Special Sub-Topic: Noah and his Boat Click Here To Play: Noah and his Boat

Where do we read the story of Noah?

in the Bible. The first book of the Bible is called 'Genesis' and the story of Noah can be found in chapters 6, 7 and 8.

Noah and his wife had three sons - what were their names?

Shem, Ham and Japheth. Weren't they funny names! Of course, Homer, Bart and Moe are from 'The Simpsons', and Bungle, Zippy and George are from the English programme 'Rainbow'. Bill, Bob and Barney I made up!

Although Noah made the boat himself, it was not his idea. Who told him to do it, and even told him how to make it, and how big it had to be?

God. God was upset that the people did not take any notice of him and were bad, but knew that Noah was a good man - the only good man on earth. He told Noah to build the boat so he and his family, with the animals, would be saved because he was sending the rain.

How long did it rain?

40 days and 40 nights. Most of the songs about Noah have the words 'forty days and forty nights' in them. In the language the Bible was written in, the words 'forty days and forty nights' sometimes meant 'a long time'.

After it rained the boat floated about for a long time but everyone was safe on the big boat. Noah sent out a bird to check to see if there was dry land anywhere. What bird did he send?

a raven. The raven did not come back to the boat at all.

When this bird did not return Noah sent another type of bird. What type did he send this time?

a dove. It came back to the boat, and Noah sent it out a week later. This time it came back with an olive leaf in its beak, showing that the land was drying up somewhere. He sent it out again a week later, and this time it did not come back.

The Bible gives us the dates of the start of the rain and the day Noah let everyone off the boat, so we know how long they were in there. Do you know how long that was?

one year and ten days. Genesis chapter 7 verse 11 says that it was the 17th day of the 2nd month that the rain started, and in chapter 8 verses 14 and 15, it says that it was the 27th day of the second month that Noah got off the boat. That makes one year and ten days (but we don't know that a 'year' then was the same 365 days that it is now).

What was the first thing Noah did when he unloaded the boat?

he built an altar to God. This was Noah's way of saying 'thank you' to God, and God was pleased.

When Noah had found somewhere nice to live, he set to work and planted a special farm. Do you know what type of farm this was?

a vineyard (growing grapes for wine). The Bible people, including Jesus, drank wine. This was mainly because of the place they lived - the water was not always clean and wine was made in such a way that they knew it was safe to drink.

After the flood, what special sign did God give the world to remember that He had promised never to flood it again?

rainbow. The Bible says that God said He would remember his promise not to flood the earth ever again; He made the rainbow to remind Himself of that promise.