The Faith of Noah
11: 7
The faith of Noah DIG: How is faith made visible in a person’s life? In what way was Noah’s faith made evident? What made it difficult for Noah to believe there would be a flood? What was the basis of Noah’s faith? What was the content of the message Noah preached? In what way was Methuselah a display of God’s grace (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Bv – Enoch was the Father of Methuselah and Walked with God for 300 Years)? Did God give a fair warning to the people of Noah’s day before sending the Flood? How similar was Noah’s day to us today?
REFLECT: It was 120 years from the time God warned Noah that the Flood was coming until it came. It would have been easy for Noah to have given up during that time, but he didn’t – he preserved in his faith. Have you been waiting on the Lord for something for so long that your faith is beginning to waver? Perhaps you are involved in a ministry that has borne little fruit. Or maybe you’ve been praying for someone’s salvation for many years, and that person seems no closer to God than when you first began. If you are tempted to give up, remember Noah’s patient faith, and memorize Hebrews 10:23 this week: Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy.306
But those who are righteous will live their lives by faith (Hebrews 10:38 CJB quoting Habakkuk 2:4 CJB). True faith always has actions to support its claim. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26). If you really believe in YHVH, there will be evidence of it in the way you live, in the things you say, and in the things you do. Abel illustrates the worship of faith, and Enoch the walk of faith. Noah, perhaps more than any other person in history, illustrates the work of faith – obedience. For 120 years he worked faithfully in an undertaking that, from a human perspective, looked totally absurd and absolutely impossible.
Three things in Hebrews 11:7 give proof that Noah’s faith was genuine. First, he responded to God’s word. That is always a characteristic of true faith. Second, he condemned the world. Noah was such a man of God that his very life was a rebuke to the wicked people that surrounded him. Third, he received ADONAI’s righteousness. These are the classic hallmarks of true faith. God also declared Job, Abraham and Jacob righteous.
Job was a righteous man. When the LORD was speaking to the Adversary He said: Have you considered my servant Job. There is no one like him; he is blameless and upright (Hebrew: tam), a man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8).
Noah was a righteous man. When speaking of Noah, the Bible says: Noah was a righteous (Hebrew: tam) man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God (Genesis 6:9).
Abraham was a righteous (Hebrew: tam) man (Genesis 15:6).
And Jacob was a righteous (Hebrew: tam) man (Genesis 25:27). The NIV says Jacob was a quiet man, and the NKJ says he was a mild man. But the Hebrew word tam is always translated elsewhere as righteous, perfect (KJ), or upright, whole, complete, blameless or without blemish. It does not mean sinless perfection, but it has the sense of righteousness, or a man whose heart is right towards God. As a result, the word tam is never translated quiet or mild anywhere else in the TaNaKh.
Additionally, after Esau was born, Jacob came out with his hand grasping his brother’s heel (Genesis 25:26a). And just as Esau was named by his appearance, Jacob was named by his action, so he was named Jacob, which is the same root word for heel. The primary meaning of his name is the one who takes by the heel, or heel holder. And there is no negative connotation here. But the secondary meaning of his name is supplanter, which is a neutral term to be determined by the context (Genesis 27:36; Jeremiah 9:4). So his name should never be translated “deceiver” because Jacob was a righteous man.
Noah responded to God’s word: When Ha’Shem told Noah that He was getting ready to destroy the world because of its wickedness and instructed him to build an Ark (Genesis 6:13-14), Noah dropped everything and started building. It undoubtedly sounded very strange to Noah, but he was obedient. To devote all his time and effort to building a giant ship took a special kind of commitment. He probably had no idea hat an ocean-going ship looked like. He had no experience in shipbuilding, no easy access to building supplies, and no help except for his sons. Even they were not able to help for many years after the Ark was started because they were not born until after Noah was 500 years old (Genesis 5:32).307
By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, namely, of course, the Flood, in holy fear built an Ark to save his family (11:7a). The word fear gives the reader the wrong impression. The Greek word eulabeomai, which means to act cautiously, with reverence, or to stand in awe of in this context. The basis of building the Ark was that he was warned by God. Until the time of Noah, it had never rained upon the earth and there had never been a flood. Nevertheless, Ha’Shem said it would happen, and Noah believed God. He showed his faith and built the Ark. As the result of the building of the Ark, Noah accomplished two things.308
Noah condemned the world: First, by his faith he condemned the world (11:7b). Noah’s faithfulness included his passing on to the rest of the world Ha’Shem’s message of judgment. In Second Peter 2:5, he is called a preacher of righteousness. God called Noah to preach while he built. His message was, “Judgment is coming.” The preaching was probably more difficult than the building. Hard jobs are always easier to deal with than hard people. But, like Enoch, Noah walked with God (see the commentary on Genesis Cd – Noah Was a Righteous Man, Blameless Among the People of His Time and He Walked With God).
