After the Flood ended, Noah left the ark with his sons. His sons were named Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Noah began to cultivate the land and grow grapes. He made wine out of grape juice, and after tasting it, he became drunk, because he did not yet know the power of wine. He lay naked in his tent and his son Ham saw it. He disrespected his father - he told his brothers about it. His brothers, Shem and Japheth, took clothes, approached their father so as not to see his nakedness, and covered him. When Noah woke up and learned about the deed of his younger son Ham, he condemned and cursed him, in the face of his son Canaan.

He said that his descendants would be in bondage to the descendants of his brothers. And Shem and Japheth he blessed and predicted that the true faith would be preserved in the offspring of Shem, and the descendants of Japheth would spread over the earth and accept the true faith from the descendants of Shem.

Everything that Noah predicted to his sons came true exactly. The descendants of Shem are called Semites, they include, first of all, the Jewish people, in which alone faith in the true God was preserved. The descendants of Japheth are called Japhetids, they include the peoples inhabiting Europe, who accepted from the Jews faith in the true God.

The descendants of Ham are called Hamites; these include the Canaanite tribes who originally inhabited Palestine, many peoples of Africa and other countries.

Babylonian pandemonium and scattering of people

The descendants of Noah lived together for a long time in one country, not far from the mountains of Ararat, and spoke the same language.

When the human race became numerous, then evil deeds and strife among people increased, and they saw that they would soon have to disperse throughout the earth.

But, before dispersing, the descendants of Ham, dragging others along with them, planned to build a city and in it a tower, like a pillar, high to heaven, in order to be glorified and not be subject to the descendants of Shem and Japheth, as Noah predicted. They made bricks and set to work.

This proud idea of ​​people was displeasing to God. So that evil would not completely destroy them, the Lord mixed the language of the builders so that they began to speak different languages and stopped understanding each other.

Then people were forced to abandon the construction they had begun and disperse along the ground in different directions. The descendants of Japheth went west and settled in Europe. The descendants of Shem remained in Asia, the descendants of Ham went to Africa, but some of them also remained in Asia.

The unfinished city is nicknamed Babylon, which means "mixing". The whole country where this city was, began to be called the land of Babylon, and also the Chaldean.

People settled on the earth gradually began to forget their kinship, and separate, independent peoples or nations began to form with their own customs and language.

The Lord saw that people learn more from each other evil deeds than good ones, and therefore he produced a mixture of languages, divided people into separate nations and gave each nation a separate task and goal in life.

The emergence of idolatry

When people dispersed throughout the earth, they began to forget the invisible true God, the Creator of the world. main reason this was the sins that move people away from God and darken the mind. There were fewer and fewer righteous people, and there was no one to teach people true faith into God. Then the wrong faith (superstition) began to appear among people.

People saw a lot of wonderful and incomprehensible things around them, and instead of God, they began to honor the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and various animals, make images of them, worship them, make sacrifices and build temples or temples for them.

Such images of false gods are called idols, or idols, and the peoples who worship them are called idolaters, or pagans. This is how idolatry appeared on earth.

Soon almost all people became pagans. Only in Asia, in the offspring of Shem, was there a righteous man named Abraham who remained faithful to God.

I watched the movie "Noah", which is positioned as based on a biblical story. I found many contradictions with the Bible, I decided to write in detail how specific fragments from the film do not correspond to Scripture:

Movie : in the prologue, it is said that the giants (nephilim) born from fallen angels and women, corrupted the descendants of Cain. While the descendants of Seth tried to save the earth from corruption. That is, the descendants of Seth are represented as righteous.
Bible : Genesis 5 chapter gives the genealogy of the descendants of Adam in the line of Seth. And only 2 people are called righteous ("walked before God") - Enoch (Gen.5:21-24) and Noah (Gen.6:8-9). In Genesis 6:5,11,12 it is said that all the people living on the earth have become corrupted and filled the earth with evil deeds. This applies to both the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth.

Movie : Noah's father, Lamech, was killed by Tubal Cain.
Bible : Genesis 5:31 it is written that Lamech lived 777 years and died.

Movie : it is clear that the climate of the antediluvian earth is no different from the climate of our day. So, clouds move across the sky, most of the landscapes are deserted treeless places, almost no animals are visible in the frame.
Bible : Gen.2:5-6 it is said that after the creation by God there was no rain on the earth, but steam rose from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth. Plants fed on moisture, absorbing it from the air saturated with water vapor. That is, there was a so-called greenhouse effect on the earth. Therefore, judging by archaeological excavations, finds in deposits of coal, the antediluvian land was a subtropic, including the poles, with lush vegetation, huge trees with huge leaves, numerous wildlife, including dinosaurs. Given the greenhouse effect and the absence of conditions for the condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere, there were no clouds.

Movie : stone guards - are an invention of the authors, extremely contradictory. What is surprising is what is said in the film that Noah's grandfather, Methuselah, protected these guards from people. And because of these guards, the film loses its seriousness and looks more like a children's fairy tale that you don't want to believe.
Bible : These characters are missing.

Movie : Methuselah said that Enoch before his death said ... That is, it is alleged that the father of Methuselah died.
Bible : Gen.5:24 it is written that “Enoch walked with God; and he was no more, because God took him.” Enoch was taken by the living God to heaven from an earth afflicted with sin. The same will happen to people who believe in Jesus Christ, who will live during the rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:13-17).

