Walking with God
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Genesis 6:9-22
9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. 10. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13. And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive. 21. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them." 22. Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
The notes in my Bible Reader’s Companion indicate Noah labored 120 years building the ark on a waterless plain! Can you imagine?! Oh, how he must have been ridiculed! “We’re not even near any water!” They must have laughed and shook their heads and talked about “that crazy Noah.” “God talks to him!” “Surely he’s lost his mind!” The ark was ½ again as long as a football field. And there were no power tools available! Noah must have labored day and night, day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out, year after year. No wonder God considered him righteous!
That’s what real faith is like. It not only sustains us through the trials and tribulations in our lives, but it compels us to be obedient to God’s word—no matter the cost, no matter our reputation, no matter the sacrifice. That kind of obedience is difficult—near impossible! But Noah was righteous. He obeyed God. “He did all that God commanded him.”
I don’t know about you, but I would have certainly been tempted to stop at any given point along the way, not sure enough that obedience was “worth it.” After all, Noah didn’t have the benefit of history—of the prophets and especially of Jesus Christ! He only had God—and his faith and trust that God was good and would reward him for his obedience. He may have been used to being made fun of to some extent, since he was apparently the odd-ball in his righteousness.
Noah was one of those great heroes of faith. He serves as an example to us—not of perfection, but of perfect obedience and faith. He spent years and years of his life doing something that made no sense; that seemed to serve no obvious purpose; that was counter to everything his contemporaries could even imagine. There was no water for hundreds of miles—or at least as far as they had traveled on foot up to that day. And it had not rained during the lifetime of some of the people alive at that time!
God uses the unimaginable and the unbelievable and the unwaveringly faithful to make His point. Noah trusted God. And He obeyed. He acted according to God’s command. How he must have fallen to the deck of the ark as the water rose and the ark began to float! How he must have anguished for those who would certainly be destroyed—though they had been his tormenters, they were his kinsmen and his neighbors. How he surely thanked God – for hours – that he and his family had been spared! How he must have been humbled and awed and confused and overcome with a tremendous sense of responsibility.
This is what God requires of all of us: the faith of Noah. It seems impossible. Yet Noah was a man, just like us. But, no . . . his faith was unwavering; his obedience unquestioning. His life was long a full and he reaped the reward of his faith and obedience. As did his family. So even if we can’t be obedient for our own salvation, maybe our choices and our example will save our children, or our spouse, or our friends.
God wants, commands, and deserves our unquestioning obedience and unwavering faith. He knows that we are human—and so not perfect. But He wants us to strive for perfection! He wants us to think about Noah. And He wants us to think about Jesus Christ-who was obedient unto death. From that perspective, it seems like Noah got the better end of the deal! And we certainly did!
I hope you spend today striving for the faith of Noah and the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Mary
