The Movie : Noah And The Bible Story

The Book of Genesis derives from the First Testament of the Hebrew Bible and explains the story of creation, or how the world came to be. While the author isn’t proven, it is widely believed by many that Moses authored the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah. In the story, the timeframe isn’t specified expect that it is said to be ‘in the beginning’ of all creation. The story goes on to detail how God created the heavens, the earth, and all its creatures. On the sixth day, he created man, Adam, in his image and placed him in the Garden of Eden. From Adam’s rib, he created a woman, Eve. The Garden of Eden was a lush and plentiful garden; however they were forbidden by God to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

There are similarities in the account of the great flood between Utnapishtim’s and the biblical account Genesis 6-9 although, there are crucial differences. The crucial differences in the two-literary works are the supreme beings, their behaviors, their reasonings for the flood, the outcomes from the aftermath of the flood, the blessings they give, and why.

Almost every religion in the world has a story about the “Great Flood” which destroys the earth, and each teaches its followers a different story about this disaster. While the Babylonians have the story of Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Judeo Christians have Noah from the Bible. Both men save a few people and many animals. In these stories, Noah and Utnapishtim seem to have similar situations, but a further analysis shows how truly different the two stories are.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the lord said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”(Genesis 6:5-8)

Just like the first book in the Bible, the first book of The Poisonwood Bible is named Genesis. As well as the beginning, Genesis can also mean rebirth. When characters arrive in the Congo they realize the things they brought with them are changed by Africa and can no longer be as they once were. In this way, Genesis symbolizes the process of becoming their new selves. For instance, the first chapter in The Poisonwood Bible, narrated by Orleanna, strongly shows the guilt that the Congo had left her to live with after the death of Ruth May. Likewise, Eve, the first woman in Genesis, forced all of mankind to shoulder the guilt of eating the forbidden fruit.

Genesis, the first book of the Christian Old Testament in the Bible, was written around the 5th century B.C. Genesis is also a creation story featuring God and his creation of Adam and Eve. The title Genesis means “beginning” in the Hebrew language.

Through reading both stories, it is quite obvious that there are some parallels between the two. The beginning of the new world that Noah lives in directly mirrors the one of the past. In the first verses of Genesis, the week of creation is described with God creating the sea first, and then “God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:9). This exact same process is repeated when the flood comes, starting with “And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.” (Genesis 7:19). This verse echoes the creation story reiterating that the whole world was covered with water until God decided it was time create land. After God had decided that it was time for the new world to begin the waters receded and left Noah’s ark resting on the top of a Mount Ararat. The familiar accounts, however don't stop there. In the beginning, God speaks to Adam saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Theses exact same words are told

God also told Noah about the plan for the flood, and what he was to do with the ark. Noah, his wife, his sons, and his sons wives would all be on the ark an spared from the destruction the flood would cause. Along with his family, God wanted Noah to bring two of all living creatures, one male, and one female. Brining a male and a female of each kind of creature would allow them to reproduce and repopulate their species. The last thing God commanded Noah to do was to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and stored for his family and the creatures.

The world before the flood was already in turmoil and ruin, enveloped in sin and chaos; it is in this world that Noah’s faith made him the only righteous man. God had entrusted in Noah to complete a very important task that would test his faithfulness to Him. God’s plan was to destroy the world by way of flood as the result of mankind’s misdeeds. He instructed Noah to construct an ark to save his family and all species of animals, two of each kind - male and female. All of them would survive in the ark while God sent down a watery wrath to be swept across the earth, wiping out everything in its path. Noah was obedient; his life revealed qualities of patience and persistence which made him the perfect candidate for the building of the

The Real Time of Noah is a very long time in which no one knows the actual time (p 138-140). However, we get a glimpse of how long it is because Jesus’s second coming is compared to the days of Noah. Richter talks about during this time the world has had enough time to become completely corrupted and turn away from God. This takes awhile for the entire world to go south, how long specifically is unknown. The second coming of Jesus is the same in which the earth will have enough time to become corrupt and turn away from God just like the time before Noah. The Real Space of Noah describes that the story takes place in Mesopotamia and the surrounding area (p 140-146). This is evident mainly because this area is known for flooding, and there are many flood stories that come from this area. One specific tale is the Gilgamesh Epic which is the most well known story. Most of the flood stories involve a greater being ridding themselves of humanity by a great flood. These stories are coincidentally very similar to the biblical narrative of Noah.

The first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis describe many significant events that happened. Warren W. Wiersbe describes these chapters as the one that “deal the humanity in general” (Wiersbe, 2007, p.12). Genesis starts with the creation, the fall, the great flood and when the languages were confused at Babel. These are the four most important parts found within the first eleven chapters of Genesis.

The Ark of the Covenant plays a great role in the history of Israelites, ranging from Moses to Solomon (i.e. destruction of the temple). But, since the Ark is nowhere mentioned in the Minor Prophets and that led many scholars concluded that the Ark was not a symbol of the presence of God, Yahweh, rather the Ark was considered as a Myth or a mere human made up story. However, the Ark is mentioned in the New Testament (though a scanty record of it) and that’s prove that the Ark is not a Myth or just a mere human made up story.

The book of Genesis is often referred to as the book of beginnings. Genesis is the first book that begins the Old Testament, it is also the first book of the entire Bible. The Lord also began the world in the book of Genesis, He made the heavens and the earth, man and woman. In Genesis chapters one through eleven, the Bible teaches us stories that most of us have grown up hearing in Sunday School such as the creation account, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood and the tower of Babel. In this book of beginnings, we are shown some of Gods characteristics; we see that God is love and He showed His love by creating us and the world, on the other extreme, we also see the wrath of God. Through these teachings, we are able to see that God ultimately in control and holds everything in His balance. The stories of Genesis aren’t just stories; they are real life accounts that can help build and shape a worldview on things regarding the natural world, human identity, human relationships and civilization.

Like the Bible, the movie starts off at the very beginning. Eventually, Noah tells his children the story of the construction of earth which is accurate to Genesis, though he mixes the second and fourth days. The Bible says that the sun and the moon was formed on the fourth day not the second day. When it refers to recent state of the land, the film sets up two factions: Noah and Lemech, Tubal – Cain and the good men, the “evil” men. The evil are offspring of Cain, which is accurate to what the Bible says in Chapter 3. According to that chapter, Cain moved east and constructed towns and eventually he had kids.

Genesis is the beginning of the beginning, the basis for the rest of the Bible, and the start of it all. Genesis shows us creation, man’s sinful downfall, man’s rebellion, a chance for redemption, and God’s mercy.