Sunday, January 15, 2012

Noah

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:07, NKJV).
Despite all the objective evidence confirming a global catastrophe in the fairly recent past (see here for starters), belief in Noah, the Ark and The Flood is considered, in many circles, equivalent to belief in The Tooth Fairy, or Santa Claus, with this exception: The Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are more acceptable because they are not Biblically based. 

Believing in a literal Genesis in this modern culture makes you all kinds of backwards and nasty things, even in some churches. The fact that the Lord Jesus Himself held The Flood to be a real historical event apparently holds little weight. The teachers and leaders in such churches can presumably take that up with Him on that Day. As for me and my house…

Regardless of your Noahic view, we have here in Hebrews a picture of faith exemplified in a man who found grace in the eyes of God in an era when every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Noah was righteous because He believed God, even in the face of massive popular pressure to do otherwise.

What precisely did he believe?

He believed that God is, so he listened.

He believed that can, so when warned he took the commanded actions.

He believed that God meant what He said, and was moved with godly fear.

By his unprecedented actions of faith, he condemned the world just prior to divine judgment finally being executed. The timing was no accident, but was orchestrated by God to teach what it means to live by faith, and used in this superlative chapter of Hebrews to provide us with yet another concrete example of life according to the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Noah and his household were an extremist minority. Ultimately, there were only eight of them, and they believed and acted upon things NO ONE ELSE would dare. In and of itself, this is not necessarily a hallmark of faith, but when taken in the context of his entire life, word and deed, it is a profound proclamation of where he put his trust. Or more precisely, in WHOM he put his trust.

When divinely warned of things not yet seen, he responded. In Noah's time, what had not yet been seen was rain as we know it (the ground was still being watered with a nightly mist), and flooding, especially a Flood that would cover all the mountaintops of all the earth. In reality, Noah had even less reason to believe than we do today, but believe he did, and he moved with godly fear, prepar[ing] an ark for the saving of his household.

The Ark itself was a massive project which took over a century to complete. In building it, his allegiance to God was undeniable, and undoubtedly subjected him to the scorn of his contemporaries. ALL of his contemporaries, save those in his own household. He had NO SUPPORT outside his immediate family for believing and doing what he did.

Do you sometimes feel that way?

Now exclusivity of belief, in and of itself, is no proof of anything, but taken in the context of his entire life, it spoke volumes of his faithfulness.

And these are the key take-aways from this man's godly example.

His entire life was lived in acknowledgement of, and submission to, the living God of the universe. The fact that he and his family were the ONLY ONES at that time is secondary to the foundational truth of his faith.

But despite the fact that he was vastly outnumbered, he obeyed the One in whom he believed. He did not allow social pressure in all of its pervasive forms to alter his personal conviction. Or actions. He was a man of steadfast belief, and lived out his faith in very conspicuous ways. Not because that was his, but God's choice.

His consistency and integrity served as an example to his sons, so that they followed their father's leadership with no hint of question or rebellion. We read nothing of any dispute among them, or of any disparagement of their father's faith. Family dysfunction only occurred well after the Flood, and then only because Noah lapsed into drunkenness, and one of three sons succumbed to a rebellious impulse.

Noah was not perfect, but he was a man of faith. Just like believers today.

He is an extreme example, and by extreme I mean undeniably obvious.

Sometimes, maybe most times, faithful obedience to the Lord can be done quietly and inconspicuously.

But there may be other times when God decrees otherwise. When, like in Noah's day, the coming judgment was scoffed at, scorned, and ridiculed, and the means by which God instructed Noah to survive the ordeal was anything but subtle.

In one sense, we have it easier today. As far as I know, no one is being commanded to build the modern-day equivalent of an Ark.

Plus, we have the record of The Flood and other judgments objectively recorded in writing for our learning. 

Nevertheless, our struggle is the same as Noah's in this sense: it flies it direct opposition to the ways of the world, and is a source of contempt and calumny from the worldly-minded.

Yet, as with all the other heroes of the faith, Noah became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

That is the only goal that counts in this life: faithful obedience.

Anything else is just vapor.