Text: “This Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:22).
The story of Noah is one of my favorite Bible stories. As a young fellow, living in the hills of a coal mining town in Ohio, I remember listening to the story of Noah in the small one-room country church on the side of the hill. At that time, I did not question nor did I understand why God would single out one person to carry out such a monumental task of building a large boat.
Neither did I understand the state of creation, at the time God asked Noah to start this project. I was just an innocent child thinking that everything in the world was just like it was at home. I thought there was love and understanding among all people because that is the way it was in our family.
I was under the impression that your neighbor was ready to come and lending a helping hand in time of need. The people in our small town and the surrounding area helped one another. If a barn had to be build, all the men in the area pitched in and helped. If it was time to prepare the fields for planting or if it was harvest time, help just appeared.
I did not know what the word “violence” meant. I heart about World War II and I knew that young men left their families to go to war, but that was a continuation of the helping-hand. I did not understand the sinful nature of mankind. I did not know the sins of envy, jealously, hatred, pride, impurity, greed, stealing, gossip, unfaithfulness, dishonor, or backbiting.
Now that I am a little older and understanding, I realize that man has a sinful nature which leads him to live a life that is not always in line with God’s Word. The sins that are committed today are the same sins that were committed in the days of Noah. The world is in a state similar to that of Noah’s day. Many people today are living ungodly lives just as they were in the days before the flood.
The bottom line to all this is that God is not happy with what is taking place in the world. He was not happy with the people in the days of Noah. Mankind was wicked and evil in God’s sight.
Scripture say this concerning the thoughts of God: “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them” (Genesis 6:6-7).
People of Noah’s day and many people of this day do not understand how much pain and grief our sins bring upon our Father. God cannot stand sin of any kind. There is no such thing as a small sin. A sin is a sin which hurts the person committing it and also it hurts God.
As God looked out upon His creation of mankind, He chose one man who was faithful, trustworthy and obedient to carry out His plan to give mankind another opportunity. “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8).
Scripture tells us that “Noah was a righteous man” (Genesis 6:9). If a person is righteous, that person is meeting certain standards of what is proper or just. In this case, Noah was meeting the standards set by God. He was in the world, but he was not part of the world.
In other words, Noah lived among the multitude of people who were living outside God’s standards and committing act unacceptable in God’s eyes, but Noah was not living their style or type of life. He was meeting the standards set forth by God.
The people in Noah’s day chose to ignore the fact that they were drowning in the depths of evil and the flood of violence was about to wipe them off the face of the earth. God created mankind out of love, but His love ceased to flow through mankind because of mankind’s sinful nature.
Whenever we quit looking to God for guidance and start looking at other people, we are headed for trouble. When we stop living the way God intended us to live and start living the way of the world, we are sailing in the murky waters of self-destruction. When we forget who created us and why we were created, life will be a meaningless journey into eternity.
People in the days of Noah seemed to have fallen into a daily routine that did not include God. Their idea of life seemed to be one of do whatever feels good. They did what made them happy and content. The people were not worried about what was morally right or wrong. Life was being sacrificed because of intermarriage. The human race was being weakened through the sinful acts of mankind.
Faith in God and obedience to the will of God seemed to be lost in the pleasures of everyday life. This very thing is going on today. There are people today who have forgotten that God is still on the throne.
They have forgotten that God wants good things like; happiness, joy, pleasure, good health, means of support, food, clothing, shelter, and so on for each of us.
He wants us to call upon Him and to share our thoughts and burdens with Him. The Psalmist said, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). In other words, our worries and our concerns are also His. God does not want us to worry about any issue or any part of our life.
He wants us to call upon Him and tell Him what is bothering us so that He can lift that concern from us. He will do this because of His love for us. He wants us to use our “mustard seed” of faith to our advantage. God wants us to trust Him and believe that He will help us in our time of need.
He wants us to be obedient to His Word and live according to His will. When we follow God, totally rely on Him, and accept His Word, we will receive more than we could ever ask for. His word says, “…there shall be showers of blessings” (Ezekiel 34:26).
