There are a number of lessons we can and should learn from the life of Noah. In Genesis 6:17 we are told, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.” God actually grieved over the fact that He had ever made people.
According to Gen. 6:9, Noah lived a righteous life that pleased God despite the ungodly culture. He proved that it is possible to place God in such an environment.
The first thing that impresses me about Noah is his obedience to God.
· We don’t know if he was a skilled carpenter.
· We don’t know if he had ever seen a boat.
· He must have wondered how he was going to corral “all the wildlife according to their kind.” (Gen. 7:14)
· The instructions and design of the boat must have been overwhelming.
But – he had a profound desire to carry out what God commanded. He was not swayed by the evils that surrounded him. In Matthew 24:38 Jesus said, “For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark.”
I love the example Noah is for us. There is much going on in our world today that is an offense to God. As Christians, we are to be salt and light. Persecution of believers is mounting toward us on many fronts and we need to decide if we will live to please the LORD or compromise with the world.
The one good thing is we are not alone. We have many rock-solid people of faith who will stand with us. In 2 Peter 3:3, we read “Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires.” Ridicule and unbelief are common. On many fronts, the world thinks we are fanatics or even terrorists who should not have a voice. These are challenging times, but Noah had it harder.
Next, we see Noah rewarded for his obedience. I think the only support system he had was his wife, their three sons, and their wives. More than a century passed, but Noah kept working away until the ark was completed. Then, God’s judgment fell. God told Noah that the rains would come in another seven days. God, true to His word let the rains come and for forty days and nights, it just poured. The fountains beneath opened up as well. Then the ark rose and floated on those waters.
We also see what happened to those who were ungodly and rebellious. Noah, his family, and all the animals were safely inside the ark and we are told that “God shut the door.” I envision that those on the outside as they saw the waters rising, rushed to the ark and pounded on the door, begging to be let in but it was no use. Their opportunity for life was over and they all perished. They missed the boat.
Lastly, we see how Noah was saved. It was not by building the ark, because in Ephesians 2:8 we are told that no one is saved by works. Hebrews 11:7 tells us “By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was yet unseen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
Folks, Jesus is our ark of salvation. He is the one and only door by which we can enter.
Blessings, Pastor Leonard