The times in which Noah lived in were among the most evil and corrupt in human history (see the commentary on Genesis Ca – The Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men). Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5 TLV). If anyone had reason to regret the time in which he lived it was Noah. He didn’t complain, he merely obeyed and warned the wicked people of his time that Ha’Shem would soon judge them because of their evil and unbelief. The people had ample warning of judgment, and they also had sufficient knowledge of the truth. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20). The people had no excuse for their sin before Noah began building the Ark, and they had even less of an excuse after he finished.
Perhaps the saddest lesson from Noah’s day is that people today have not changed their attitude toward ADONAI since then, and will not change until our Lord returns. When the Rapture occurs, it will happen while there are normal conditions on the earth. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man, to all those who live on the face of the whole earth. For in the days before the Flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the Ark. While normal conditions existed on the earth, they knew nothing about what would happen until the Flood came and took [swept] them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:37-39). In the same way, while there will be normal conditions on the earth, the Rapture will happen suddenly and without notice.
The parallels of Noah’s day to our own are sobering. In Noah’s day God’s message was rejected, as it is today. In his day, wickedness, immorality, violence, lewdness, vulgarity, profanity, lying, killing and blasphemy were rampant, as they are today. In Noah’s day a remnant found grace, just as a remnant believes today. In his day, or shortly before it, Enoch was taken up to be with YHVH (see Cn – The Faith of Enoch), picturing the rapture of believers when the Lord returns, which could be in our day. We can be sure as they should have been that the judgment is coming, because God has promised it just as clearly and the people of today deserve it just as much. Someone has said, “If God doesn’t destroy our world, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”309 Again, the only security we have is refuge in Messiah (see the commentary on Genesis Ce – The Ark is a Type of Christ),
Noah received God’s righteousness: And secondly, Noah became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith (Romans 1:17, 3:22, 4:13, 9:30). The words he became heir in the Greek text here mean simply that he became the owner, but underneath the words, the idea familiar to the Jewish mind infer that the spiritual blessings are a heritage given by the LORD. We must be careful here to note that the righteousness mentioned here is not the justifying righteousness that comes at the moment of salvation, but sanctifying righteousness comes as we are separated for holiness (John 17:16-19) and conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).
What is the difference between being justified and being separated for holiness? Justification is a one-time act, accomplished by ADONAI (see Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith). It is always spoken of in the past tense because we already belong to God, paid for by the blood of Christ. However, sanctification, or being separated for holiness is a process that takes a whole lifetime. It is the work of God in which you cooperate (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 12:3-4; 1 Peter 5:8-9); and is a process Ephesians 4:11-16), trusting in God, apart from whom we can do nothing (John 15:5; Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:11; Hebrews 2:18 and 4:14). He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6). Even Rabbi Sha’ul, as a mature believer, struggled with sin until the end of his life (Romans 7:14-25 CJB). As a result, all of Messiah’s righteousness was transferred to Noah’s spiritual bank account when he believed (Romans 3:22), and then he demonstrated his belief by building the Ark.
Noah not only believed that judgment was coming, but he also put his faith into practice by building the Ark. We often say we believe God – as long as He doesn’t put us in a position where we have to trust Him! As you study Hebrews 11 ask yourself how all the people named there put their faith in YHVH into practice. Then ask ADONAI to show you some concrete ways in which you can put your faith into action this week.310
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