A righteous man in the face of wickedness
Noah was a preacher of righteousness and, as he spoke and acted, he demonstrated that the rest of the world was fully deserving of judgement and punishment. The story of Noah's life involved not one, but two great and tragic floods: the first of evil and the second of water. The world in Noah's day was flooded with evil, violence and self-centredness. The number of those who remembered the God of creation, perfection and love had dwindled, first to a handful and finally to just one family. God's response to this severe situation was to provide one last chance, a visible warning that probably took between fifty and seventy-five years to prepare. God asked Noah to construct an 'ark' - an enormous vessel, capable of floating on water and carrying a huge range of creatures. Nothing like a huge boat, built on dry land, to make a point!
For Noah, obedience meant a long-term commitment to a project that he understood only by faith. It had never rained on the earth before, so the concept of a flood was new and quite probably ridiculous. Many of us have trouble sticking to any project, whether or not it is something that God has directed us to do. It is interesting that the period of Noah's project (and persistent obedience) was greater than today's life expectancy. Our only comparable long-term project is our own lives. But perhaps this is one great challenge Noah's life gives us: to live an entire lifetime of obedience and gratitude in acceptance of God's grace.
The way of the world compared to God’s way
Until this time, humans had measured their lives in hundreds of years (Genesis 5) and there was no reason to think that things would change. No doubt, word had been passed down from father to son of what Adam had done – or not done - but by now it was all rather remote. Few people had any sort of relationship with God any more; many had stopped believing in His existence altogether and those who had not forgotten the old stories no longer believed that God might still care about them. If He did, then why was it so hard to eke out a living amongst the thistles and briers and why was there so much evil in the world: murder, rape, fighting, violence, theft, perversions and so on? They had heroes and 'men of renown' to look up to (Genesis 6:1-4) but most people just looked out for 'Number One' and followed their heart. Does any of this sound familiar? Things are not so different today. Turn on the television; listen to the news; follow social media and podcasts. Then read 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 where we see the dangers of going along with the rest of the crowd, ignoring God's call to be different and, above all, to seek a close intimate relationship with Him, above and beyond all our relationships with others.
‘The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.’ (Genesis 6:5)
The time had come to give humanity an extended warning. In fact, God’s heart was so filled with pain that He decided to wipe the whole of His creation (humans, animals, insects and birds) from the face of the earth. But God is also just and there was one man out of all of them who loved Him and who was righteous. That man was Noah. So God shared with him what was going to happen. He explained to him what he wanted him to do so that he could be saved, together with his wife, his children and their wives. They would also collect and safeguard a representative sample of God’s creatures to enable life to begin again. God is a God of covenants and He is interested in families. When you become a follower of Christ, you can expect all those in your family to be blessed as well. Start to pray for them and, if there are problems between you, forgive them. What greater blessing can there be than for you to introduce them to Jesus our Saviour!
The plan and its communication
God shared with Noah the plans for the 'ark' that would take Noah and his family, plus two of every ‘unclean’ and seven of every ‘clean’ animal, bird or creature that moved along the ground, as well as every kind of food that they and Noah’s family would all eat. He outlined in detail the size, shape, fixtures and fittings that the vessel required – all that was necessary to get the job done. He detailed the wood to be used and the sealant to make it waterproof. Just when Noah must have been daunted by the extent of all the work that had to be done, never mind having to travel the world and collect a menagerie of animals, God explained that all the livestock would come to him. All he had to do was to build the boat.
During the many years of the building project, Noah also preached a warning of judgement to come and the need for a change in behaviour to all that passed by. (2 Peter 2:5). Consider his faith. There was Noah, building a massively heavy, wooden vessel designed to float on water - in the midst of dry land! Noah must have become a real oddity, a curiosity; his project a source of great amusement and entertainment, a diversion from the hustle and bustle of everyday life as they went about their business and social events.Nevertheless, people continued with their lives. They ate, they drank, they married and gave in marriage – life just went on. (Matthew 24:38) Noah preached, probably with ever greater passion as his practical illustration drew near to completion, but it made absolutely no difference. People steadfastly refused to change their ways, even as Noah’s work continued.
Eventually God told Noah that only one week remained before the end. That last seven days must have been an extraordinary time: the last nail hammered home, the final coat of sealant applied, the cessation of all work. A sense of quiet anticipation may have pervaded the building site before the animals started arriving. Pairs of creatures in their hundreds - no thousands - must have climbed, walked, crawled or flown on board. Did anyone start to have doubts and wonder if perhaps Noah wasn't mentally deranged after all? No, it appears that the hearts of the people were hard. The line of animals thinned out as the last few arrived; then Noah and his entire family boarded the ark.