Movie : God showed Noah the future in visions in a dream. Moreover, these visions are presented very vaguely and it is difficult to understand from them what exactly Noah needs to do. It is not clear why Noah suddenly realized that God decided to destroy people from the face of the earth so that only animals would live on earth. Then there is no logic to God saving Noah and his family from the waters of the flood. And this strange understanding of the will of God forces the "righteous" Noah to decide to kill his born granddaughters so that the human race is interrupted. In this situation, Noah does not look at all as righteous as he is presented in the Bible.
Bible : Gen.6:13-21 God specifically (not through vision) tells Noah what to do. Gives him specific instructions about the construction of the ark (135 m long, 22.5 m wide, 13.5 m high). And moreover, he makes a covenant with him for the salvation of Noah and his family from the waters of the flood. Moreover, from Genesis 9:1, God's goal in saving Noah and his family is visible - through them to multiply people and fill the earth with them.

Movie : an unexpectedly grown forest. It is very similar to the fact that God began to create again, as he did in the first 6 days of creation.
Bible : it is written that again God will create only in the distant future - after the 1000-year kingdom (Rev.21:5). On the antediluvian earth there was enough material for the construction of the ark.

Movie : When Noah starts building the ark, he already has 3 sons. The construction of the ark lasted 10 years, as Methuselah tells Illa that she and his family have been living for 10 years. Illa was picked up before the construction of the ark began, and this conversation with Methuselah takes place when the ark is almost completed. Also, the guards help Noah in the construction of the ark, doing all the main work.
Bible : Noah built the ark for 120 years (Gen.6:3 - God says that people who neglect His Spirit have 120 years left to live on earth). When the flood began, Noah was 600 years old (Gen. 7:11). Those. Noah began building the ark when he was 480 years old. Genesis 5:32 says that Noah was 500 years old when Shem was born, followed by Ham and Japheth. Nobody helped Noah from outside (no guards) in building the ark (Gen. 6:22).

Movie : When Noah saw the vision of the flood, he spoke several times about the rain.
Bible : Considering Genesis 2:5-6, Noah could not have known what rain was, before the flood there was no rain on the earth.

Movie : the flood begins with rain, and then small geysers begin to beat from the ground, more like fountains.
Bible : Gen.7:11, first all the fountains of the great deep broke open (broke). Those. catastrophic volcanic eruptions began all over the earth, under a huge pressure springs of water began to beat from the ground. And only then “the windows of heaven were opened” and it began to rain. Those. conditions were created for the condensation of a huge amount of water vapor in the air, when the heated air began to rise sharply and collided with a negative temperature. It rained for 40 days (Gen. 7:12), and the water rose for 150 days (Gen. 7:24).

Movie : when Noah talks about how God created the world. He says that the stars, the sun, the moon were created first, and only then the earth and everything on it.
Bible : Gen.1:6-13 it is said that on the second and third days God created the earth and plants on it, in Gen.1:14-19 - on the fourth day the sun, moon and stars were created.

Movie : it is shown that the sons did not yet have wives when they entered the ark. Only Seth had Illa, but she was not yet his wife.
Bible : Genesis 7:7 says, "And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark from the waters of the flood."

Movie : Tubal Cain, a descendant of Cain, tricked his way into the ark.
Bible : except for 8 people, there was no one in the ark.

Movie : after Noah and his family descended to earth, there is no gratitude to God.
Bible : Noah immediately built an altar and offered a burnt offering to God as a token of gratitude to God for salvation from the waters of the flood.

In general, the film leaves an unpleasant impression. Noah doesn't look very much like a righteous man. About God, it seems that He decided to leave the earth without people at all, and Noah and his family simply prolong life for a short time. I expected from the film interesting computer effects related to the most global natural disaster in the history of the earth. But he didn't even see it. Everything is quite ordinary and gray. After watching the film, some depressing impression was left on the heart.
This film will rather lead a person away from God than bring him closer.

Conducted a lesson with the youth with a detailed study of Noah and the Flood in the Bible:

The appearance on the screens of Hollywood with its interpretation of biblical events, which is very far from the original, means the creation in modern mass culture of a distorted image of the Old Testament patriarch, whom Orthodox Church revered as a saint. Therefore, I would like to recall what the real Noah was like, what is known about him from Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. And I must say, a lot is known, and he was, of course, an outstanding figure.

Chapters 6 through 9 of Genesis are devoted to the life of Noah. His name is found in many other places in the Bible. Thus, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord mentions Noah among the three greatest righteous men of ancient times, along with Job and Daniel (Ezek. 14:13–14, 20). In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God mentions His covenant with Noah as an example of an irrevocable promise (Isaiah 54:8–9).

In the book of the Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, the forefather is praised: “Noah turned out to be perfect, righteous; in times of anger he was a propitiation; therefore he became a remnant on the earth when the flood came” (Sir.44:16-17). In the third book of Ezra, he is called the one from whom "all the righteous came" (3 Ezra 3:11). And in the book of Tobit Noah is mentioned among the ancient saints who should be imitated (Tov. 4:12).

Noah is mentioned many times in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ refers to his story as very real and uses it to explain what will happen before the end of our world (Matt. 24:37–39). The Apostle Paul cites Noah as an example of a true believer (Heb. 11:7). In turn, the Apostle Peter mentions the events associated with Noah and the flood as proof that God does not leave the sinner without recompense and the righteous does not remain without help and salvation (2 Peter 2:5,9).

