Noah's Wife: A Godly Example

By Belinda Elliott
CBN.com Daily Life Producer

CBN.com – The name of Noah’s wife may not be recorded in Scripture, but a closer look at her life shows that she was none-the-less important in the life of her family. Who was this great woman of God?

A woman of faith.
Noah’s wife must have had a strong faith in God. As much as I love my husband, if he said to me that God told him to spend years building a huge boat and to then load it with thousands of animals with which we would live for a year, I’d be more than a little skeptical. I think such a request would test even the most faith-filled among us.

Did Noah’s wife also hear from God? If I were in her place, I would want a divine confirmation from the Lord. Give me a voice from a heaven or a burning bush, something! But Scripture doesn’t tell us if she had that or not. I do know that’s not the way the Lord usually speaks to me, though sometimes I wish it were.

Perhaps her strong faith was simply a result of years of serving God. Perhaps she had seen Him provide for her family in the past, and she had grown to know that she could trust Him with their future.

How can we develop such faith? It comes by spending time with God. When we take time each day to listen to Him and study His Word, we become more familiar with that still small voice that speaks to us. The closer we get to Him, the more we see that His plans for us are good and we can trust Him. As we obey Him in the smaller tasks that He gives us, it will become easier to obey Him when He calls us to something that seems beyond our capabilities.

A woman of righteousness.
Scripture describes Noah as a righteous man who “walked with God.” I envision Noah’s wife as also being righteous, raising her three sons to trust God and serve Him. Since God also chose her sons and their wives to be saved on the ark, we can presume that Noah and his wife did their parental duties well.

I can picture the busy mom with her three small boys gathered around her as she recounted the stories of their ancestors. I imagine through the tales of Adam and Even and Cain and Able, she taught her boys well about the consequences of disobeying God.

We, too, are to teach others about God. If we have children, this is one of our most important jobs. Parents play a crucial role in teaching their children spiritual truths. Who else will teach them about God if we do not?

If we do not have children, our lives still teach others who may be watching how we live. We should set a good example for those in our lives to follow, not just “preaching” what we believe, but living it out for others to see.

A woman of love and compassion
While Noah was urging his neighbors to repent from their wicked ways, they probably thought he was crazy. His 100-plus year construction project seemed to be a work of insanity. However, I doubt that his wife was one of the people laughing at him. I imagine she was very devoted to her husband. It’s a good thing too. Someone had to help him take care of all those animals!

Noah’s wife probably had a strong work ethic as well. In Proverbs 31 we can read about the ideal woman, and it paints a clear picture of how busy a woman’s life was back in biblical times. I guess some things never change!

The proverb tells us that “she watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27). Who has time to be idle with all that work to do? In addition to caring for her children and instructing them with wisdom (v. 26), she also made all of their clothes and bed linens and gathered and prepared food for her whole household.

It’s also interesting to note one other description of the ideal woman in Proverbs 31. “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” (v. 25)

Whether or not she “laughed at the days to come” or at the thought of spending a year in close quarters with a bunch of smelly animals, I imagine Noah’s wife approached life with a good attitude. As a devoted wife and mom she probably served her husband and three boys with love and joy.

We too can adopt the attitude of a servant to those around us, as Christ instructs us to do in Philippians 2:4-5. “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

Marriage provides many opportunities for spouses to lovingly serve each other. But, even if we are not married, there are many opportunities around us to serve others. Whether it is reaching out to those in need, or simply being a good team-player at work, Christ has instructed us to put others and their needs before our own.

A woman of well-ordered priorities
We don’t read about any specific times that Noah’s wife or her family worshipped God together. But because the Bible paints them as a godly family, we can imagine that they kept God as a high priority in their lives. Even with a farm to tend to, boys to raise, and the daily duties of managing a household, Noah’s wife must have had her priorities in the right order.

Keeping our priorities straight can sometimes be a challenge. We live in a society where we are as busy as ever, juggling families, careers, church activities, and anything else we can fit into our schedules. But as Jesus instructed Martha when she complained that her sister Mary was sitting at His feet rather than helping her with the meal preparations, we must be careful not to miss the most important thing. The most important thing we can do for ourselves and our families is to spend time with the Lord and study His Word.

If we do that, Scripture tells us, the other details of our lives will fall into place. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

Without keeping her focus on God, the virtues of faith, righteousness, and compassion that marked the life of Noah’s wife would not have been possible. It seems that she knew this secret to a balanced, virtuous life. We would do well to follow her godly example.

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Belinda Elliott is the Daily Life Producer for CBN.com. In this role, she manages the Family and Entertainment sections of the Web site. She earned a master's degree in Journalism from Regent University in 2003. In her spare time she enjoys good friends, good books, and movie nights with her husband. Read more of Belinda's articles.