Heroes of the Bible: Noah
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 7/11/2021
Note: This sermon was adapted from my book, Holy Heroes of the Bible. If it's a blessing to you, please consider buying my book which includes chapter/sermons on 18 Bible heroes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SBNJTSZ
As most of you already know, I’ve been a superhero fan since long before it was cool. I’m a longtime comicbook collector. I still remember (and still own) the very first comicbook my mom bought for me off the spinner rack at the A&P grocery store when I was a kid. It was Action Comics #600, a giant-sized special issue commemorating Superman’s golden anniversary in 1988. It featured a colorful, captivating story that pitted Superman and Wonder Woman against the otherworldly villain Darkseid. The dynamic art and dramatic adventures hooked me right away, and, over three decades later, I still love reading every superhero comicbook I can get my hands on.
While there are a whole host of reasons to love comicbooks—the unique art form, the swashbuckling adventure, the ever-twisting plots—the primary reason I still enjoy reading comics is that I love heroes—those noble, courageous champions who stand for truth and save the day. I’m not alone in my admiration for heroes either. A list of history’s greatest stories and legends is roll call of heroes: Odysseus, Hercules, King Arthur, Robin Hood. And every generation just adds to the roster: Sherlock Holmes, the Lone Ranger, James Bond, Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, Iron Man, etc. Superhero movies have dominated the box-office for well over a decade now, demonstrating that people all around the globe have a sort of hunger for heroes. I think this inner yearning for heroes is woven into the fabric of the human heart as though God built us with a persistent longing for a hero who will save us and keep us safe.
In an interview with USA Today, Ben Affleck, the actor who plays Batman in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, made a compelling observation. He said, “Part of the appeal of this genre [superhero movies] is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?” Wow. Amen. It certainly would be nice if such a Hero existed, wouldn’t it?
Nobody does heroes better than comicbooks. Clad in colorful capes and costumes, superheroes fight for truth and justice and save the day. And these heroes can teach some valuable spiritual lessons. In fact, certain comics helped prepare me to put my faith in Jesus and become a Christian. The only drawback is—superheroes aren’t real. As real people with real struggles, we need real heroes to inspire us, encourage us, and to model true heroism from a biblical perspective.
Lucky for us, the Bible is full of heroes. They didn’t wear spandex or fly around in capes. They didn’t inspire action figures, cartoon shows, or summer blockbusters. They weren’t perfect and they didn’t become heroes because they were bit by a radioactive spider or exposed to gamma rays. Rather, they were ordinary people, like you and me. Yet, God empowered these holy heroes and heroines to execute jaw-dropping miracles, conquer mighty armies, topple giants, save entire nations, and proclaim the good news of God’s salvation in the face of certain death. They were truly super heroes!
So, for the next ten weeks, we’re going to be lifted up together by the stories of some of the Bible’s greatest heroes—mighty men and women of God like Abraham, Moses, David, Esther, and more. Through their heroism, we can find the inspiration we need to follow in their footsteps and become heroes for God ourselves.
The first biblical hero on our roster is Noah.
The story of Noah’s ark and the flood is one of the most beloved stories of the Bible. I think it has something to do with the floating zoo and the animals marching two by two. We picture Noah and his family huddled in the tiny cramped space of the ark, surrounded by elephants, walruses, and a couple of giraffes whose long necks jut out through the windows of the rickety boat.
But the story of Noah and the ark is much more than just a children’s story. It’s a true story about sin and evil, about salvation and damnation, and about one man’s heroism in the face of world-ending disaster. Let’s take a closer look at the story of the flood and discover what made Noah a hero and how we can follow his example. As we analyze the narrative of Noah’s life, the first thing we learn is that Noah was different.
• A DIFFERENT HERO
In order to truly understand the story of Noah and the flood, we must first understand the world in which Noah lived. When Adam and Eve first disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, sin didn’t tiptoe into the world like a thief sneaking into a house; rather, it charged in like a herd of stampeding elephants. Within a few generations, humanity became so cruel and crooked, the Bible describes it this way: “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (Genesis 6:5 NLT). It also says, “Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt” (Genesis 6:11-12 NLT).
Violence and villainy became so pervasive that every thought of every person exuded evil. This consummate corruption broke God’s heart so much that “the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth” (Genesis 6:6 NLT).
Humanity failed the test of life. Given a choice between good and evil, humanity chose evil. But one man was different from all the rest. The Bible says, “Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah” (Genesis 6:8 MSG). What made Noah different? The next verse answers that question: “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time” (Genesis 6:9 NLT). While everyone else chose wrong, Noah chose right. As humanity spiraled into sin around him, Noah stood strong for God. He demonstrates that it is possible to be holy even in an utterly heathen culture.
It’s not easy to be different, though. We naturally want to fit in with those around us, to follow the crowd. No one wants to be the weirdo.
Mike Delcavo knows something about that. In a NCAA Cross-Country Championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, turned the right way, staying on the 10,000-meter course, and began waving for fellow runners to follow him, but he was only able to convince four other runners to go with him. When asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way!”
