"Nothing is ever simple," I disagree. Some things are very simple. A man proposes "Will you marry me?" An employee says "I quit." A doctor says "if you don't have this operation, you will die." There may be confusion and uncertainty before we get there, but it all comes down to a simple choice.
We either choose to obey God or to disobey. There is no third option. Either we do what God says or we don't. If we obey there is forgiveness, comfort, assurance, and eternal life. If we don't, there is confusion, death, and destruction.
But simple things don’t stay simple. A woman accepts his proposal, and then there is a lifetime of making marriage work. A man quits his job and it may take a year to find another. We have that operation, and spend months at home recuperating. What begins with a simple choice continues as a long, difficult path.
When Noah chose to listen to God, it was the beginning of a long process. He had to remake that choice day after day, every day of his life, until the ark was built.
We read his story in Genesis 6 through 9.
Gen 6:5-8 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 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 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." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Why did Noah find favor? Perhaps the next verses will help us see.
Gen 6:9-14 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
The words describing Noah are translated "just and blameless." But that's not what they actually mean. The word "just" or "righteous" is a legal term meaning "fair," or "even." A righteous judge respects the law. He judges by the law alone.
Biblically, a righteous man cares that way about God’s law. If he has some habit, of which God disapproves, he will stop it. If God says to help the poor and the needy, he will do it. If God says avoid hanging around with sinners, he does that, too. Sometimes, he fails to live up to his own standards. Other times, he misinterprets God’s will. But his heart is right. He will return to the Lord when he comes to his senses.
“Blameless." would better be translated as "real" or "authentic." He doesn't pretend to be a better man that he actually is. He says what he is, even to his own disadvantage. He is real.
Honesty is not the same as perfection, but it is a necessary step towards it. An honest, righteous will always correct himself. A dishonest person is building a house of lies.
Noah was a builder before he ever started on the ark. His life as a work in process. Using God's Word as ca blueprint, he was constantly remaking himself. He was a project that was never finished. This is the person who finds grace in the eyes of the Lord.
The Bible describes Noah’s contemporaries with two words, too--"corruption" and "violence." While Moses was getting better through his life, the others were falling apart. The word "violence" doesn't just mean physical violence, but unfairness and dishonesty. The truth was setting Noah free while lies were destroying everyone else. God could do something with Noah. He could do nothing with a bunch of deceitful liars.
13-22 So 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. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and 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. 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."
Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
It took only a little faith to get into the ark. If took no faith to stay in the ark. But faith was absolutely necessary to build the ark. Every day Noah and his sons worked on that ark, they showed faith. The ark had no useful purpose unless God was real.
A common misconception about the ark was that it was a ship. The ark was not a ship. An ark means a box. A ship had sails or oars. It has a wheel and rudder. It has a bow and a stern. It has a keel to keep it from slipping sideways in the water. The ark had none of that. It was only designed to stay afloat. It was completely at the mercy of God, under His command.
For two or three hundred years, Noah and his sons built a big waterproof box.
The path to success often seems impossible. School means years of sacrifice. Going on the mission field means fundraising and language instruction. Diets are—well, they are tough. But if we want to be real about following God, we will stay with it.
Faith is a long obedience in the right direction. It is not getting saved in a revival. It is getting up every morning and having devotions. It is not saying yes to a call to tdhe ministry, it’s paying seminary tuition, learning Greek or studying for Presbytery exams. And fool can start. It takes faith to finish.
For years, Noah got up and worked on a box, with no earthly idea what he was doing, enduring the laughter and scorn of others. Yet he kept on, because God told him to.
Now, that’s faith!
Gen 7:6-12 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month — on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
In the hall of fame of faith were a real hall, with portraits on the wall, the portrait of Noah would not show standing on the ark or under the rainbow with the animals. It would be him in those long days before flood, swinging a hammer and chopping wood, while the rest of the world called him crazy. It would be Noah believing that the world was going to end, because a voice inside his head said so. That is the true picture of faith we need to emulate.
In Israel, there is a mountain outside Jerusalem called Herodium. It was the location of one of King Herod's many fortresses. The top of the hill is flat. There is a story that when Jesus said in Matthew 21:21 "if you have faith, you can say to this mountain be cast into the sea, and it will be done" He was looking at that mountain. That is literally what happened to that mountain. The top of it had been removed and cast into the Dead Sea.
But it did not happen at once. Soldiers and slaves took the top off, one shovelful at a time. It was taken by carts down the road, where it was used as fill in some of Herod's other projects towards the Dead Sea.
If that story is right, it gives us a very different picture of how faith works. We can move mountains, but not all at once. Most mountains don't fly. Instead, we take them way by God's command, one shovel full at a time. We accomplish God's will because we have enough faith to believe that what God says we can do, we can do.
Most people never accomplish the goals they set before them. There are two reasons for this. The first is that most never begin. They look at the mountain and say it cannot be moved. Noah could have looked at the blueprint for the ark and said. "I'm six hundred years old, and you expect me to build this?" But he believed that God would accomplish what he needed to accomplish. He sincerely and authentically believed that this was God's purpose for him.
The other reason people fail is because we lose faith along the way. We don't expect the obstacles or the setbacks or the distractions or the moments of discouragement. We take these setbacks as signs thact God really didn’t want us to begin, or that we cannot do it.
In Hebrews 11:7, there is a single, sobering statement.
By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
How did Noah’s faith condemn? Here's how. When we see what God wants for us to do and which we fail, we make all kinds of excuses. We say it's tough luck, or it was impossible. Then we see Noah--a man who finished and impossible task--and we know ourselves to be lying. If Noah can build a giant box, fill it with animals, and live with them in it for a year on the open sea at the age of six hundred, what right do we have to say there’s something we can’t do for God?
