Noah's Ark

In Genesis 5, there is a genealogy of Adam. The following table is a summary. Cain and Abel were not mentioned, only Seth. Abel might not have left any offspring but Cain definitely had (Genesis 4:17-18). The last name mentioned along the Cain line was Lamech! However, Cain was cursed. The author was only interested in following the major line, the line of blessing. Therefore, the second column does not indicate the age in which the FIRST son was born. Similarly, in the case of Noah (the bottom row), he was 500 when he was the father of 3 sons. Were they triplets? Might not be!
After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32).

Name	Age son was born	Age lived
Adam	130	930
Seth	105	912
Enosh	90	905
Kenan	70	910
Mahalalel	65	895
Jared	162	962
Enoch	65	365 (God took him away)
Methuselah	187	969
Lamech	182	777
Noah	500	950 (Genesis 9:29)

People have tried various ways to explain away the long age of these biblical figures. But such attempts are futile to start with. Who can verify these figures independently? The Bible is our only evidence. Of course, for believers, the Bible is the word of God. It must be true. Yes, it must be true in different ways. It can be true literally. It can also be true as some sorts of ciphers, secret messages to be decoded. However, who can verify? Better leave them as they are.
In Genesis 6:2, another enigmatic figure appears --- the sons of God. Like the cherubim which guarded the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), they appear out of nowhere. Scholars tend to interpret them as angels.
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.
Then the LORD said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:2-3)
In one stroke, the author explained why our life span is so short as compared to those legendary biblical figures. However, Noah was an exception. He died 950 years old after Genesis 6!
Nearly every civilization has its own version of a great flood that wiped out the world. Probably, this is the remnant of a memory of an Ice Age deposited in the deep psyche of human collective unconsciousness. Naturally, deity was the origin of such a great catastrophe. The gods were annoyed by human beings for whatever reason. They decided to wipe them out, leaving a remnant to start anew. The earlier Creation was an experiment that went wrong. Humanity deserves a second chance.
When we read the biblical story of the Great Deluge in Genesis 6-7, we cannot escape the impression that it is an attempt to piece together several traditions. The most obvious line is the number of living things to be saved in the ark.
And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive (Genesis 6:19-20).
Later, the concept of unclean animals creeps in. Instead of one pair, we have seven pairs.
Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate;
and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth (Genesis 7:2-3).
There are a lot more to be pondered upon. Let's take a break here.

Dear Lord, I thank You for giving us chances of repentance. Let us work, despite failed attempts, towards a better and brighter future for our children. Amen.