My father told me of his great ancestor, who was still alive and was among the giants who once lived (Gen 6:4a). The stories he told us of the old world fascinated us greatly! As the 1st born, I determined to see my great ancestor before he died, for he was already closer to 500 years.
My great ancestor was 392 years old when I was born, and he lived longer than all his children, dying at 600 years old. He was 100 years old when the earth was destroyed by a flood and was among the eight (8) people who survived the flood. In our time, he and his two siblings were the oldest and tallest, standing 18 feet tall! Yet, they did not live as old as their forefathers, who lived up to 900 years! I was lucky enough to meet Noah, who lived to 950 years and died 58 years after I was born.
My father, Terah, and my grandfather, Nahor, and I saw Noah before he died. Noah lived 350 years after the flood, and I was born 292 years after the flood. It was Noah who built the ark that saved the eight (8) people who survived the flood. The sons and grandsons of Shem (my great great grandfather) died before he died. It was when Eber (one of Shem’s grandsons) gave birth to Peleg and Joktan that the Earth was divided at Shinar in Babel (Babylon) (Gen. 10:25; 11:1-10). This was between 101 years (when Peleg was born) and 339 years (when Peleg died) after the flood. During the time of Eber, one of the grandsons of Ham, called Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-12), the son of Cush, who is the forefather of dark-skinned people, convinced and gathered the whole human race and marched them to Shinar to build a tower towards heaven. Prior to this, all humans lived closer to Noah in Ararat and its environs.
Against the express command of Noah and his sons, Nimrod rebelled and managed to convince his brethren that unless they build taller buildings towards the clouds, another flood will come and destroy them all again. Noah taught and pointed them to the rainbow as a sign that there would not be another flood to destroy the earth, but they disregarded him. Nimrod was the first to establish kingdoms and cities (Gen. 10:8-12), and he was the first ruler of mankind after the flood, just like Cain, who ruled over evil men before the flood and built cities in Nod (4:16-17).
It was during this march from Ararat in the east, that my ancestors left their home and joined in the building of the tower of Babel. At that time, all men spoke the same language (Gen. 11). However, when they attempted to build a tower to heaven, God came down to throw down their tower and scattered them across the earth. He also changed their language, giving the place the name Babel, which means confusion.
My grandparents were left in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 11:28) i.e., Babylon (Babel) after the great separation of mankind into languages, in the land of Shinar and there they lived until God called me out of Ur to Canaan. While growing up in Ur and also during our stay in Haran, I had learnt of my giant ancestors, Noah, Shem and his brethren, who taught all mankind about God, the flood, the creation of the earth, and the old pre-flood (antediluvian) world. Shem had witnessed these things himself, and the rest he learnt from Noah. My parents and grandfathers also learnt a lot from Noah, and they passed these on to me orally. Neither Shem nor Noah lived to see Adam, the son of God and progenitor of our race, but they learnt of him from their fathers Lamech, Methuselah, and Enoch (the 1st evangelist), who was transported to Heaven alive by God.
I have therefore come to Ararat, where Noah has made his vineyards, to meet Noah, Shem, and his brethren. They looked like youth while their grand descendants looked older and exceedingly short! I felt as a grasshopper before these giants of 18 feet! At their feet, I sat, as I listened to the truths of the world, from the creation, unto his days when the earth was flooded…
Shalom and happy Sabbath to all.
