Lord’s Day, Vol. 3 No. 28

Lessons from Noah’s Life

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

The world certainly does not know and realise the impending judgment upon planet Earth. Life goes on as usual. Eat, drink and be merry, lay up much goods for the future. The world seems to feel very secure with her make-belief sense of prosperity.

 Dear readers, this is the deception today. It was the same deception too in Noah’s time, just before God brought a global flood that destroyed the entire old world.

 (1) Our Privilege – “Noah being warned of God of things not seen” (v7a)

 God visited Noah by His sovereign grace. Noah was special in the eyes of God among the countless men living in the pre-flood world. God make known the future to Noah.

God was to send a tsunami that would be so great that it would destroy the known world at that time for all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

(2) Our Response – “moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (v7b)

What was Noah’s response? The Bible says he was moved with fear. Fear is not a negative emotion that God gave to Noah! It was positively a wake-up call! It was a call to watchfulness and sobriety, to life-long action!

The Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest prophesy yet unfulfilled in the Bible. Sadly, it is also a sorely neglected doctrine in the church today. Not that the Second Coming of Christ has not been preached. But there seems to be a lack of fear of God today. The message is not getting through to the people. To many, it is business as usual.

Noah took action to prepare for the coming global destruction. Noah put his house in order.

God gave Noah instructions as to how he should prepare himself. He was to build an ark. It was a massive endeavour. It would require him to give his entire attention to the task.

Noah fully obeyed God’s instruction -Genesis 6:22 “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” Noah did not question God; why he should make only one window, why it has to be 3 stories and not four stories. Noah exercised a resolute obedience and gave a godly response to God’s commandment by simply taking God at His word. He worked and prepared whereas the world around him was complacent and oblivious to God’s coming judgment.

The Lord is coming again. As God’s people (Titus 2:14), we have been entrusted with the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Do we have a sense of urgency in sharing the gospel with our loved ones and friends? How are we preparing ourselves and our loved ones so that we would all enter the ‘heavenly ark’ just like Noah and his family did! We are to pray and think through, with God’s Word as our blue-print. As the minutes ticked, Noah prepared. What about us?

(3) Our Inheritance – “by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” (v7c)

The word “condemned” means “to judge against” or “to judge worthy of punishment”.

Noah by his submission to God set himself as an example against the evil and wicked who refused God’s truth. His obedience to God in building the ark and preparing his family was a judgment against the mockers and scorners who by their unbelief, perished, when God sent the flood (2 Peter 3:3-6).

There was a determination in his heart to live a life of consecration to God, a determination to submit and obey God. It distinguished him from the people in his generation. He lived a life of righteousness. Not of sinlessness but of constant submission to God. Noah lived a surrendered life. He surrendered his personal ambition to the Lord. He focused his efforts on what really mattered in the light of God’s revelation.

Dear readers, the world continues to build bigger barns and taller buildings, indifferent to the warning signs. What will save us from the coming judgment of God? Only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will save us and our family. Is there a holy submission to God’s Word in your life?

Noah passed from the old world to a new world. He inherited the new world together with his family. All who believed not, perished in the global flood. Are you ready? Is your family ready? 

Yours lovingly,

Pr. Lek Aik Wee