Theme Scripture:
"By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:7 NKJV
PART I: BACKGROUND
Long before The Savior took on flesh and walked the earth, there lived a man called Noah. He hailed from a lineage of men of great faith - and just like his great grandfather Enoch, Noah walked with God. (Genesis 5:24, 6:9)
Likewise, Lamech, Noah’s father, believed in and waited for the promised salvation of The God whom his family served. When Noah was born, Lamech perceived that this would not be an ordinary child. He named him Noah, (which means rest), prophesying that;
“This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which The Lord has cursed" (Genesis 5:29).”
Rest, however, was a far cry from the generation into which Noah was born. While he walked blameless before God, everyone else around him did not. Instead, every intention of the thoughts of the hearts of men is described as evil. (Genesis 6:5, 11-12) Man’s corruption was so grave that it extended even to the earth and invited God’s judgment on all living things.
Through my time of studying about Noah, I have learnt some lessons by God.
a) Names
The name is used for everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name, i.e. for one's rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc.
It is interesting to learn the things that God pays attention to in the lives of His children and His creation. The naming of a thing or a person is important to The Kingdom and goes to their core identity. From the outset, God gave different names to all His Creation. He named the day, night, the seas, each carrying the identity and purpose aligned with their name. Shortly after He created Adam, God brought the animals to him, “to see what he would name them.” God paid attention to the names given to the animals by the first man.
The same pattern is reflected in the names given to men throughout The Bible. The name Adam, the first man, means mankind. The name Jeremiah, means “whom Jehovah has appointed.” Before The Lord revealed to Jeremiah that he was ordained as a Prophet before his birth, Jeremiah’s name bore witness to this truth. Just like Noah’s father Lamech, the person who named Jeremiah perceived by God that the child was not intended to be ordinary.
Above all, we observe this pattern through The Life of Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, God often referred to his prophets as ‘son of man’ – a reminder that the nature of men was beset with weakness outside the Lord’s strength. When Jesus walked the earth, He too referred to Himself as the Son of Man. This reflects the great sacrifice He made, taking on the lowly nature of a servant in a human body.
It was equally important that Christ should have a name above all others, and God made it so. (Philippians 2:9). If it has a name, Christ’s Name is above it – this is the basis of our victory.
The relevance of names cannot be overstated. The term ‘name’ as used in Scripture is translated to mean everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name, i.e. for one's rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc.’
The name of a thing speaks to everything it embodies. Its essence. It speaks to its ranking, to everything it stands for, it relates to the assignment. It would be pretty absurd to find a fish crawling on land, because we do not know a fish to function this way. All alignment happens within the name.
This is why it is important that everything around us is named the right way. It is important that we seek God’s counsel concerning the names of our children, because these names relate directly to their assignment. It is equally important that we name the wilderness, the trials we go through the right way. This has a direct impact on your perspective. This is why Paul could easily call his trials and tribulations a place of joy – because he understood that they were not challenges but rather an opportunity to encounter His Lord more intimately.
Finally, it was important that Noah be called ‘rest’, because through him, The Lord would later make an oath of rest pertaining to the earth. Following Noah’s sacrifice, God vows that:
“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8: 21-22 NKJV
We are presently still beneficiaries of this promise, because of the obedience of one man.
Most importantly, Noah’s name prophesied of the coming Messiah, who gave rest both to man and the earth through the sacrifice of His Blood. Today, all we who have believed enter that rest. (Hebrews 4:3)
Hallelujah!
b) A legacy of faith
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. ~ Psalm 145:4
Scripture teaches us that a wise man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children (Proverbs 13:22). While this Scripture refers to material and non material possessions, there’s no greater inheritance than the legacy of faith. In Numbers 18:20, The Lord pledges Himself as the inheritance of the priests of Israel. Today, as His priests, He still is our inheritance and must be passed down the line of our generation.
God chose Abraham to be a great and mighty nation principally because “he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” (Genesis 18:19).
