Noah’s ark is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. While the flood is often known as a sweet children’s story, it is really a story about judgment. God is the righteous judge. He judged the world in Noah’s day with water and He will judge the world at the end of time with fire. The Bible clearly teaches it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment. Judgment is unavoidable, but praise God we can, like Noah, be saved from the judgment to come.
Noah’s World
After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and Cain killed his brother Abel, the wickedness on the earth continued to worsen. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Verse 11 says that “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” The Lord sees everything going on in our lives and in the world. That is both comforting and convicting. He sees, understands, sympathizes, and knows what you have been through, but there is also no place to hide. The world Noah was living in is a lot like ours today. It was a society described by wickedness, evil, corruption, and violence. It was a world that had power, prosperity, and no room or tolerance for God. The people were indifferent toward God, immoral in their actions, and ignorant regarding spiritual things (even though Enoch and Noah both warned of what was to come). Just like God judged mankind in Noah’s time, there will be a day when He will judge again (Mt. 24:36-39, Lk. 17:26-27, 2 Pet. 3:4-7).
Noah’s Walk
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:8-9). Nothing is more important than your personal walk with God. Every time a person falls into sin you can trace it back to their devotional life. Start every day walking with God. Walk with Him all throughout the day. Then, end every day walking with God. Walking with God means we please God regardless of who else we displease. For if you displease God it will not matter who else you please. It has never been easy to live for God in a godless world.
Noah’s Work
God told Noah that He was going to flood the earth. He gave instructions to Noah for building the ark. Verse 22 says, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” Noah did everything that God commanded. He built a project that was one and a half times the length of a football field and more than four stories tall. It had three decks and was approximately 96,000 square feet! Noah had to be discouraged. He worked 120 years on one project! Even after he entered the ark, he had to wait seven days before it rained. Imagine the smell, stench, humidity, and neighbors laughing and mocking. He went in a minority and came out the majority! It may look like our work is in vain and believers are in the minority, but in the end, the saints will rule this world with King Jesus! Keep showing up on time, work hard, be a team player, and have a good work ethic! From the CEO to the teacher to the stay-at-home mom, remember who you work for – King Jesus! Don’t compartmentalize your faith to Sunday morning only. There is no division between the sacred and secular. God gives us our work, talent, abilities, and skills so that through them we might worship Him.
Noah’s Worship
God is love and He is longsuffering, but in Genesis 6:3 He says, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever….” God is so patient with us. However, the God who judged the world in Noah’s day will judge the world again in the last day. All sin will be judged, either through the cross or through the final judgment. Noah found grace. In the flood, judgment was poured out on all humanity and only one man, Noah, and his family were saved. At the cross, judgment was poured out on one man, Jesus, and all humanity who put their trust in Him and become part of His family will be saved from the coming judgment. Verse 14 says that the Lord told Noah to cover the ark inside and out with pitch. The same word used for pitch is translated atonement/covering. Noah was covered, protected from the flood through the pitch. In the same way, all who are covered by the blood of Jesus, the judgment cannot touch.
When the flood was over and Noah and his family were spared, Noah built an altar to the Lord and worshipped (Gen. 8:20). We, too, have reason to worship! Jesus took God’s judgment so that we might be saved!