According to Blessed Augustine, in the story of Noah “no one should think that all this was written for the purpose of deception; or that in the story one must seek only historical truth, without any allegorical meanings; or, on the contrary, that all this did not really exist, but that these are only verbal images.

So, let's consider what and why happened in Noah's time and what spiritual significance it has.

According to St. John, thanks to such a prophecy, “this child, growing little by little, served as a lesson for all who saw him ... this man, who lived before the eyes of everyone, reminded everyone of the wrath of God.”

From the Bible about the first five hundred years of Noah's life, it is only known that during this period he married, and three sons were born to him: Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 5:32). St. Cyril of Alexandria writes that Noah "attracted general attention to himself, was very famous and famous."

During the life of Noah, there was “great corruption of men on earth, and all the thoughts and thoughts of their hearts were evil at all times” (Gen. 6:5), “because not only at times, but constantly and at every hour they sinned, not in the day not ceasing to fulfill his evil thoughts at night. However, the Old Testament patriarch differed from his contemporaries: “But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Why? Because “Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generations; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

St. John Chrysostom notes the main feature of Noah's personality - unprecedented firmness and determination on the path of virtue: “how this righteous man was devoted to virtue, when among such a multitude of people, with great strength striving for wickedness, he alone went the opposite way, preferring virtue - and not unanimity , nor such a great multitude of evil ones stopped him on the path of good... Imagine the extraordinary wisdom of a righteous man when, amidst such unanimity evil people, could avoid infection and not suffer any harm from them, but retained firmness of spirit and evaded sinful unanimity with them.

A truly unbending will was required in order to be alone against the whole world, especially considering that “for his determination to strive in virtue in spite of everyone, Noah endured great reproach and ridicule, since all the wicked usually always scoff at those who decided to move away from wickedness and cleave to virtue."

The holy forefather was not indifferent to the fate of his contemporaries: “During all this time he preached to all people and inspired them to leave behind ungodliness”, but no one responded and did not come to their senses, and in response to the sermon he received new ridicule.

And “Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9), that is, he conformed all his actions, aspirations and thoughts to His will, remembering that God sees and knows everything. So Noah “could neglect and rise above such a great multitude of those who mocked him, attacked, reviled, dishonored him ... He constantly looked at the unsleeping Eye of God and directed the gaze of his soul towards him; therefore, he no longer cared about all these reproaches, as if they did not exist.

When Noah was five hundred years old, he received a revelation from God: “The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I will destroy them from the earth. Make yourself an ark... And behold, I will bring a flood of water on the earth... everything that is on the earth will lose its life. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you” (Gen. 6:13-14, 17-18). The Lord also commanded Noah to bring into the ark a pair of all animals, birds and reptiles (and clean types of livestock and birds - seven each), and stock up on food for yourself and for them. “And Noah did everything: as God [the Lord] commanded him, so he did” (Gen. 6:22).

It took Noah a hundred years to build the ark. “Noah's work became known throughout the universe, and his words were transmitted everywhere that such and such a person was building a ship of extraordinary size and spoke of a flood that would cover the whole earth. Many from afar came to look at this ship being made and to listen to Noah's sermon. The man of God, inciting them to repentance, preached to them about the approaching flood revenge on sinners. That is why he was named by the holy Apostle Peter preacher of truth(2 Peter 2:5)" .

If Noah's contemporaries had repented and corrected their lives, they could have averted the punishment from themselves, as the Ninevites did, who believed the three-day sermon of Jonah. However, “the people did not repent, despite the fact that Noah, in his holiness, served as a model for his contemporaries, and with his righteousness for a whole hundred years he preached to them about the flood, they even laughed at Noah, who informed them that all generations of the living would come to him to seek salvation in the ark. creatures, and said, “How will the beasts and birds come, scattered over all the countries?”

And so, when Noah was six hundred years old, God said to him: “Enter you and all your family into the ark, for I saw you righteous before Me in this generation ... and take every clean livestock ... also from the birds of the air ... to preserve the offspring for all the earth, for in seven days I will rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the face of the earth” (Gen. 7:1-4).

“And Noah entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, into the ark…” (Genesis 7:7). According to St. John Chrysostom, the members of Noah's family "although far inferior to the righteous in virtue, they were also alien to the excessive wickedness of corrupt contemporaries." They were among the saved because they believed the preaching of Noah and showed him obedience, in contrast to the sons-in-law of Lot, who did not believe the same preaching of their relative and perished along with all Sodom: “And Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who took his daughters for himself, and said, Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But his sons-in-law thought he was joking” (Genesis 19:14). In addition, according to Chrysostom, the salvation of family members was a reward from God to Noah for his righteousness.

“On that very day, elephants began to come from the east, monkeys and peacocks from the south, other animals gathered from the west, others hurried to go from the north. The lions left their oak forests, the fierce beasts came out of their lairs, the animals that lived on the mountains gathered from there. Noah's contemporaries flocked to such a new spectacle - but not for repentance, but to enjoy, seeing how lions enter the ark before their eyes, oxen rush without fear, seeking refuge with them, wolves and sheep, hawks and doves enter together. .

St. Filaret of Moscow points out that "the longitude of the ark was more than 500, the latitude was more than 80 and the height was more than 50 feet", that is, the ark was about 152 meters long, 25 meters wide and 15 meters high - this size was quite enough to accommodate animals, birds and reptiles. “Proverers of nature find that all the kinds of animals that were supposed to be in Noah's ark extend only to three hundred or a little more. Of these, no more than six exceed the size of a horse; Few can match him."