Again, it’s not easy to be different—to go the right way when everyone else is going the wrong way. People probably laughed and sneered at Noah, too. But if you’re a Christian, God calls you to be different from the wicked world around you. Elsewhere, the Bible says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT). In other words, God doesn’t want us to fit in with the corrupt culture and immoral influences around us. He wants us to allow him to mold our minds and morals. He wants us to be different! Heroes of God are different from the world. The question is—how? How do we continue down the right path, when everyone else is going down the wrong one? How did Noah remain different? The answer is—Noah was devoted.
• A DEVOTED HERO
The Bible sums up the secret to Noah’s success, saying, “Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9 HCSB). It’s not that Noah literally took long walks with God; rather, when the Bible speaks of “walking,” it often refers to a lifestyle.
What does it mean to walk with God? It’s a vivid metaphor. Imagine that you and a close friend or family member are enjoying a walk down a country road. You walk in close proximity, perhaps even hand-in-hand. You talk, laugh, listen, and share your hearts. You focus your attention on this person to the exclusion of almost everything else. You notice an occasional distraction or the beauty around you, but only to point it out to your walking companion. You experience it together. You walk in harmony, at the same pace, in the same direction, and enjoy the peaceful companionship. Walking with God is like that.
Noah enjoyed a constant relationship or friendship with God. Another translation explains, “he walked in close fellowship with God” (Genesis 6:9 NLT). In other words, Noah was fully devoted to God. Noah devoted himself to knowing God, sharing his heart with God, hearing God’s voice, and seeking ways to make God smile.
Noah’s devotion to God is what empowered him to be different from those around him. When you spend time with someone, they tend to rub off on you. You might pick up some of their mannerism or habits. Spend enough time with the same person and pretty soon you’ll be finishing each other’s sentences. The same is true in your relationship with God. The more time you spend with God in prayer, Bible study, or worship, the godlier you become.
Walking with God is not an activity reserved for a select few. Throughout history, God has been searching for walking partners—those who will devote themselves to him. God loves to be in relationship with us, and we can devote ourselves to him through prayer and reading his Word, abiding in his love and gaining his wisdom for us as we live our lives here on the earth. God desires all of His children to walk with Him.
How about you? Have you devoted yourself to walking in close fellowship with God? Holy heroes are different from the world because they’re devoted to God. As a Christian, you can walk with God throughout your entire life here on earth, and in so doing you can experience a profound friendship and fellowship with the Creator of the universe. Finally, on top of being different and devoted, Noah was also diligent.
• A DILIGENT HERO
God warned Noah that he intended to expunge evil from the planet by sending a flood that would wipe humanity, along with all its violence and villainy, from the face of the earth. But God wouldn’t allow human beings to perish completely. Rather, he planned to give mankind a fresh start through Noah and his family.
So, God commanded Noah to build an ark: “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper… you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.” (Genesis 6:14-19 NLT).
Today, we’re so familiar with this story that sometimes we may miss the magnitude of this project. Shaped like a barge, Noah built an ark taller than a four-story building and as long and wide as 1 ½ foot-ball fields. The amount of space in Noah’s ark was 1,396,000 cubic feet. That’s roughly equivalent to 533 railroad box cars. No other boat constructed exceeded the size of Noah’s ark until the late 1800s. For Noah and his son, building the ark without power tools or machines, not to mention filling it full of animals, food, and other supplies, would have been an enormous undertaking—a project of truly biblical proportions!
Nevertheless, the Bible says, “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” (Genesis 6:22 NLT). Noah diligently carried out all of God’s instruction. He harvested and cut the wood. He covered it in tar to water proof it, inside and out. He constructed the ark to the exact specifications God gave him.
Unbeknownst to Noah, the dimensions that God provided were essential to the ark’s stability. Noah and his family almost certainly experienced rough waters and great tidal waves while aboard the ark. God’s design provided stability in these unstable conditions, which is why so many barges and boats still use these basic dimensions. If Noah had ignored God’s instruction and built the ark to different specifications, they would have likely wound up on the bottom of the ocean. Humanity’s survival depended on Noah’s diligence.
I grew up watching action movies like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, where the hero is always this loose cannon who doesn’t follow the rules, but when God is writing the script, the heroes in his story are the ones who know how to trust and obey.
Noah probably struggled, as we all do, with doing things his own way and making his own decisions. But real heroes are willing to do things God’s way no matter what, and diligently carry out his commands. We may not always understand exactly why God gives us certain commands. Noah probably didn’t understand everything that was happening either. But like Noah, we ought to diligently follow all of God’s instructions. That’s what real heroes do. If Noah failed to follow God’s commands, it would have been disastrous. But by following God’s orders, Noah literally saved mankind from certain doom.
Conclusion:
Noah demonstrates what it means to be a hero from a Christian perspective. Despite living in a corrupt and cruel world, Noah remained committed to the Lord. He walked in close fellowship with God and carefully carried out all God’s commands. Noah became a hero by being different, diligent, and devoted to God. You can be too! But even Noah couldn’t save himself. Only God could deliver Noah and his family from the flood, and only God can deliver you. If you’ll put your faith and trust in God, the way Noah did, then he promises to save you from the flood of sin and death, and keep you safe for all eternity.
Next week, we’ll learn about another inspiring hero of the Bible—Abraham.
Invitation:
In the meantime, if you’re ready to devote yourself to God and diligently follow his Word even if it means being different from the rest of the world (which it will), I’d love to help you. You can talk to me after church, call me, or come forward while we stand and sing.