We also learn from Apostle Paul, that Timothy, his child in the faith, was born of a grandmother and consequently a mother who served God. (2 Timothy 1:5) Prophet Jeremiah was born to a family of devoted priests. (Jeremiah 1:1)
Likewise, Noah was born to a family that taught him to know and obey God. We learn through Scripture that Enoch, his great grandfather walked with God. In fact, Enoch foresaw the great flood and the salvation of Noah. Noah too, is reported as a man who ‘walked with God.’ The preservation of faith down this lineage is what would ultimately lead to the salvation of Noah from the destruction that ravaged the earth.
Noah carried this same legacy forward. The Word reveals in Genesis 4:26 that Noah’s grandfather Seth was born and during his time, people began to call upon the Name of The Lord. Unfortunately, by the time of Noah, the world has been shrouded in wickedness. All flesh is evil, except Noah who is portrayed as a remnant of the generations that sought God through his lineage. It is the seed of faith planted by his lineage that preserves him from the destruction of the flood; and prompts God to mandate him to repopulate the earth and propagate this same faith.
True to form, the legacy of faith carried by Noah bears fruit in his descendants, including Abraham, the father of our faith. All generations of the earth and the great men that served and believed God, hailed from Noah. The ambassadors of faith as we know them today, all hailed from Noah propagated the seed of faith that was planted in him by those who came before him.
On the other hand, Scripture testifies that any lineage lacking in this seed is prone to automatic destruction. We see the lineage of Cain, who rebelled against God - being wiped out by the flood. We know this because Noah's forefathers descended from Seth, Adam's other son (and not Cain). By Chapter 5 of Genesis, Scripture bears no record of Cain’s posterity.
The greatest legacy is of The Ancient of Days, moving and leading His Children through every generation. Because our God is eternal, leaving Him as an inheritance for our posterity gives us the guarantee that the same God that was faithful to us - will be faithful to those who come after us. Often through Scripture, God revealed Himself and blessed people because of the promises He had made to their forefathers. We are presently blessed because we are the seed of Abraham.
We must equally and intentionally pass the seed of faith down the line, if we are desirous of preserving our posterity.
c) Walking with God
Noah walked with God.
To walk with God speaks to a certain level of intentionality to follow closely in His Steps. Scripture teaches us an important law in the Spirit – two can only walk together if they are agreed. (Amos 3:8). Walking with a person with whom you are agreed means that the two of you have extensively discussed all things to do with route, purpose, destination and every important aspect of the journey. There is a willingness to take the journey together.
There is an additional qualification to walking with God, which is the awareness that He is The One in charge. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by The Lord, and God busies Himself with his every step (Psalm 37:23 AMPC). He is The One that takes us by the right hand (Isaiah 41:13) and guides us through the journey of our lives on earth. The disciples carried the understanding while they walked with Jesus that He was their Lord, and they constantly sought His Instruction. On one occasion, Peter declares their stand; proclaiming that they had come to know Jesus as The Christ, The Son of The Living God who had the words of Eternal Life. (John 6:68-69).
This Truth reveals that walking with God requires an accurate vision of who He is and a deep-seated trust in His Nature. It is impossible to walk comfortably and fully surrendered to a God we do not trust to have good plans for us. Whoever comes to Him must believe not only that He is but that He rewards those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) We must believe that He delights in every step we make while He busies Himself with the next one. (Psalm 37:23).
God has promised us in His Word:
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4 NIV
The way God guides us, is through His Son. In John 14:6, Jesus teaches us that He is The Way, the Truth and the Life. He is The only Way to the Father. It is impossible to walk with God if we do not walk with His Son. He is the Revelation of God. He is the True Light which gives light to everyone. (John 1:9) Without this Light, we grope in the darkness on our way. This is why David had the understanding that for as long as He walked with God, nothing could shake him. (Psalm 16:8)
Noah carried this understanding and made the conscious decision to walk with God even when this meant taking a direction opposite to everyone around him. This posture is what would deliver him on the day of adversity.