After Noah, along with his family and animals, entered the ark, by the mercy of God, the time of the flood was postponed for another week: “God gave people a hundred years to repent while the ark was being built, but they did not come to their senses. He gathered the animals, hitherto unseen by them, - however, the people did not want to repent ... Even after Noah and all the animals entered the ark, God hesitated for another seven days, leaving the door of the ark open ... but Noah's contemporaries ... were not convinced to leave the wicked their deeds."

The Lord Jesus Christ testifies that Noah’s contemporaries continued their lives carelessly, with ordinary everyday activities: “In the days before the flood, they were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark, and did not think until the flood came and did not destroy them all” (Matt. 24:37-38).

And so “in seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth… all the fountains of the great deep were broken up… and the rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights… and the water increased and greatly multiplied on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. And the waters increased exceedingly on the earth, so that all the high mountains that are under the whole sky were covered ... And every creature that was on the surface of the earth lost its life; from man to livestock, and creeping things, and the birds of the air, everything was destroyed from the earth, only Noah remained and what was with him in the ark. And the waters were strong on the earth for a hundred and fifty days” (Gen. 7:10–12, 18–19, 23–24).

St. John Chrysostom draws attention to the fact that the water rose gradually for forty days before everyone died, and asks: “What is it for? Couldn't God, if He wanted to, bring all the rain in one day? What do I say - in one day? In an instant. But He does this with the intention ... In His great goodness, He wanted at least some of them to come to their senses and avoid eternal death, seeing before their eyes the death of their neighbors and the disaster that threatens them. St. Philaret also speaks of this: “The forty days of the beginning flood were the last gift of God’s long-suffering for some sinners, who, even at the sight of a well-deserved execution, could feel their guilt and appeal to God’s mercy.”

And this happened - many people of the former world, having seen with their own eyes how Noah's prediction came true, remembered his sermon, and only now, in last days their lives, repented to God and humbly accepted death from the flood as a well-deserved punishment for their sins. Thanks to this, albeit belated, conversion, Noah’s contemporaries were among those ancient dead, to whose souls the preaching of Christ was addressed, when He, with His human soul, descended into hell after death on the cross, as the Apostle Peter testifies to this: “Christ ... was mortified according to the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, by which He descended and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been rebellious to the long-suffering of God that awaited them, in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved from the water ”( 1 Peter 3:18-20).

Thus, the Flood was not only an act of punishment for sins, but in b O to a greater extent by the saving act of God, since the people who lived then brought themselves to such hardness of heart that only the contemplation of the death of the whole world and the realization of their imminent death could awaken their hearts and, through repentance, deliver them from eternal death. Those of them who sincerely repented during those forty days and nights and turned to God later found themselves among the souls of the Old Testament believers saved by Christ from hell.

This was a boon even for those who did not want to repent - this last resort managed to "tear away from sin incorrigible sinners, who daily inflict new wounds on themselves and make their ulcers incurable."

The flood also had a beneficial effect for subsequent mankind - “it was necessary to exterminate them and destroy their entire race, like worthless leaven, so that they would not become teachers of wickedness for subsequent generations.” The flood interrupted both the tribe of Cain and all the other generations that had strayed into evil. God made righteous Noah the ancestor of a new humanity. And if, despite the fact that all those living today have a great righteous man as their ancestor, so many have turned towards sin, then what would be the spread of evil on earth if the majority of humanity were the descendants of those generations rooted in vice?

However, not only people died in the flood, but also all creatures living on land. St. Ambrose of Milan writes: “What was the fault of the foolish creatures? They were created for the sake of man; and after the destruction of the man for whose sake they were created, it was necessary to destroy them too: after all, there would no longer be someone who would use them. And Chrysostom explains it this way: “Just as in the pious life of man and the creature participates in human well-being, according to the word of Paul (see: Rom. destruction, and with him the cattle, and the creeping things, and the birds, are subjected to a flood that will cover the whole world, ”because they share the fate of the one who is their head. And just as many animals shared the death with many sinful people, so few animals shared salvation in the ark with a few righteous people. In addition, if, during the death of almost all mankind, God would have preserved all animals without exception, then this would lead subsequent generations of people to the conviction that animals are more important and higher than humans, and the pagan deification of animals that arose in some peoples would have received even more and fastest spread.

St. John Chrysostom draws attention to the fact that the ark did not have constantly open windows, and besides, God Himself enclosed it outside. This was done out of mercy to Noah, in order to save him from the painful and terrifying vision of the destruction of the world.

"The Beginning of the Flood" O it is false to believe in the last half of autumn, ”and it lasted a year. And “a year of this life, it seems to me, is worth a whole life: Noah had to endure so much sorrow there, being in such cramped conditions ... Imprisoned in the ark as in a dungeon, he rushed back and forth, could not see the sky there, nor fix his eyes to some other place - in a word, he did not see anything that could give him some consolation ... Noah whole year he lived in this unusual and strange prison, not being able to breathe fresh air ... how could this righteous man, as well as his sons and wives, endure being together with cattle, animals and birds? How did he bear the stench? ... I wonder how he has not yet fallen under the burden of despondency, thinking about the death of the human race, and about his own loneliness, and about difficult life in the ark. But the reason for all good things was for him faith in God, according to which he endured and endured everything complacently.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the apostle Paul praises Noah precisely for his faith: by it he condemned (the whole) world, and became heir of righteousness by faith” (Heb. 11:7). “Not that Noah himself condemned his contemporaries; no, the Lord condemned them by comparing them with Noah, because they, having everything the same as the righteous, did not follow the same path of virtue with him, ”explains St. John Chrysostom.

