Noah And The Flood, Have You Ever Seen A Rainbow?The story of Noah and the flood is given in both the Qu'ran and the Torah/Old Testament. The accounts generally agree but there are some major differences.Since the Torah is mentioned in the Qu'ran, we will look at that account of the story and then compare the story found in the Qu'ran. The Torah/Old Testament account is found in chapters six through nine of the book of Genesis. We are told that the world became so corrupt and full of violence that God decided to rid His creation of the evil. Noah was a righteous and blameless man and God told him that He was going to destroy all living creatures with a flood. Noah was told to build a ship (the ark) to save him, his family, and some of each kind of animal on the earth. Noah had three sons and each of them had a wife. Noah built the ark and God shut Noah, his wife, his three sons, and the animals in the ark. God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights and the world was flooded. The waters flooded the earth for one hundred fifty days. Every living thing on the earth that was not in the ark perished. Then, God caused the waters to recede and Noah, his family and the animals emerged from the ark. We are told that Noah then built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings on it. We are told that the aroma pleased the Lord. Next, God made a covenant with Noah. In this covenant, Noah was told to fill the earth and that the animals were given for them to eat as well as the plants. Two restrictions were placed on Noah. First was that they were not to eat anything with the lifeblood still in it. Second, they were told not to shed the blood of men. God also promised Noah that He would never again destroy the living creatures in a flood. God gave Noah and us a sign of this promise which is the rainbow that we see many times after a rain. Judaism and Christianity agree on that account of Noah and the flood. The difference is that, according to Orthodox Judaism, God's covenant with Noah included seven laws. These laws are referred to as the Noahide Commandments and are as follows: 1. Establish courts of justice 2. Do not commit blasphemy 3. Do not commit idolatry 4. Do not commit incest or adultery 5. Do not commit bloodshed 6. Do not commit robbery 7. Do not eat flesh cut from a living animal According to Judaism, these seven laws apply to everyone while the 613 laws apply only to the Jews and converts. Noah and the flood is mentioned ten times in the Qu'ran. The references are surah 007.059-007.064, 010.071-010.074, 011.025-011.048, 021.076-021.077, 023.023-023.029, 029.014-029.015, 036.041, 037.075-037.082, 069.011, 071.025-071.026 There are some major differences in these references and the account of Noah and the flood from the Torah. The Qu'ran says that Noah was sent to warn the people to worship the one God while the Torah says that God had decided to destroy them. The Qu'ran says that there were other believers besides the family of Noah and that they too were in the ark. The Torah specifically says that Noah, his wife, his three sons, and his three sons wives were the ones that God shut in the ark. The Qu'ran says that one of Noah's sons did not believe and was left outside the ark. It also says that son perished with the others who did not believe. The Qu'ran does not mention the covenant that God made with Noah. A possible explanation of the Qu'ran's account of the son that was left behind can be found in Genesis chapter nine. After God made the covenant with Noah, we are told that Noah planted a vineyard. We are told that Noah drank some of the wine and became drunk. While he lay naked in his tent, Ham told his brothers instead of honoring his father and covering him up. We are told that Ham's brothers backed in and without looking covered their father. Then, we are told that Noah cursed Canaan who was the son of Ham and made him slaves to his brothers. Then Noah blessed Shem and Japheth. When you are deciding which account to believe, ask yourself this question. Have you ever seen a rainbow? The Qu'ran never mentions the rainbow in it's account of Noah and the flood. The Torah/Old Testament tells us it is a sign of God's promise. Return from Noah and the flood to home |