When God instructed Noah to construct the ark, he obeys. The Lord works with this obedience to show Noah the pattern by which the ark must be constructed. As Noah continues to follow the pattern of obedience, God continues to instruct him. God instructs him concerning which animals to bring into the ark, and he obliges. Noah leaves the ark only after he has been called out of it by God.
These actions altogether reveal a pattern of obedience to every step and instruction as God gave it, and God deploying that obedience to order the next steps of Noah. Through his obedience and walk with God, we see that Noah was preserved even before the coming of The Messiah in the flesh, the promise of sustenance was fulfilled through his obedience.
Noah’s life reveals the pattern of a man aligned with Biblical laws pertaining to walking with God. He walks with God because he agrees with God’s plans for his life. By walking with God, The Lord sustains him. His steps are ordered by God, and he is delivered from destruction.
PART II: NOAH’S OBEDIENCE AS EVIDENCE OF HIS FAITH
As children, the story of Noah was one of the greatest ever told. The more I consider this story, the more I understand why. Noah’s construction of the ark reveals several facets of his obedience but most importantly, of his confidence in God and His Word. His life is a lesson to the Body of Christ.
a) What no eye has seen nor ear heard, is what God has in store for those who wait on Him
When God encounters Noah, He instructs him to build an ark for the salvation of his household. The Lord warns Noah that He intends to destroy the entire earth by bringing flood waters to ravage it. Up until this point, nothing of the sort had ever happened under Heaven. The Word says God had not yet caused rain to water the earth (Genesis 2:5-6). The author of Hebrews confirms this, noting that Noah was warned of 'things yet unseen,' which in this case, was the flood.
This pattern reflects in how God works in the lives of His anointed ones. The Word promises that God has prepared for those He loves, things which no eye has seen nor ear heard. (I Corinthians 2:9) However, to step into the reality of these things, we must demonstrate faith for the unthinkable, at least by human expectation. We must believe that we serve a God who operates in a realm where nothing is impossible. (Matthew 19:26) Just because it has not happened in the realm of men, does not mean it is incapable of happening. It is this mindset that has inspired every single invention in human history.
Sarah believed for a child long after her womb was considered dead. (Hebrews 11:11) Mary believed when The Lord promised that she would bear a child without knowing a man. (Luke 1:34-38) The blind man believed for restoration of his sight, despite the fact that no one born blind had received their sight before. (John 9:32). All these believed for things that were previously unheard of.
Likewise, Noah believed that God would send water to fall from the sky, and from the earth beneath him even when it had never happened before. It was the belief in this warning that moved Noah with Godly fear to immediately construct the ark as he had been instructed.
b) Noah did all that The Lord commanded him
The Word reveals that Noah did all that The Lord commanded him (Genesis 6:22, Genesis 7:5) because he was ‘moved with Godly fear’; which speaks to his reverence for God. Noah’s reverence for God prompted him to follow God’s instructions to the letter.
In a similar fashion, we must be careful not just to work but also in accordance with the pattern that God shows us. The Word instructs us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), but this can only be in accordance with 'the good works that He has prepared for us beforehand' (Ephesians 2:10). In other words, it is possible to indulge in 'good works' to which you were not called. God gives the pattern for the works that save us. (Psalm 127:1) It would otherwise be disappointing to 'do many wonders in His Name,' only to be told that He never knew you. (Matthew 7: 22-23)
Scripture teaches us that we must not just obey, but obey in full. The start of a thing is as good as its end. (Galatians 3:3). The salvation of Noah’s family was secured because of his total obedience. God's instruction to Noah was to build the ark in the pattern revealed to him. (Genesis 6:15) The instruction extended as far as the size of the ark, and the variations of animals that could be brought in. Rightfully so, because there was no amount of human understanding that could build an ark firm enough to resist a torrential downpour lasting 40 days. The restoration of the earth depended solely on his full obedience.
In the end, Noah came out of the ark only under the instruction of The Lord. While prior to this, Noah sent out animals to assess the state of the earth, it was only after The Lord commanded him to come out of the ark that he did. (Genesis 8:15-18).