Here is what the Scripture says about what happened next: “The waters began to subside at the end of the hundred and fifty days. And the ark stopped in the seventh month… on the mountains of Ararat. The water continued to decrease until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. After forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark he had made and sent out a raven [to see if the water had subsided from the earth] which, flying out, flew off and flew back” (Gen. 8:3-8). A week later, Noah “released a dove from the ark. The dove returned to him in the evening, and behold, a fresh olive leaf was in his mouth, and Noah knew that the water had gone down from the earth” (Genesis 8:10-11). Even later, “the water on the earth dried up; And Noah opened the roof of the ark and looked, and, behold, the surface of the earth dried up ... And God said to Noah: Get out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you; bring with you all the animals that are with you, of all flesh, birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth: let them disperse on the earth, and let them be fruitful and multiply on the earth” (Gen. –17).

St. Philaret draws attention to the perfect obedience of the righteous to God: “Despite the fact that after opening the ark for about two months, Noah saw the state of the drying up earth, he did not dare to leave it before the command from God.” A Reverend John Damascene remarks: “When Noah was commanded to enter the ark… God separated the husbands from the wives so that they, keeping their chastity, would avoid the abyss… after the cessation of the flood, He says: Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you because again marriage is allowed for the reproduction of the human race.

Noah fulfilled the commandment of God, but also did what the Lord did not prescribe to him, and what was dictated by the movement of his soul: “immediately after leaving the ark, he shows his gratitude, and gives thanks to his Lord, both for the past, so and for the future” - “And Noah built an altar to the Lord; And he took from every clean livestock and from every clean bird, and offered it as a burnt offering on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). Here, for the first time in the history of mankind, we see the creation of a place of special worship of God. If the sacrifice to God was already made by Abel and Cain, then Noah arranged a special altar to the Lord. However, St. Philaret says that in reality Noah was not the first to build an altar, because, knowing the humility of a righteous man, “one cannot think that Noah would dare to introduce anything new in the rituals of sacrifices adopted from pious ancestors.”

“And the Lord smelled a sweet savor, and the Lord [God] said in his heart, I will no longer curse the earth for man’s sake… and I will no longer strike every living thing” (Gen. 8:21). These words mean that God “accepted sacrifices. After all, God does not have an organ of smell, since the Deity is incorporeal. It is true that what is lifted up is fat and smoke from burning bodies, and there is nothing more fetid than this. But so that you know that God looks at the sacrifices and accepts or rejects them, Scripture calls this smoke a pleasant fragrance. So " smelled the Lord not the smell of the meat of animals or the incense of firewood, but He looked down and saw the purity of heart in the one who, out of everything and for everything, offered sacrifice to Him.

Seeing the piety of the patriarch, “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth; let all the beasts of the earth fear and tremble at you, and all the birds of the air, everything that moves on the earth, and all the fish of the sea: they are given into your hands; everything that moves, that lives, will be your food ... only flesh ... with its blood, do not eat; I will also demand your blood ... from every beast, I will also demand the soul of a man from the hand of a man, from the hand of his brother; whoever sheds human blood, that blood will be shed by the hand of man: for man is created in the image of God... And God said to Noah and to his sons with him: Behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your offspring after you... that all flesh shall no longer be destroyed by the waters of the flood, and there will be no more flood to destroy the earth... I put my rainbow in the cloud, so that it may be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Gen. 9:1–6, 8–9, 11, 13).

First of all, we can see here, as Chrysostom remarks, that “Noah again receives the blessing that Adam received before the crime. Just as he, immediately after his creation, heard: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28), so this one now: “Be fruitful and multiply on the earth,” because as Adam was the beginning and the root of all who lived before the flood, so this righteous man becomes, as it were, leaven, the beginning and root of all after the flood.

Then God gives permission to people to eat animals, birds, and fish. Blessed Theodoret explains the reasons for this in this way: “foreseeing that those who have fallen into extreme madness will deify everything, God, in order to stop impiety, allows animals to be eaten, because worshiping what is used for food is a matter of extreme thoughtlessness.”

After that, God establishes a ban on eating meat with the blood of animals, which is subsequently repeated both in the law of Moses (Deut. 12:23) and in the prescriptions of the apostolic council (Acts 15:29). This is explained by the fact that in the blood - the soul of animals. Promise " I will demand your blood too... from every beast" God "predicts the resurrection ... understanding that he will gather and resurrect the bodies devoured by beasts." Then God forbids homicide, warning of severe punishment for it, "says that every murderer must be put to death."

After that, "God says:" I establish my covenant”, i.e., I conclude an agreement. As in human affairs, when someone promises something, he concludes a contract and thereby delivers a proper certificate, so the good Lord speaks here. God raises the relationship with people to such a height. He not only prescribes and orders, as an almighty Sovereign, He enters into an agreement in which he voluntarily undertakes to never again destroy the human race by means of a flood.

It is no coincidence that it was the rainbow that was chosen as the sign of this covenant - since the Flood began with rain, it is the rainbow that appears through the rain that becomes a sign that no rain will be the beginning of the death of mankind. St. Philaret admits that “the rainbow could have been before the flood, just as water and washing were before baptism,” but after the flood it was chosen by God as a sign of His covenant with Noah.

