
Leigh
There was indeed nowhere else for them to live. Not a house or a building of any kind. So here they stayed while Shem, Ham, and Japheth went exploring in the nearby valleys looking for a good place to settle down and start farming again.
At last the day came when they decided to leave the ark and take all their belongings to their new home.
As they started down the mountain they must have looked backed sadly many a time at the great ship that had meant so much to them all for so many years, until at last it was hidden from view in the mists that covered the peak. Whether they ever returned to it we do not know, or what became of it. Perhaps it was buried under the deep snow that later fell upon it, and finally rotted away.
The downward trek was difficult, for there was no road, of course, not even a trail of any kind. They had to clamber over jagged rocks, massive boulders, and fallen trees. In the hollows of the hills they came across large bodies of water and vast areas of swampy land. Every step of the way they saw fresh evidence of the awful destruction caused by the Flood. Everywhere there seemed to be some fresh mark of the curse that sin had brought upon the world.
But there was no time to be lost. They needed to build a new home, and quickly for there was a baby coming. The Bible says that Arphaxad was born "two years after the flood". He was Shem's little boy, and Noah's grandson, and when he was born I am sure Noah was very proud of him. He is the first baby mentioned in the Bible as being born in the new world.
But he was not the only baby born in those pioneering days. Many other babies were born after him. Shem, Ham, and Japheth all had very large families. Soon the first home they built wasn't large enough to hold them all, and they began to spread out. As the children grew up and got married, they too went off and started homes of their own. Thus, slowly at first, then more and more rapidly, the earth began to be repopulated.
By the end of the first century after the Flood, Noah's family had grown into hundreds of families and lots and lots of children. There may well have been half a million people on the earth.
One of the big questions all these people talked about was where to live. Should they divide up and go away to some distant, unexplored part of the world, or should they stay near home?
Chapter 11 verse 2 says: And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. Shinar is modern day Iraq. Chapter 4 of the Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus says that after they settled in Shinar (1) God also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth, and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner. But they were so ill instructed that they did not obey God, for which reason they fell into calamities, and were made sensible, by experience, of what sin they had been guilty: for when they flourished with a numerous youth, God admonished them again to send out colonies; but they, imagining the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived from the favor of God, but supposing that their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the Divine will, the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies, that being divided asunder they might the more easily be Oppressed.
We are told in Genesis 10:6-10 that Ham had a son named Cush and Cush had a son named Nimrod. Nimrod was a mighty hunter “and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” According to chapter 4 of the Antiquities of the Jews, Nimrod was the one who convinced them that their prosperity and happiness was because of him not God. “He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again, for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!”
So, they started building the tower and it went up quickly because there were so many people working on it. When the LORD saw what they were doing he gave them different languages so they would not be able to understand each other, thereby stopping the tower. It was named Babel because that is where the confusion came after God gave them different languages.
When they could no longer understand one another, they decided to spread over the earth as God had originally instructed them. Life goes much smoother when we follow His will to begin with. Even though we have free will, His plans will not be changed. We should always pray and ask His guidance and will in everything we do. Even something that seems so tiny it does not matter in the big picture could have a significant impact on the future. A smile to a child, food to the hungry, a few minutes teaching someone something could be helping the future world evangelist have the courage to take the steps toward reaching the destiny God has laid out for him. I saw a quiz on Facebook the other day that asked questions such as: Who won the first Heisman trophy? Name 5 Miss Americas. Who won the most Oscars in 1995?, etc. Then it asked more personal questions such as: Which teacher had the most influence on you? Name the 1 friend that you can always count on. What is your favorite childhood memory of your parents?, etc. It is not always the big things that make a difference and will have you remembered.
I hope this has been a blessing to you as it has been to me. Have a wonderful and God blessed day.
Leigh