Resource Detail

THE FAITH OF NOAH

Genesis 6:1-9:29

Key Verse: Hebrews 11:7

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteous that comes by faith.” 

THE FAITH OF NOAHPRIVATE 

Genesis 6:1-9:29

Key Verse: Hebrews 11:7

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Today we would like to study the faith of Noah. There is a hymn entitled “Faith Is the Victory.” In what respect did Noah win the victory? In the Bible passage for today we see the word “faith” appearing three times. This repetition tells us that he won the victory in three ways: first, when everyone was under the water, he and his family members alone remained above the water. Isn't that cool? Second, on the Day of Judgment, God is going to use him to condemn a multitude of people. Third, he became the heir of righteousness. In other words, he secured in advance an eternal position in the eternal presence of God. Figuratively speaking, he is like a man who killed three birds with one stone. It is hard for one to kill a bird with a stone. It is harder to kill two birds with one stone. It is impossible for anyone to kill three birds with one stone. But faith can do miracles. Faith accomplishes the impossible. If we learn the faith of Noah, then we too can win victories in many different areas of our life here on earth and beyond. Let us think about Noah's victory of faith in three ways.

First, Noah lived his life on earth in holy fear of God  

When we think about Noah and the people of Noah's day, we can easily notice one of the striking differences between them. The major difference is his attitude towards life. Noah took his life seriously. It appears however that the rest of the people did not see their lives as Noah did. The phrase “in holy fear” indicates that he was a very sincere person. Furthermore, the record of an ark taking even 120 years to build shows that he was a very sincere person. 

He was sincere in handling every small and little thing that took place in and around him. He did not regard his life as a joke. Of course, he had a sense of humor. Humor has to do with the quality that makes something laughable or amusing. It also refers to the ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing or comical. The whole idea of making the ark itself is extremely humorous: its design is comical, for it is simply a box. Its size is ridiculously big and large. Its purpose also seems laughable: you build an ark today for use 120 years later? Most likely, as Noah kept making the ark, a lot of people laughed at him. But in all sincerity he was seriously doing what he was doing. 

The point is that Noah did not live his life at random. Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” The Lord God made each person not just “wonderfully” but “fearfully.” God made a serious investment in making each person. In return, Noah then lived his life in holy fear. One of the meanings of the word “holy” is “of God.” As Psalm 139:14 says, Noah believed that his life came from God. He lived his life in constant realization of God's divine presence in his life. This made him to live his life before God and for God. But it was not so with the rest of the people of Noah's day. They lived as their eyes saw fit. Let us read Genesis 6:1-6. This passage clearly says that the people of Noah's day did not live their life before God. They did not take their life seriously. Rather, they took their life as if it is a joke. They lived their life at random. 

Second, Noah believed in the judgment to come  

When we read Hebrews 11:7, we stop and think about what our life is all about. “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” This verse consists of two sentences. The first sentence talks about the work of salvation. Noah saved his family! It sounds like it was enough that Noah saved his family. But the Lord did not stop there. He continues on, saying, “By his faith he condemned the world and became the heir of the righteousness.” Noah lived 950 years. 950 Nine hundred fifty years is a long period. Yet, it is a limited number. After 950 years, obviously he died. But was it really the end of his life? What about the word “heir”? It indicates that there is something more going on with his life even after his physical life on earth became extinct.

Many people think that once one dies, there is nothing left to one’s life. But this idea is false optimism. What is optimism? Optimism denotes a tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation. It also refers to the doctrine that this world is the best possible world of all worlds. The second definition is one of the established philosophical ideas. This is why it is called an ism. “False” is the idea that man's life here on earth is all there is to life: it is contrary to what the Bible teaches. The Bible is replete with scriptures that testify that life continues after the physical life here on earth. In Luke 16:19-31, for example, Jesus talks about the life stories of two persons: a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. Bible scholars maintain that this story is not fiction but a real-life example. Their logic is that Jesus gave out Lazarus’s but did not give out the name of the rich man because, knowing that this man had five brothers who were still alive, Jesus must have wanted to preserve the integrity of the five brothers. As of the moment of Jesus telling the story, the rich man no longer existed in physical body. The funeral service was over. But did he become extinct? No. He went to hell. There, he was in such great pain that he called to Abraham, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.”

Life continues after physical death. Being the tenth generation of a believing family line, Noah must have known this truth. But the general population of Noah's day either ignored this truth or rejected this truth. Intoxicated with sinful pleasures of life, especially indulging in sexual promiscuity, they diligently promoted a decadent lifestyle saying, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” This is the hedonist's idea. But Noah rejected this idea. He lived a holy life before God. 

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Romans 1:17 says, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” As Romans 1:17 says, Noah lived by faith from first to last. 

