Noah was a Patriarch of Adamic Proportions

Noah was a Patriarch of Adamic proportions. Noah’s name means “comfort” or “rest”. As a divinely commissioned deliverer, he brought comfort to the Early Church (Ex. 2:23-25, 3:7-10, Judges 2:16, 3:9, 15, 6:14, 1 Sam. 12:11, Acts 13:20, Ps. 99:6, Jer. 15:1). Under Adam, the impact of his life on the Family Tree of humanity is only surpassed by the Noahic & Adamic Glory of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:6-6:13, 1 Cor. 15:12-58).

Even though Noah was moved with “fear” (Heb. 11:7, Ezek. 14:14, 20), this virtue in him came short of the intercessory glory of Jesus Christ (Heb. 5:7).

Even though Noah was a spiritual Patriarch who was a preacher of righteousness that condemned the whole world (2 Pet. 2:5, Gen. 7:1), he was incapable of pastorally ruling the Church like the Messiah for the keeping of its sacred purity (Isa. 40:10-11, Micah 5:4).

Even though Noah was a “perfect” man who found “grace” in the eyes of the LORD (Gen. 6:8-9), his perfection was far short of the glorious grace and truth found in Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:14, 17; 1 Cor. 13:9-12, Php. 3:12-16).

Nevertheless, the grace of God with Noah was unique in its own right (Gen. 6:8-9), especially in respect to the glory of God that was manifest in the Years of Ancient Times (Ps. 77:5). Noah, as the last Patriarch of the Old World, and the first Patriarch of the New World, personally knew all the Patriarchs that lived from Genesis except three.

Adam, as the first Patriarch of the Old World, personally knew all the spiritual Fathers of the Church that arose from among his posterity except the last one. Adam and Noah missed each other by 126 years. Seth and Noah missed each other by 14 years. Enoch and Noah missed each other by 69 years. Therefore, Adam would have witnessed the great falling away that led to the End of the World as foretold by Enoch and confirmed by Methuselah.

Certainly, Noah is very fortunate to have personally fellowshipped with Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. Nevertheless, all the former Patriarchs before him personally knew the three pillars of the Early Church for many years: Adam, Seth, and Enoch. Lamech, Noah’s father, who was 182 years older than Noah, personally fellowshipped with all the antediluvian Patriarchs of the Early Church, including the three pillars, before Noah was even born. Lamech personally fellowshipped with Adam for 56 years, Seth for 168 years, and Enoch for 113 years. Therefore, Lamech would have informed Noah about everything he missed, seeing that Noah was born in the troubled times of a general apostasy.

Lamech’s hope for the future was invested in Noah. For, as a divine punishment upon sin in the Church, the curse of God was overrunning the earth (Gen. 5:29, Isa. 24:5-6); and, in the process of time, it was prophetically revealed to Lamech that Noah would be raised up as a deliverer to bring the Church out of apostasy, which in turn would lift the curse from the earth and bring comfort to the saints.

“And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” - Genesis 5:28-29

Noah, as a Patriarch of Adamic proportions, was the first Patriarch of the New World who was fully discipled in the knowledge of God that was prevalent in the glory days of the antediluvian Fathers, and thus he was the only one capable of imparting those ancient ways to the newly sprung up Patriarchs from among his posterity. Though Shem did indeed live for 98 years before the flood, he only would have known Lamech for 93 years and Methuselah for 98 years. All the rest of the antediluvian Fathers were dead except Noah. Also, like Adam, Noah lived long enough to see the great falling away of his era of redemption. However, unlike how Adam just missed Noah by 126 years, Noah was alive for 58 years into Abraham’s life, but because Abraham didn’t answer the call of God until he was 75 years old, Noah and Abraham missed each other by 17 years.

However, even though Noah narrowly missed Abraham, who then became the Patriarch of a new era of redemption, Shem and Eber both knew and personally discipled Abraham. Shem and Eber both outlived Abraham, so they would have been able to disciple him for around 100 years, seeing that Abraham answered the call and arrived in the land of Canaan at 75 years old. Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years and Eber outlived Abraham by 64 years. However, even though Peleg lived for 48 years into Abraham’s life, he would have missed Abraham by 27 years. Also, Job, who was likely born around 10 to 15 years before Peleg, would have missed Abraham by at least 37 years.