In the Beginning - Noah
As we dig into Timeless Truth - the truths God has had for us since before creation for today (and all time!), we’ve seen that God created everything (Creation), when sin was introduced it separated us from God (The Fall), and that we must fight against temptation because when it is allowed to grow, it leads to death (Cain & Abel).
Unfortunately, like Cain, people at this point in Genesis have not been fighting against temptation. Quite the opposite, people live lawlessly for thousands of years, following the passions and desires of their hearts, no matter how evil.
Genesis 6:5 | 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.
The Lord is heartbroken (Genesis 6:6) over the state of creation. Sin, depravity, and spiritual death are everywhere and God must do something about it. But in this spiritually dark world, there is one man who shines brightly as someone completely different.
Genesis 6:9b | Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.
It is amazing to think about the faithfulness of Noah, who must have grown up hearing stories about his now ancient relatives, who had walked with God in a garden (Adam), had been the first to worship God by name (Seth/Enosh), or who disappeared straight to Heaven because of their faithfulness to God (Enoch). While the world around him was something completely different from the values passed down by his relatives, he clung tightly to God’s Timeless Truth and God noticed.
God goes to Noah and tells him His plan for the wickedness of the world:
Genesis 6:17 | “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.”
He gives Noah detailed instructions for an enormous boat, the animals that would inhabit it, and the food Noah, his family, and the animals would need. God promises that if Noah and his family enter the boat, they would be safe.
One might imagine the whirlwind of emotions that Noah might have experienced: fear of what was to come, grief for his neighbors, friends, and other family, excitement over God’s desire to use him, uncertainty about the scale of the project in front of him… so many things! But still -
Genesis 6:22 | Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.
Noah and his family get into the completed boat (7:14) and God brings the animals:
Genesis 7:15 | Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes.
Genesis 7:16b | Then the Lord closed the door behind them.
Genesis 7:17-24 | For forty days the floodwaters grew deeper, covering the ground and lifting the boat high above the earth. As the waters rose higher and higher above the ground, the boat floated safely on the surface. Finally, the water covered even the highest mountains on the earth, rising more than twenty-two feet above the highest peaks. All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days.
Genesis 8:1-5 | But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the earth, and the floodwaters began to recede. The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped. So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth. After 150 days, exactly five months from the time the flood began, the boat came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Two and a half months later, as the waters continued to go down, other mountain peaks became visible.
More time passes as the waters continue to recede and vegetation begins to grow. And finally, a little more than a year after getting into the boat,
Genesis 8:15-16 | Then God said to Noah, “Leave the boat, all of you—you and your wife, and your sons and their wives. Release all the animals—the birds, the livestock, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—so they can be fruitful and multiply throughout the earth.”
Noah obeys and then immediately builds an altar to worship and thank the Lord. From there, Noah’s three sons are given large families that become the nations that populate the earth (Genesis 10).
From the account of Noah, we see many Timeless Truths, but for today, we’ll focus just on one: There is only one way of rescue. Because of sin, the whole world was in trouble. Because He is good and loving, God made a way of rescue – the boat that Noah built, holding off the storm until the boat was finished, and bringing the animals and providing the food that would be needed for a year stuck on a boat. Noah chose to accept God’s one way of rescue, as did his wife, sons, and their wives. Their faith in God shows in their actions as they get on the boat.
While our one way of rescue is not a boat, this truth is still timeless. The whole world – all of mankind – is in trouble because of sin. We deserve death and separation from God forever. Noah’s story reminds us that God has provided only one way of rescue –
John 14:6 | Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Faith in and acceptance of Jesus as God’s only way of rescue is the only way to be saved. Noah’s boat and story of rescue is a picture of that promised salvation (1st Peter 3:20-21) and a reminder for us that Jesus is the only way of rescue.
What didn’t you know about Noah’s story or what stands out to you?
How does Noah’s story point to Jesus?
How do Noah’s actions show his faith?
In what way do your actions show your faith?
What might actionless faith look like? Why is this a problem?
Is there anything about the story of Noah or this portion of Genesis that is hard for you to accept, believe, or understand? If so, what and why?