One Man's Faith

Noah's faith affected his family but the rest of mankind missed the boat.

Genesis 6:5-8 The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the LORD was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart.

7 And the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing--all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them." 8 But Noah found favor with the LORD.

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If you think our world is bad, consider what Genesis says about the world before the flood, in just a short time the way of Cain had increased to the point that "everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil."

When you read the genealogy in Genesis chapter five it is easy to not realize that the world population could have been a few billion people before the flood came. That would make the ratio of self pleasers to God pleasing people a few billion to eight.

We think we have it so bad but it is very possible that evil may have been far worse than it is in our day. Today we still have thousands of God's people on the planet compared to only eight out of billions of people back in Noah's day. You probably know hundreds of people that do not fit the description of "everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil."

God chooses one family to be a part of his plan to start over, God knew that Noah and his family had the faith to build the ark, a special boat without sails, oars or a rudder. The occupants of the boat didn't have any control, their faith in God made it possible to trust him for the direction, the speed and their final destination.

Noah Was A God Pleaser
Noah was a righteous and blameless man. (Genesis 6:9-13) Noah believed that events that never happened before would take place. Noah trusted God's design specifications for the ark. (Genesis 6:22) Noah dedicated a large amount of time and resources to build the massive ark. Noah warned the people around him (1 Peter 3:20 / 2 Peter 2:5) Noah waited on God before leaving the Ark (Genesis 7:1-24)

Imagine the ridicule as the Ark project got started, when people asked what he was building and why, they had never seen rain and there wasn't a large body of water around. It seemed like Noah was just a crazy man wasting his life and resources away.

Besides the neighbors, Noah must have also been mocked by the suppliers and the laborers that contributed to the project. There were men that made good money in the lumber business, there were laborers, carpenters and people that applied the waterproofing.

After the Ark was completed there were the suppliers for the food and supplies that they would need to set-up household on the boat. There were probably people that visited the project maybe some that went inside and took a tour of the Ark. They saw it, they touched it and heard the message from Noah but at the end of the day they shared crazy Noah stories with their family and friends.

Think about the reactions when the animals started showing up in pairs. It seems to me that the animals would validate Noah's warning and prove that he wasn't just a crazy old man but this was another missed opportunity to receive grace and avoid the coming judgment.

God could have supernaturally provided the Ark and flooded the Earth immediately or he could have wiped out man in some other way but instead there was a season of grace, a delay of justice that allowed the message of salvation and repentance to spread.

The good news was ignored by everyone, all of Noah's friends, his extended family and his business associates that helped build the Ark, they were physically so close to the truth but spiritually they were so far. Noah's faith didn't make any difference to the culture, their wickedness was so great that they were blind to the truth of Noah's faith and obedience.

Blinded By Sin
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church makes it clear that people are blind to the truth. The glorious light of the good news is right in front of them but they can't see it, grace and mercy is available but it makes no sense to them, the same stubbornness that we see in Cain still exist today.

Sadly, the rebellion continues, the flood put a temporary end to the injustice in the world but it did not change the human heart. Mankind keeps on rebelling against God and his glorious standards, we stubbornly redefine marriage, distort sexual relationships, we think one man is better than another because of pigment, and we kill our babies everyday without any sign of remorse.

We are so wrong for thinking that God doesn't really care about morality and injustice or he would have already intervened. Don't be fooled, the day is coming when God will judge mankind, just as he did in Noah's day, he will protect his people and then he will judge the earth. But this time his people will be taken away to their forever home so that the earth can be destroyed by fire.

Just like the days before the flood, it will seem like God is okay with how things are going, all of the everyday things that happen will keep on happening, plans will be made to marry, have a family, change jobs and go to parties, it will be business as usual for the planet right up to the end. (Matthew 24:36-39)

We all belong to Adam, we all have the craving to go the way of Cain, but we can choose to belong to Jesus and get caught up to live with him for eternity.

RELATED ARTICLES

Thinking Outside The Box (answersingenesis.org)
Timeline For The Flood (answersingenesis.org)
The Global Flood Of Noah's Day (icr.org)