January 13 - Noah Obeying In Faith
Scripture
- Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Observation
"Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). True faith always has actions to support its claim. Earlier in the second chapter of his letter, James condemns the man who says he has faith but who does nothing to help a fellow Christian in need. In order for faith to be valid, it must visibly radiate itself in good deeds. If you really believe in God, there will be evidence of it in the way you live, in the things you say, and in the things you do.
Abel illustrates the worship of faith, and Enoch the walk of faith. Noah, perhaps more than any other person in history, illustrates the work of faith—obedience.
Noah was a man of faith, and his life continually showed his faith by his utter obedience to God. "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God" (Gen. 6:9). He worshiped God faithfully, as Abel had, and he walked with God faithfully, as Enoch had. He also worked for God faithfully.
Noah's faith was amazing. It was amazing because of his absolute trust in God and because of his unhesitating and persistent obedience for 120 years in an undertaking that, from the human perspective, looked totally absurd and absolutely impossible.
Noah Responded to God's Word
When God told Noah that He was getting ready to destroy the world because of its wickedness and instructed him to build an ark (Gen. 6:13-14), Noah dropped everything and started building.
Noah probably lived in Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a long way from any ocean or sizable lake. It is difficult to imagine how God's message must have sounded to Noah. To most of us it would have been so strange, so demanding, so embarrassing, so absolutely overwhelming, that we would have done anything to get out of it. We would have thought up a thousand excuses for not doing it. We would have done our best to talk God out of the whole idea, or at least convince Him to get someone else for the job.
But Noah, did not argue, quibble, make excuses, complain, or procrastinate. He did not question God, but simply began obeying Him. He spent over one hundred years fulfilling this single command. True faith does not question, and Noah did not question.
Noah doubtlessly had a lot of things of his own to do. To surrender all his time and effort to building a boat took a special kind of commitment. He probably had little idea about what an ocean-going ship was like. Certainly he had never seen, or even heard of, a giant ship such as the ark was to be. He had no experience in shipbuilding, no easy access to building supplies, and no help except that of his sons. Even they were not able to help for many years after the ark was begun, because they were not born until after Noah was 500 years old (Gen. 5:32). One of the greatest practical acts of faith in all history was Noah's cutting down the first gopher tree for wood to make the ark.
Noah was warned by God about things not yet seen.
He had never seen rain, because it probably did not exist before the Flood. He had never seen a flood, since floods could not have occurred without rain. Noah responded to God's message by faith, "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).
By faith Noah... prepared an ark.
He had nothing to go on but God's word, which for him was more than sufficient.
That Noah's faith was genuine is proved by his obedience to God's word. In God's economy, trust and obedience are inseparable. Just as Noah trusted and obeyed, God wants all who belong to Him to do the same. He wants us to trust Him in the trial we are going through, the temptation we are facing, the decision we are making. He wants us to worship Him rightly, as Abel did, and to walk with Him, as Enoch did. He also wants us to obey him, as Noah did. The Lord has arks for every believer to build. It is just as important for us to build the ark He gives us as it was for Noah to build the one God assigned him. Ours may not be as big or as awesome or as time-consuming as Noah's, but it is the only one we can build that will please God. And, like Noah's, when we build it in faith, according to God's plan and by His power, it will accomplish what God wants it to accomplish. Also like Noah's, our work for the Lord may look foolish and purposeless in the world's eyes. But if it is His work, it will please Him, the only one a believer needs to be concerned about pleasing.
Understanding
What is God saying to me?
The phrase “in reverence” struck me as I was reading today. Noah, having heard from God (as He was walking with and worshipping God) IN REVERENCE obeyed.
Some translations say, in holy fear, but I don’t think that Noah’s action was out of cowering or servile fear. He was intimate with God so He did not have to fear Him but there was a reverent respect because of who God is. So because Noah knew God and spoke with Him, God told Him that a catastrophic event was going to take place and God gave Noah a way to save himself and his family. Noah, took what God had said as the absolute truth (in reverent respect for who God is) and acted on it even though the action would require a lot of work and change of lifestyle.
Life Application
What will I do about it?God reveals to us what we must do to be saved – Accept His love, Believe in His Son and Confess our sins and by faith (in reverence) we must obey.
But even after we have become children of God, as we walk with God and worship Him, He will reveal what He is going to do and gives us a way to protect ourselves (to work out our faith) but so often we are not willing to take that step of faith because it will be difficult. Sometimes He requires that we leave a friendship, or say no to a “better” job opportunity. He asks us to surrender a habit, to surrender our time, TV watching habits or finances…all because He knows that doing so (although very difficult) will save us from some impending catastrophe.
Supplemental Reading: Psalm 31