Many of the people in the days of Noah were not following God’s word just as many people today choose to depend upon themselves or other people for their wants and needs. God had enough of this nonsense, so He said, “I will wipe mankind from the face of the earth” (Genesis 6:7).
Only one man found favor with God. That one man was Noah. God’s word tells us that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). Noah was not a perfect man, but he did love God, communicated with God, shared his wants and needs with God, and he was obedient to God.
God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth” (Genesis 6:13).
I don’t know if Noah knew what he was in for, but he listened to God’s plan and did as God told him to do. I would have liked to seen the look on Noah’s face when God told him to build this huge boat.
We are not talking a row boat or a canoe, but a boat 450 feet long (that is one and one-half times the length of a football field) 75 feet wide and 45 feet high (the height of a four story building).
Noah had walked with God all of his life and must have known that if this is what God wanted built, he would lead him through every step of the construction process. I doubt Noah was a carpenter, but God was the designer, engineer, and construction supervisor.
This project was presented to Noah when Noah was 480 years old. He was not a spring chicken. Another interesting fact is the time period God gave for Noah to build the boat.
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal, his days will be a hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3).
God was saying that the people would have 120 years to repent of their sinful ways. One hundred twenty years is a long time, but we have to remember that God is very patient. However, if man does not change, but instead, pushes God to the edge, then man will suffer and pay the consequences.
God gave the people in Noah’s day an opportunity to change their ways, just as he is giving each one in this day a chance to repent of their sins and accept His Son as their personal Lord and Savior.
God loved those people of years ago, but could not tolerate their behavior and their way of life. He could have just ended all life and we would not be here today. But because of His love, grace, and mercy, each man, woman, boy, and girl has the opportunity to spend eternity in His kingdom.
Noah knew the project would take a long time, but he was committed to put all his energy into completing the project. He knew God would stand by him and direct him until the project was complete.
All Noah had to do was to follow the specifications spelled out by God and be obedient to follow those specifications. Noah continued to work on the boat for 120 years and when it was completed, God blessed Noah, his wife, and their 3 sons and their wives for their obedience to Him.
God could have blessed the other people if they had been obedient and changed their way of living. The flood would not have had to come. Noah would not have had to spend 120 years building a boat a long way from any body of water. People were not willing to change their style of life.
They were people in the world and people of the world. Noah and his family were people in the world, but not people of the world. They were people walking with God, listening to Him, trusting Him, and following His righteous ways. They received the reward of life.
God said to Noah and his family: “But I will establish my covenant with you….” (Genesis 6:18). God was in essence saying that he would promise them or assure them of salvation because of their obedience. He is doing the same today. He promises each of us salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. He does not want any of us to be lost and spend eternity in Hell. He sacrificed His only Son for us.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).
The boat was finished and Noah and his family were ready to board. Then God said to Noah, “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them” (Genesis 6:19-21).
Noah was obedient to God and carried through with God’s plans. At this time, Noah was 600 years old. After seven day, the rains came from above and below and continued for forty day and forty nights. With the exception of all on board the ark, mankind and animal life was wiped out. “Every living thing that moved on the earth perished – birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swam over the earth, and all mankind” (Genesis 7:21).
Conclusion:
Did mankind learn a lesson? Is the world of today different than in the days of Noah? Did God have to do anything else to give mankind another opportunity for salvation?
I don’t think the world is much better off today. We have the same issues Noah’s people had. God did not give up on mankind and that is why He sent His Son into the world. Jesus paid the price for our past, present, and future sins.
He suffered so that we would not have to suffer. He gave His body and shed His blood so that we would not have to do the same. He died a cruel death on an old wood Cross because of the Father’s love for us.
The bread and the cup you receive today remind us of this sacrificial love. For repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior and living according to his Word, promises us a place in His kingdom for all eternity.
WE CAN ASK FOR NO GREATER REWARD.
Amen.