The boarding gate closes
With that, God closed the door, effectively sealing all the creatures in the Ark. (Genesis 7:16) Then the rain began. On that day and during the following forty days, the canopy of water that had existed above the sky (Genesis 1:7) collapsed inwards, and all the springs of the earth burst forth. It was a cataclysmic event of massive proportions that lasted for 'forty days and nights' - a Hebrew expression for a really long time. For those left behind, it was already too late. God had shut the door of the ark and it could no longer be opened. The long period of one hundred and twenty years had come to an end. People had had ample opportunity to change their minds, to change their ways and turn from laughing at Noah to joining with him and helping him, but none did. Noah and his family must have watched helplessly as the waters rose and desperate people shouted for help, but there was nothing they could do. The ark’s passengers were shut in and the vessel sealed – with no leaks. It had been designed by God to withstand His fury and judgement and it worked exactly to specification, taking them all to a post-judgement world where God would be honoured and obeyed.
Our choices
What can we take from this history of the flood? What can we apply to our lives today? Firstly, we have a choice to make: are we for God or against Him? We have a lifetime to make that decision. Neither you nor I know when that lifetime will end but, on the day it does, it will be too late to change our minds. We need to ensure that we will spend eternity with God. The alternative is everlasting torment and hopelessness. (Luke 16:19-31) If you and I have made that choice, we are sealed into God’s kingdom. (Ephesians 4:30) Neither death nor hell, nor judgement can touch us, just as it couldn’t touch Noah in the ark. We have already passed from death (eternal separation from God) into life. In John 10:10, Jesus said that the thief (the devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus came to give us life - life to the full. It is only in Jesus that we can experience this fullness. No other religion or philosophy or belief system can do what Jesus did. He was the 'door' to the ark, the one way in.
Disemb-ark-ation and some promises
The flood spread over the entire earth and took nearly six months to recede. (Genesis 7:24) All life perished - human and animal - except for those that were in the Ark. The waters dropped gradually and the ark eventually grounded on the mountains of Ararat. It took another two and a half months before the tops of the mountains appeared, then Noah sent out birds to test whether or not the creatures could survive. So the time came when God spoke to Noah and told him to empty the ark. The first thing that Noah did was to build an altar to the Lord and to sacrifice a burnt offering to Him. (Always put God first in your life!) God responded by making four promises to Noah:
- He promised never again to curse the ground because of humanity, even though every inclination of peoples’ hearts is evil from childhood.
- He promised that He would never again destroy all living creatures as He had just done.
- God promised that, as long as the earth would endure, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night would never cease.
- God blessed Noah and his family and commissioned them once again to increase and fill the earth. However, He said that there would, henceforth, be an accounting required from each animal (and especially from every human being) for the lifeblood of their fellow humans. All animals, fish, birds and creatures would fear humans and all animals, fish, birds and other creatures would be available as food for mankind.
The covenant
Finally, God established a covenant with Noah, his family, his descendants and all life on earth. God placed His 'bow' in the clouds as a sign of this covenant. For His part, God undertook never again to destroy all life by the waters of a flood. The rainbow in the clouds is a permanent reminder when it rains. If seen from above, a rainbow can occasionally be a full circle, everlasting with no end. Will our love for God be everlasting as we remember what He has done for us and how He has blessed us by revealing to us His salvation?
The story of Noah is presented to us as a warning in Matthew 24:37-44: 'The world will be at ease - banquets and parties and weddings - just as it was in Noah's time before the sudden coming of the flood; people wouldn't believe what was going to happen until the flood actually arrived and took them all away. So shall My coming be'. 'So be prepared, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Just as a man can prevent trouble, so you can avoid trouble by always being ready for my unannounced return.'
Peter likens the account of going through the flood to baptism. He states: 'In baptism we show that we have been saved from death and doom by the resurrection of Christ; not because our bodies are washed clean by the water but because in being baptized we are turning to God and asking Him to cleanse our hearts from sin'. (1 Peter 3:21) Perhaps God is speaking to you about being baptized. This step of obedience to God allows you to declare before God and all principalities and powers that you have been born again; you are a new person in Jesus. And, just as Jesus went down into death and rose again, so you too have died to sin and been made alive in Christ. If so, check out study number three in the Joy For Life series: ‘Living with Jesus’.
A warning for our day
Read 2 Peter 2:4-5.
God is just and faithful. What He has promised, He will do. Not only will He give us eternal life if we confess our sins, repent and give our life to Him, but He will stand with us and rescue us when we need it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went through the trial of being thrown into a furnace, heated to such an extent that it killed some of the guards who threw them in. Nevertheless, they were not even singed in their ordeal. Why? Because Jesus was with them. He went with them through their trials and they came out triumphant and were able to testify to the King and his entire court that their God had saved them. (Daniel 3:9-25)
God wants to bless us in every area of our lives as He did Noah. Even though Noah did sin at a later date, he is still on the list of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11:7. What a testimony! ‘It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world and he received the righteousness that comes by faith'.
Let us too receive what God has prepared for us but, remember, it is on His terms, not ours!
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