Faith is not the best way to salvation. Faith is the only way. It is only when we persevere by faith that we can find eternal life.
We either choose to obey God or to disobey. There is no third option. Either we do what God says or we don't. If we obey there is forgiveness, comfort, assurance, and eternal life. If we don't, there is confusion, death, and destruction.
But simple things don’t stay simple. A woman accepts his proposal, and then there is a lifetime of making marriage work. A man quits his job and it may take a year to find another. We have that operation, and spend months at home recuperating. What begins with a simple choice continues as a long, difficult path.
When Noah chose to listen to God, it was the beginning of a long process. He had to remake that choice day after day, every day of his life, until the ark was built.
We read his story in Genesis 6 through 9.
Gen 6:5-8 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 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 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." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Why did Noah find favor? Perhaps the next verses will help us see.
Gen 6:9-14 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
The words describing Noah are translated "just and blameless." But that's not what they actually mean. The word "just" or "righteous" is a legal term meaning "fair," or "even." A righteous judge respects the law. He judges by the law alone.
Biblically, a righteous man cares that way about God’s law. If he has some habit, of which God disapproves, he will stop it. If God says to help the poor and the needy, he will do it. If God says avoid hanging around with sinners, he does that, too. Sometimes, he fails to live up to his own standards. Other times, he misinterprets God’s will. But his heart is right. He will return to the Lord when he comes to his senses.
“Blameless." would better be translated as "real" or "authentic." He doesn't pretend to be a better man that he actually is. He says what he is, even to his own disadvantage. He is real.
Honesty is not the same as perfection, but it is a necessary step towards it. An honest, righteous will always correct himself. A dishonest person is building a house of lies.
Noah was a builder before he ever started on the ark. His life as a work in process. Using God's Word as ca blueprint, he was constantly remaking himself. He was a project that was never finished. This is the person who finds grace in the eyes of the Lord.
The Bible describes Noah’s contemporaries with two words, too--"corruption" and "violence." While Moses was getting better through his life, the others were falling apart. The word "violence" doesn't just mean physical violence, but unfairness and dishonesty. The truth was setting Noah free while lies were destroying everyone else. God could do something with Noah. He could do nothing with a bunch of deceitful liars.
13-22 So 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. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and 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. 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."
Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
It took only a little faith to get into the ark. If took no faith to stay in the ark. But faith was absolutely necessary to build the ark. Every day Noah and his sons worked on that ark, they showed faith. The ark had no useful purpose unless God was real.
A common misconception about the ark was that it was a ship. The ark was not a ship. An ark means a box. A ship had sails or oars. It has a wheel and rudder. It has a bow and a stern. It has a keel to keep it from slipping sideways in the water. The ark had none of that. It was only designed to stay afloat. It was completely at the mercy of God, under His command.
For two or three hundred years, Noah and his sons built a big waterproof box.
The path to success often seems impossible. School means years of sacrifice. Going on the mission field means fundraising and language instruction. Diets are—well, they are tough. But if we want to be real about following God, we will stay with it.
Faith is a long obedience in the right direction. It is not getting saved in a revival. It is getting up every morning and having devotions. It is not saying yes to a call to tdhe ministry, it’s paying seminary tuition, learning Greek or studying for Presbytery exams. And fool can start. It takes faith to finish.
For years, Noah got up and worked on a box, with no earthly idea what he was doing, enduring the laughter and scorn of others. Yet he kept on, because God told him to.
Now, that’s faith!
Gen 7:6-12 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month — on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
In the hall of fame of faith were a real hall, with portraits on the wall, the portrait of Noah would not show standing on the ark or under the rainbow with the animals. It would be him in those long days before flood, swinging a hammer and chopping wood, while the rest of the world called him crazy. It would be Noah believing that the world was going to end, because a voice inside his head said so. That is the true picture of faith we need to emulate.
In Israel, there is a mountain outside Jerusalem called Herodium. It was the location of one of King Herod's many fortresses. The top of the hill is flat. There is a story that when Jesus said in Matthew 21:21 "if you have faith, you can say to this mountain be cast into the sea, and it will be done" He was looking at that mountain. That is literally what happened to that mountain. The top of it had been removed and cast into the Dead Sea.
But it did not happen at once. Soldiers and slaves took the top off, one shovelful at a time. It was taken by carts down the road, where it was used as fill in some of Herod's other projects towards the Dead Sea.
If that story is right, it gives us a very different picture of how faith works. We can move mountains, but not all at once. Most mountains don't fly. Instead, we take them way by God's command, one shovel full at a time. We accomplish God's will because we have enough faith to believe that what God says we can do, we can do.
Most people never accomplish the goals they set before them. There are two reasons for this. The first is that most never begin. They look at the mountain and say it cannot be moved. Noah could have looked at the blueprint for the ark and said. "I'm six hundred years old, and you expect me to build this?" But he believed that God would accomplish what he needed to accomplish. He sincerely and authentically believed that this was God's purpose for him.
The other reason people fail is because we lose faith along the way. We don't expect the obstacles or the setbacks or the distractions or the moments of discouragement. We take these setbacks as signs thact God really didn’t want us to begin, or that we cannot do it.
In Hebrews 11:7, there is a single, sobering statement.
By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
How did Noah’s faith condemn? Here's how. When we see what God wants for us to do and which we fail, we make all kinds of excuses. We say it's tough luck, or it was impossible. Then we see Noah--a man who finished and impossible task--and we know ourselves to be lying. If Noah can build a giant box, fill it with animals, and live with them in it for a year on the open sea at the age of six hundred, what right do we have to say there’s something we can’t do for God?
Faith is not the best way to salvation. Faith is the only way. It is only when we persevere by faith that we can find eternal life.
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