It further says: " The sons of Noah that came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... and from them the whole earth was peopled» (Gen. 9:18-19). The truth of this confirms the universality of the tradition of the flood. In ancient tales different peoples it is reported about a righteous man who was able to survive the global flood in a specially constructed ark or ship. The Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh calls him Utnapishti, the ancient Greek writers called him Deucalion, and in the Indian text Shatapatha Brahmana he is called Manu. legends about global flood found everywhere - in China, and in Australia, in Oceania, among the indigenous peoples of South, Central and North America, in Africa. All these peoples trace themselves to the descendants of the few survivors of the global flood. Traditions recorded in antiquity show significant similarities in major details with the Bible story, while those recorded more recently show more differences, which is not surprising, since narrators have added many interpretations and conjectures to the story over the past millennia. Nevertheless, the memory of the global flood is a truly universal phenomenon.

It is appropriate now to speak about the allegorical meaning of the events connected with Noah's sweat and salvation, which was indicated by the holy fathers.

According to Blessed Augustine, everything “that is said about the structure of this ark, denotes something related to the Church.” And in Noah himself, as in his sons, the image of the Church was revealed. They were saved from the flood on the saving tree ... foreshadowing that the life of all peoples would be established on the tree [of the cross]." Saint Cyril of Alexandria also speaks of this, pointing out that Christ is “the most true Noah, who, in the prototype of this ancient and glorious ark, organized the Church. Those who enter it escape the death that threatens the world... So Christ saves us by faith and, as it were, leads us into the Church into the ark, abiding in which we will be delivered from the fear of death and avoid condemnation together with the world.

Saint Bede the Venerable offers detailed interpretation: “The ark means the universal Church, the waters of the flood - baptism, clean and unclean animals [in the ark] - spiritual and bodily people who are in the Church, and the planed and tarred logs of the ark - teachers, strengthened by the grace of faith. The raven that flew out of the ark and did not return signifies those who, after baptism, become apostates; an olive branch brought into the ark by a dove - those who are baptized outside the Church, that is, heretics, but who have the fat of love and therefore are worthy to be reunited with universal Church. The dove that flew out of the ark and did not return is a symbol of those [saints] who have renounced bodily bonds and rushed to the light of the heavenly homeland, never to return to the labors of earthly wandering.

The last episode in the life of the patriarch, described in the Book of Genesis, concerns the period when he began to arrange the life of the family in the new world. At that time, the firstborn, Canaan, was already born to his son Ham:

The same saint writes: “Notice here, beloved, that the beginning of sin lies not in nature, but in the disposition of the soul and in free will. Now, after all, all the sons of Noah of the same nature and brothers among themselves, had the same father, were born from the same mother, were brought up with the same care, and, in spite of that, they showed unequal dispositions - one deviated towards evil, while others showed their father due respect."

Ham's act "revealed pride in him, comforted by the fall of another, lack of modesty and disrespect for the parent." “Neglecting respect for the parent, he seeks to make others witnesses of this spectacle and, having made the elder like a theatrical stage, convinces the brothers to laugh.” He, “having left the house, subjected his father to ridicule and reproach as much as he could, he wanted to make his brothers accomplices of his vile act; and then, as he should have, if he had already decided to announce to the brothers, to call them into the house and there tell them about the nakedness of his father, he went out and announced his nakedness in such a way that if many other people had happened here, he would have made them would be witnesses to the shame of the father.

But the event that led to the fall of Ham served to the glory of Shem and Japheth: “Do you see the modesty of these sons? He divulged, but they do not even want to see, but they go with their faces turned back, so that, having come closer, to cover their father's nakedness. See also how, despite their great modesty, they were still meek. They do not reproach and do not amaze the brother, but, having heard his story, they only care about one thing, how to correct what happened as soon as possible and do what was required for the honor of the parent.

Upon learning of what happened, Noah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, utters one curse and two blessings. The holy fathers considered the question of why, if Ham sinned, then it was not he himself who was cursed, but his eldest son Canaan?

St. Ephraim writes that by “younger son” Ham, who was the middle son of Noah, cannot be meant, but his grandson is meant, since “this young Canaan laughed at the nakedness of the old man; Ham, with a laughing face, went out and announced to his brothers in the midst of the haystack. Therefore, it can be thought that although Canaan is not cursed in all justice, as he did it in childhood, nevertheless, he is not against justice, because he was not cursed for another. Moreover, Noah knew that if Canaan had not become worthy of a curse in his old age, then even in adolescence he would not have done a deed worthy of a curse ... Therefore, Canaan is cursed as one who laughed, and Ham was only deprived of blessing because he laughed along with the one who laughed. St. Philaret also writes about this: "Canaan ... was the first to see the nakedness of his grandfather and told his father about it." And Chrysostom says that "the son of Ham, who was cursed, suffered the punishment for his own sins."

In addition, the holy fathers explained that by placing a curse not on Ham, but on his first-born Canaan, Noah saves all the other sons of Ham from inheriting the curse, and also avoids imposing a curse on the one who, among the others who came out of the ark, was able to receive God's blessing. According to Blessed Theodoret, there is justice in this, that “since Ham himself, being a son, sinned against his father, he also receives punishment in the curse of his son.” Ham is punished in that son or in that tribe to whom he leaves his sins as an inheritance.