We must always approach our Father with humility concerning the life and works we ought to engage in, in accordance with the Books written of us. (Hebrews 10:7). We must equally maintain this state of constant communion and relationship in order to finish strong, the race set ahead of us.
c) Faith that endures
A lot of the time, the Church purports to have faith, but only within the limits of the world’s seasons. It is easy to believe God for a child while still within the biological clock. It is equally easier to believe God for a wife while still within the socially constructed confines of the marriage window. Not so much when we believe the time has passed.
This is not what our fathers of old have taught us. Noah’s construction of the ark did not go on for a short period of time. While there has been considerable debate concerning the period it took, the construction is estimated to have lasted over 100 years. Even by human standards, consider the amount of time and effort it would take to construct a vast three-storied ark, large enough to house all breeds of animals, food, human beings while using less modern technology and limited manpower.
Noah endured years of testing The Word and instruction he received from God, but we do not see his faith wavering at any point. During this time, there must have been plenty of mockery from those around him, particularly because they did not believe. There must have been questions even from his own family.
Unknown to those around him, the time taken to construct the ark was in itself an act of mercy from God. It was an invitation to search out the actions of Noah more deeply, and perhaps The Lord would have revealed Himself to another person. Another family. (John 6:37) The Word says The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9).
Often when The Lord makes us wait on Him for a promise, He has not just an individual in mind but greater impact. The part we must play is faithful obedience to His Instruction.
We see the same pattern of faithful endurance in the life of Abraham, who believed God for a child long after his body was considered dead. We also see a similar pattern in Prophetess Anna, who prayed and waited for over eighty years concerning the coming Messiah (Luke 2:37-38). Scripture also reveals that the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was coming, constantly searched out what time the Messiah was coming – and continued to believe even when they were told that the things they prophesied of would not come to pass during their time. (1 Peter 1:10-12). All these demonstrated faith that did not waver over the years.
There is a paradox to this pattern. Concerning the promises God has made concerning us, our faith must grow, and not dwindle, with the passage of time. During this time, we must allow The Word of God to take up deep roots inside us, because it is the seed that yields the promise.
True to God’s Word, the flood did come. Noah’s enduring faith is what led to the salvation not only of his family but of every creature that would soon be useful to repopulate the earth. It was important that he kept the faith. It still is.
d) Through his obedience, Noah condemned the world
Noah's obedience was in stark contrast to the disobedience of the rest of mankind. From the onset, Noah is portrayed as different from the rest of his generation because he walked with God. This distinction becomes even more pronounced when he believes God enough to build the ark. No one else during his generation received, let alone would have heeded this instruction. Perhaps if they had, they would have been able to repent while there was still time. (Isaiah 55: 6-7). This is why during the times of Sodom and Gomorrah, The Lord was willing to spare the city if He found even only ten righteous people in these rebellious cities. (Genesis 18:32)
Because of Noah's obedience, the disobedience of the world became more pronounced, and it had to perish. Because of this distinction, the same water that brought God's judgment on the rest of the world protected and floated Noah's ark.
"The flood [that is, the downpour of rain], was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased and bore up the ark, and it was lifted [high] above the land. And the waters became mighty and increased greatly upon the land, and the ark went [gently floating] upon the surface of the waters" Genesis 7: 17-18 AMPC.
In His Nature as a Righteous Judge, God rewards righteousness but unleashes wrath on disobedience if we do not receive His mercy. The consuming fire that gave light to the Israelites on their way to Canaan also consumed the men whom God had judged as disobedient. (Exodus 13:21, Numbers 16:35) The same Light that overcomes darkness blinded Apostle Paul on his way to Damascus. (Acts 9:8)
It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into The Hands of The Living God. (Hebrews 10:31).
e) Noah became an heir of righteousness
We are God’s offspring. (John 1:12) The book of Romans 8:17 teaches us that if we are children of God, we are also His heirs. As His heirs, one of the key aspects of our inheritance is righteousness, received from Christ’s death for our sin. (2 Corinthians 5:21). We also know that as believers, Christ is our righteousness. (1 Corinthians 1:30) Through His death on the cross, we became heirs of righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In its most literal sense, an heir is one who is legally entitled to obtain an inheritance from someone who has died. It also means that the person who has died pre-existed the heir who inherits their belongings. They exist before them. We inherit property from parents that lived before us. We are, for example, heirs of the promise made to Abraham, who lived many years before us. (Galatians 3:29). In our case therefore, it is conceivable to the human mind that when Jesus died, we inherited righteousness among other promises. At the time He died, He had become flesh and walked the earth.
