And Noah did this. He did everything God commanded him. Genesis 6:22
This short verse speaks volumes. When God was grieved in his heart over the evil that was so widespread on the earth, He decided to just wipe out all He had created. Then He thought of Noah.
In verse 7-9, God declares His plan to wipe off from the face of the earth, mankind along with all the animals including the birds of the sky. Verse 8 says, “Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the LORD.” Then we are told that Noah was a righteous man, blameless, among his contemporaries and that Noah walked with God.
Noah was righteous, he strived to do what was right and he was in a right standing relationship with God. He was blameless among his contemporaries. As Christians, those around us look to point out any wrong we do. We are constantly being watched and the first thing we will hear if we mess up is something like, “And you claim to be a Christian!”
The Bible tells us Noah was a good man.
It does not say Noah was an excellent boat builder. It does not say Noah was good with animals. It just says he walked with the LORD, was righteous and blameless among his contemporaries. God spared Noah and his family because of this. God gave Noah the ability to do all the things He had called him to do. All Noah had to do was trust and obey. And he did.
God told Noah he needed to build this huge ark. This ark was the size of two football fields. He gave Noah very specific instructions for building the ark. And Noah followed these instructions.
God told Noah he was going to send a flood over the entire world, and this is why they would need the ark. Now keep in mind these people had never seen rain. We are told in Genesis 2:2 that God had not made it rain on the land. Then in Genesis 2:6 we are told water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. So just imagine God’s divine sprinkler system which would mist the ground.
Noah is building this huge ark, and the world had never seen rain. You can imagine anyone seeing this going on would have thought he was a few bricks shy of a load. I would imagine there was a lot of mocking him, but Noah didn’t let that stop him. He just continued working on the ark. He didn’t let other people distract him or influence him and cause him to not do what God commanded.
We can learn a lot from Noah. God may not be commanding you to build an ark in a place that has never seen rain, but God does command us to do the things that go against what the world thinks we should be doing. Are you following God’s commands? Are you living your life the way Jesus taught us to live?
Following God’s commands saved Noah and his family. We are told it probably took Noah somewhere between 60-100 years to build the ark. That’s a long time to be ridiculed by your community, but Noah didn’t stop doing everything God told him to do. Noah persevered.
When the rains came down and the people saw that Noah had been right to follow God, it was too late for them. We are told in Genesis 6:16 that after all the animals and Noah and his family were on the ark, God shut the door. It was too late for the unbelievers to come aboard. They had had all this time, but they refused to listen to Noah. They refused to repent of their evil ways. They refused to trust in God and obey Him as Noah had done.
My friend, I believe that very soon it will be too late. I believe our days our short. I beg of you to get into a right standing relationship with Jesus. Repent of your sin, trust in Him and obey His commands before it’s too late.
Have a great day!