As a punishment, the subordination of the descendants of Canaan to the offspring of Shem and Japheth is laid down. As St. Philaret says, “this was fulfilled on the Canaanites, who by the Israelites, the descendants of Shem, were partly destroyed, partly conquered from Joshua to Solomon.” Blessed Augustine draws attention to the fact that “in Scripture we do not meet a slave before the righteous Noah punished the sin of his son with this name. Thus, not nature, but sin deserved this name.

Finally, Noah pronounces a blessing to his youngest son: "May God expand Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem." And this prophecy was also fulfilled: “the descendants of Japheth occupied Europe, Asia Minor and the whole north, which then was a nest and a hotbed of nations ... Shem's tents signify the Church, preserved in the offspring of Shem, and, finally, taking under her roof and in participation her inheritance and the Gentiles, the descendants of Japheth.

“And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years” (Gen. 9:28). The Lord allowed Noah to live for a long time after the flood, in order to keep a living example of a righteous man for the first generations of a renewed humanity. By pointing out that all people descended from his three sons who were born before the flood (Gen. 9:18–19), Scripture reports that Noah himself, after the flood, did not give birth to more children, spending his life in abstinence.

“All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died” (Gen. 9:29), and subsequently became one of the Old Testament righteous, whose souls Christ saved from hell, descending there between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection from the dead.

As St. John says, “this righteous man can teach our entire race and lead to virtue. Indeed, when he, having lived [before the flood] among such a multitude of evil people, and not being able to find a single person like him in morals, has reached such a high virtue, then how will we be justified, who, having no such obstacles, not doing good deeds?”

Pilgrimage is a purposeful visit to the Ka'ba, the House that the Almighty spoke about in the Qur'an this word must be read in Arabic as - الْقُـرْآن(Sura “Ali ‘Imran”, Ayats 96-97) meaning:

“Indeed, the first House that was built by Adam for people is the one that is in Mecca. He was raised up to the worlds as a blessing and a guide to salvation. There are clear signs in it: there is the maqam of Ibrahim this name is pronounced in Arabic as إبراهيم(Abraham) - the place where the Prophet Ibrahim stood. Whoever enters this mosque will be safe.”

The pilgrimage must be performed once in a lifetime by every reasonable (non-crazy), adult and free from slavery Muslim, if he has the financial ability to do so.

The history of this ritual goes back to antiquity. When Allah in the name of God in Arabic "Allah", the letter "x" is pronounced like ه in Arabic ordered the Prophet Ibrahim to call people to perform the Hajj, the messenger asked: “How to call so that everyone can hear?” In response, Ibrahim was given a Revelation that the Lord Himself would allow the call of the Prophet to be heard. It is known that all the Prophets after Ibrahim performed the Pilgrimage.

When the Prophet Ibrahim announced that Allah commanded to make the Pilgrimage, those souls who were destined to make the Pilgrimage from that time until the End of the World heard his appeal. And the souls who were not destined to make the pilgrimage did not hear the call that day.

In the Ayats of Sura Al-Hajj, it is said that pilgrimage is one of the five Pillars of Islam. We find the same in the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in the name of the Prophet "Muhammad" the letter "x" is pronounced as ح in Arabic, peace be upon him, meaning:

“Islam is based on five Pillars:

1. Recognition and Belief that there is no deity except Allah and Muh ammad - His Prophet and Messenger
2. Performing five prayers
3. Annual allocation of funds by wealthy Muslims as Zakat
4. Making the Pilgrimage (Hajj) to the Holy House (Ka'ba)
5. Fasting in the month of Ramadan.

The pilgrimage ritual differs from the other major pillars of Islam in that the Hajj is a special kind characterized by the unity of time and place of its commission. It is performed only at a certain time and in a certain place, which are mentioned in the Qur'an.

The benefit of Hajj for people is cleansing from sins. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said the signifier:

“Whoever performed the Hajj without breaking her sexual intercourse, and did not commit major sins, was cleansed of sins and became pure, like a newborn.”

About the resettlement of the Prophet Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him, into the territory of Sham (to Palestine)

People of the Prophet Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him, still persisted in his disbelief. Only a small number of them believed. Then, seeing that people do not heed His call and stubbornly refuse to accept the Faith, Prophet Ibr A h And m, peace be upon him, decided to leave for another area where he could freely worship Allah and call people to Islam. Maybe there people will respond to His call and accept the Faith, recognizing that only Allah is the Only Creator Who owns the Power over everything.

In the sacred TO it is said to ur'ane (Sura "A With—WITHA ff A t”, Ayat 99):

﴿ وَقَالَ إِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ ﴾

It means: "Prophet Ibr A h And m, peace be upon him, said[moving from the unbelieving people] : "I am going where My Lord has commanded me to go,[i.e., into the territory of Sham] where I can freely worship Allah Almighty.

And also in other Ayats TO ur`ana said about the Prophet Ibr A h And me (Sura Al-‘Ankab at t”, Ayats 26-27):

﴿ فَآمَنَ لَهُ لُوطٌ وَقَالَ إِنِّي مُهَاجِرٌ إِلَى رَبِّي إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ X وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِ النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَابَ وَءَاتَيْنَاهُ أَجْرَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَإِنَّهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ لَمِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ﴾

It means: "Prophet Lu T was a believer, like other Prophets, and He was the first to recognize Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him as a prophet, when he saw that the fire did not harm him. Prophet Ibr A h And m said: “I am moving to where My Lord has commanded me[to the territory of Sham] . Indeed, Allah will protect me from enemies, and He knows about everything. Allah gave Ibr A h And mu[son] Is hack a and[grandchild] I' ku ba, and gave the descendants of Ibr A h And ma Prophecy and Heavenly Scriptures. Allah gave Iber A h And mu feature in this life[since Muslims very often praise Him by reciting du‘ A` and h caviar] and in the Other World He will be in Paradise.

