Yesterday we observed that Enoch walked with God in the midst of real life. So did Noah. And Noah was “blameless” in the midst of sin all around (sort of like Pat Boone!).
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Genesis 6.5 – 10, ESV, emphasis mine)
But unlike Enoch who walked with God and left the earth to be with God relatively early (see Genesis 5.21 – 24), Noah had work to do:
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood…and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. (Genesis 6.14, 18, 19, ESV)
And one theme of Genesis 6 and 7 is that when God asked Noah to do something, Noah did it! Fancy that. I think it’s called “obedience.”
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. (Genesis 6.22, ESV) And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. (Genesis 7.5, ESV)
By the way, how did Noah pull that off? Gathering two of every creature? Answer:
- Noah’s task was to build the ark and put the animals in.
- God’s job was to provide the animals:
Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. (Genesis 6.20, NKJV, emphasis mine)
Noah: blameless and obedient, and God enabled the hard parts!
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11.7, ESV)
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11.28 – 30, ESV)
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5.3, ESV)
Speaking of the Ark, may I encourage as many of your readers as possible to visit The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky? It was fabulous – so many wonderful explanations, creative ideas about feeding the animals and dealing with their waste, and many other ideas. We don’t know much about how Noah managed the ark and designed the inside. But, believing God’s Word, a huge team of designers, interior designers, scientists, etc. have created their best guess about how the inside of the ark could have looked and functioned. Worth the entry price and full of interactive things for children to teens. https://arkencounter.com/
A good word, Laura. Thanks. I haven’t visited, but I’m a firm believer in Noah’s ark as literal history. I think wise geologists should factor the flood into their conclusions about what they observe.