In v. 7, we see the word “condemned” which is in the past tense. But Noah never condemned anyone. Luke 6:37 says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” But still Hebrews 11:7 says that by his faith, Noah condemned the world, for on the Day of Judgment, the Lord God will call into a courtroom Noah as a witness. There all Noah will have to do is smile and then show the picture of the ark he built as an exhibit to convict the people of his day.

Not all people believe in the existence of judgment. But the Bible is clear about the Day of Judgment. Hebrews 9:27 reads, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment....”

In Noah’s dictionary, life on this side of the grave is only a preparatory (or preliminary, or introductory, if you will) one, not a final station of life’s journey. It serves to make us ready or prepare ourselves for the life to come. And the life we have in this life is the only opportunity for us to prepare ourselves for the world to come. Once our life here on earth is finished, there are no more chances to make the life to come better or worse. 

Noah lived 950 years. If you cut it in half, you have 475. Some authorities say that probably the Lord's instruction to build an ark came to Noah when Noah was about 480 years old. When he turned 500 he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Together with his sons, he diligently built an ark, and he completed it by the time he became 600 years old. Then the Flood came (Genesis 7:6). In the life span of 950, the 120 years he invested in building the ark represents the prime of his life. After the event of the Babel Tower (Genesis 11), man's average life span drastically decreased. So, Psalm 90:10 says, "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength." Consistent with this Bible passage, if you are 80, the Bible says that you are “very old.” For example, 2 Samuel 19:32a says, “Now Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years of age.” Thus as we translate Noah's age proportionate to our age, Noah’s life between the ages of 480 and 600 corresponds to life during our thirties or forties when most of us are busy to build a family, a career, or both.

When Jesus came he also shared the same idea that our life here on earth represents the opportunity to prepare ourselves for the world to come. For in Luke 20:34-35, Jesus says to some of the Sadducees who did not believe in the after-life, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.” Here Jesus distinguishes that age from this age. Then Jesus uses the expression “worthy,” indicating that the life in this age is preparatory in nature. 

But the people of Noah's day did not prepare themselves for the world to come. Rather they indulged themselves only in the fleshly things of this world. But Noah was different. In holy fear, he built an ark to save himself and his family. 

The Bible teaches us that the way of man's life after the judgment comes in two destinies and two alone: the destiny where the righteous are going and the destiny where the unrighteous are going. 

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” This passage suggests to us two possibilities: at the time of judgment, you are either declared guilty or not guilty; you are either saved or not saved. If you are not saved, what will happen? There is only one possibility: the fiery lake of burning sulfur is waiting for you. Thus Revelation 20:15 reads, “If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” One might wonder whose name will make it to the book of life and whose name will not. Revelation 21:8 gives us a pretty good idea of whose name will not be found in that book. “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Since last Monday my wife Rebekah has been bugging me to finish the Sunday message early. She pushed me so hard that I could not sleep properly. So last Wednesday when I woke up 5 a.m. in order to finish the message, I went out to a donut shop. Before entering the donut shop, I put 25 cents into a vending machine and picked up a copy of the L.A. Times. There in the Calendar section, I read one interesting article entitled “Inner Peace Movement.” This article talks about how a lot of celebrities are sucked into eastern mysticism. At first they get sucked into the shrines operated by religious gurus through seemingly harmless programs like yoga or meditation. But after these sessions, the gurus, called Swami, come out and start preaching reincarnation. But reincarnation is unbiblical. It is the devil's deception. 

Noah’s example also teaches us that unless one prepares himself for the Day of Judgment today, most likely he will not be prepared for the Day of Judgment tomorrow. The best time to get prepared is today. 

This is supported by sheer statistics. What do the statistics say? The Genesis account says that in the day of Noah only eight people were saved. 

For this reason Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” In the same way, James 4:13-14 says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Today is the only real life we have. A preacher once said, “Say not, ‘I will do it tomorrow.’ Tomorrow may not be yours. Tomorrow is a delusive phantom, ever beckoning the traveler toward the brink of a precipice. Tomorrow is a courteous traitor, a smiling assassin. Satan's chief recruiting sergeant, paving with good intentions the road to hell.” 

Third, following Noah’s example, go for God's way of salvation before it is too late 

What then is the way of God's salvation? We can find a clue in what Noah did. Hebrews 10:1 says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” Then Colossians 2:17 says, “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” These passages suggest to us that Noah's ark is symbolic of Jesus Christ, who is God's way of salvation. 

Just as the ark was given by God for Noah to consider and work on it for salvation, so also is Jesus Christ God's way for us to be saved from the impending judgment. Noah's ark saved Noah only from the flood by the water. But 2 Peter 3:1-7 say, “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” Then In Acts 2:38-40, Peter says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

One word:  repent and believe in Jesus Christ

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