Prophet Ibr A h And m, peace be upon him, fulfilling the Command of the Almighty, moved with his wife Sarah and nephew Lu T om to the blessed land of Sham.

Allah Almighty said in TO ur'ane (Sura Al-Anbi I`", Verses 71-73):

﴿ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ X وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ نَافِلَةً وَكُلاًّّ جَعَلْنَا صَالِحِينَ X وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ فِعْلَ الْخَيْرَاتِ وَإِقَامَ الصَّلاةِ وَإِيتَاءَ الزَّكَاةِ وَكَانُواْ لَنَا عَابِدِينَ ﴾

It means: “At the command of Allah, the Prophet Ibr A h And m and lu T moved to a special, blessed territory[sham] . Allah gave the Prophet Ibr A h And to pious descendants, among them - Is hack a and I' ku ba. They were Prophets, leading people on the path of Truth, as the Almighty commanded them. Allah commanded Them through Revelation to do good deeds - to perform Namaz, to give Zakat. They worshiped only Allah Almighty.

_________________________________________

Sham is the territory of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan.

Lou T was the son of brother Ibr A h And ma, peace im.

People of the Prophet Ibr Aһ And Ma decided to take revenge on Him for the fact that He broke their idols and thus showed the insignificance of these idols. After the Prophet Ibr A h And m won the argument with Numrud, presenting him with irrefutable mental evidence, Numrud and his subordinates decided to burn Him in the fire, and thus punish Him.

Said in the Holy TO ur'ane (Sura "A With—WITHA ff A t”, Ayat 97):

﴿ ﴾

It means: A h And ma into the fire.

It is also said in TO ur'ane (Sura Al-Anbi I`", Ayat 68):

﴿ قَالُواْ حَرِّقُوهُ وَٱنصُرُواْ ءَالِهَتَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ ﴾

It means: "Numrud said, 'Burn him in the fire and take vengeance on your idols if you want the idols to win.'

Unbelievers began to prepare a fire for the Prophet Ibr Aһ And ma, collecting firewood from everywhere. So they wanted to avenge Him for their idols, which they deified. Their hatred for the Prophet Ibr Aһ And and the thirst for revenge was so strong that even sick women made a vow to collect firewood for this fire if they recovered.

After a huge amount of firewood had been collected, the disbelievers dug a deep hole and piled firewood into it. Then they lit a fire. A bright flame flared up and began to flare up with extraordinary force. Huge sparks flew up, the likes of which had never been before. The fire was so strong that people could not even approach it and throw the Prophet Ibr at it. A h And ma. Then they built a catapult to throw Him into the fire from afar. The unbelievers tied His hands and put Him on the bowl of the catapult. Prophet Ibr A h And m, peace be upon him, strongly trusted in his Creator, and when he was thrown into the fire, he uttered these words:

«حَسْبُنَا اللهُ وَنِعْمَ الوَكِيْل»

It means: "Our hope is in Allah, only He will give protection from harm." Narrated Al-Bukhariy from Ibn ‘Abb A sa.

By the Will of Allah, the fire did not burn the Prophet of Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him, and even his clothes remained intact, since fire does not create burning, but Allah creates it.

In the sacred TOI`", Ayat 69):

﴿ قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ ﴾

It means: “Allah made the fire cool for Ibr A h And ma and did not burn Him.”

By the Will of Allah, this strong fire was cool and safe for the Prophet Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him. Some scholars said that the fire only burned the ropes that bound His hands. Some Salafi scholars reported that at that moment before the Prophet Ibr A h And my Angel Jabr appeared A`And l, peace be upon him, and asked: “Oh, Ibr A h And m, do you need any help?” On what the Prophet Ibr A h And m, trusting in the Almighty Creator, replied: "I do not need you."

After the flame of this huge fire went out and the smoke dissipated, people saw that the Prophet Ibr A h And m alive and well, and that the fire did not harm Him in the least. So they saw the Miracle with their own eyes. But, even despite this, they still remained in their error and did not believe in the Prophet Ibr A h And ma, peace be upon him.

Allah did not let the unbelievers win. They wanted to avenge their idols, but as a result they themselves were defeated.

In the sacred TO ur`ana said (Sura "Al-Anbi I`", Ayat 70):

﴿ وَأَرَادُواْ بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الأَخْسَرِينَ ﴾

It means: "The unbelievers wanted to punish Ibr A h And ma, and instead they themselves received a painful punishment from Allah.

It is also said in TO ur'ane (Sura "A With—WITHA ff A t”, Ayats 97-98):

﴿ قَالُواْ ٱبْنُواْ لَهُ بُنْيَانًا فَأَلْقُوهُ فِي الْجَحِيمِ فَأَرَادُواْ بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الأَسْفَلِينَ ﴾

It means: "Numrud said: "Build a catapult and throw Ibr from it A h And ma into the fire. The unbelievers wanted to burn Ibr A h And ma to stop His call. But as a result, they failed, and the Prophet Ibr A h And m was saved.