Not so with Noah. We know from The Word that Noah walked the earth long before Jesus was manifested in the flesh. It would therefore not be possible (humanly at least) to inherit righteousness from a Man that came centuries after you.
However, Scripture states that Noah through faith, Noah became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By inheriting this righteousness, Scripture once again confirms that Christ pre-dated Noah. Not only that, but that He is The Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world - long before Noah was born. (Revelation 13:8). Before the foundation of the world – which was before Noah was born – Jesus had both lived and died for the world. This is how Noah could validly inherit his righteousness.
In a conversation with the Pharisees much later, Jesus reveals that "Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58) In an almost similar conversation, Jesus challenges the Pharisees, asking them how The Messiah could really be the “Son of David”, if King David himself referred to Christ as “my Lord.” (Matthew 22: 41-45) In this, He spoke to the fact that not only did He precede King David, but He was Lord over him.
The Bible on several other accounts witnesses that Christ was in the beginning and all things were made through Him (John 1:1- 3), He is the first born of all creation, before all things and through whom all things were created (Colossians 1:15-17).
Noah inherited the righteousness of God from Christ who pre-existed him.
v) Faithful obedience versus salvation
A key lesson from the life of Noah is that faithful obedience is never in vain. The righteous are saved and live by faith. (Romans 1:17) Because of his faithful obedience, Noah fulfilled the prophecy that was spoken of him by his father, "This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which The Lord has cursed". (Genesis 5:29.)
We know this because after the flood, Noah offers a sacrifice to The Lord, which prompts Him to make an everlasting covenant for the preservation of the earth.
God vows that:
“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” Genesis 8: 21-22
We are presently still beneficiaries of the promise made because of the obedience of one man. Noah was the gateway through which mankind and the earth received reprieve from the curse that followed the fall.
More importantly, as highlighted previously, Noah’s life spoke of Christ, an embodiment of the rest that was coming to the world - to anybody who believed. Today, we who enter His Rest, have ceased from our labour. (Hebrews 4:10)
vi) Gopher wood
It's interesting that the material used to build the ark - gopher wood, in its most original translation is described to be of an unknown type (among men). There is also no record of this wood being used in any other account of The Bible or in the rest of the world.
Gopher wood was unique, one of a kind, and the only brand firm enough to save Noah from the torrent of the flood that followed. I do not (personally) consider this a coincidence...
This is supremely similar to The Christ, because there is NO other name by which man can be saved. (Acts 4:12) Jesus is identified as a priest after the order of Melchizedek. We know from the author of Hebrews that Melchizedek that no father or mother, and his ancestry was unknown. (Hebrews 7:3).
The ark was a foreshadowing of The Christ, to whom nobody and nothing else could ever be compared or known.
FINALLY...
By constructing the ark, Noah obtained a report that he was a man of faith. God considered the works that flowed directly from his faith in God.
It is not enough to proclaim with our mouths that we believe God. Our actions must reveal the state of our heart as fully convinced of this Truth. The Word warns that faith without works is dead. It is not possible to believe God without living a life of actions that reflect a place of trust in Him. Walking with God requires faith. Obeying an instruction, big or small, requires faith. Speaking requires faith. Praying requires faith. As the Apostle James reminds us, our faith is completed by works.
God is looking for a heart that believes Him and walks in a manner aligned with this belief. (2 Chronicles 16:9) The way I see it, our choice is clear, and not just that, it is also an easy one.
Just like Noah, may our faith always be revealed through the works that naturally follow a heart that is fully reliant on God.
AMEN!