By Faith Noah

‘By faith Noah, being warned 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.’

- Hebrews 11:7 -

So far in this series we have seen the example of Abel and the life of faith. We’ve seen Enoch and the walk of faith. Now we come to Noah and the work of faith. James 2:17 says: ‘Faith without works is dead.’ In other words, true faith comes with action. Noah is the classic Old Testament illustration of this. His work of faith is in some ways more remarkable than anyone else, thus Hebrews tells us: ‘By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith’ (11:7). Noah was a righteous man who did what God told him, making him one of the most spectacular men in all the Bible.

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Noah lived in an incredibly wicked world. About 1500 years had passed since the fall of Adam and Eve and sin was running rampant on the earth. Life was so bad that Genesis 6:4 records how fallen angels came down to earth, cohabitated with women, and made demonic offspring. These became the giants who terrorised the earth and all its inhabitants. So ‘the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time’ (Gen. 6:5). Human wickedness had grown beyond all bounds. Mankind was on a dark path from which there was no turning back. For them there was no redemption, ‘so the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth for I am grieved that I have made them”’ (6:7).

Noah, a builder and preacher of righteousness

In contrast to all this sin was Noah, who ‘found favour with the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on the earth at the time, and he walked with God’ (Gen. 6:8-9). Noah was different from others. He didn’t follow mankind’s sinful ways, not being conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of his mind (Rom. 12:2). Noah was righteous, blameless, and walked with God like Enoch. He showed that when you walk in faith, you won’t be like everyone else. You won’t think or act like the world. By refusing to blend in and follow the crowd, Noah found favour with God.

Noah was warned of things unseen. By walking in faith, he operated in the invisible realm, among things not seen with physical eyes. So what was Noah warned about that he had never seen? God told him: “I will send rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe away from the face of the earth every living creature I have made” (Gen. 7:4). Until then, it had never rained. ‘For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth but a midst went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground’ (2:5-6). Before the flood, the earth wasn’t watered by rain coming down but by subterranean streams coming up. Today, rain is typically regarded as a blessing for by it crops are watered. But in the account of Noah, rain is God’s judgment on sinners.

The eve of the great flood

Having never seen rain before, Noah couldn’t conceive what was about to happen. But he believed God anyway. This is real faith. If absolutely everything has to be explained before you’ll believe, then it will be impossible for you to walk by faith. God told Noah what He was going to do. He then told Noah what he was supposed to do. God said to build an ark and just how to do it (Gen. 6:14-16). And Noah showed his faith by obeying God’s orders. Hebrews 11:7 says Noah ‘in holy fear built an ark to save his family.’ This was Noah’s faith at work. His righteous beliefs were translated into behaviour.

Building the ark was a stunning work of faith. God’s instructions were beyond the realm of human thought. So the fact Noah obeyed is arguably the most remarkable work of faith in all the Bible. The Hebrew word for ark means box and it’s only used one other time (in Exodus 2) to describe the box that baby Moses was put in in the Nile. God used a box to save Moses so Moses could save Israel, and He used a box to save Noah so Noah could save mankind. Genesis 6:15 says the ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The 6:1 ratio of length and width is still used by ship builders today, God’s plans being so perfect.

So big was the ark that it took 120 years to build. In all that time, Noah walked with God and lived by faith. ‘Then Noah did according to all that God commanded him, so he did’ (Gen. 6:22). Because he obeyed, Noah and his family were spared from God’s judgment. According to Spurgeon: “The ark was, so to speak, a coffin for Noah. He entered it and became a dead man to the old world. Within its enclosure he was floated into a new world to become the founder and father of a new race.” But why Noah? Why did God save him and not another? How did he find favour? Well, Genesis 6:9 says: ‘Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time, Noah walked with God.’ Walking with God means being in step with Him, yielding to Him, and heading where He points. Walking also implies intimacy and fellowship, as to walk and talk with a friend.

God calls the animals to the ark

When you walk by faith, you act different, and that’s a good thing. Noah was different and we should be too. When we’re different, we convict the world of sin and their need for Jesus. Hebrews 11:7 says: ‘By his faith Noah condemned the world.’ By what means did Noah condemn the world? By building the ark for 120 years as a sign that judgment was coming. Noah’s obedience rebuked the sinners around him. His righteous living rebuked their wickedness. 2 Peter 2:5 also calls Noah ‘a preacher of righteousness.’ He warned the world of God’s righteous judgment by word and by deed, but they didn’t listen. While God is a loving God, He is also a just judge who punishes sin. So the flood came and every living person besides Noah and his family were wiped off the face of the earth.

Hebrews 11:7 says: ‘By his faith he became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.’ Noah was an Old Testament illustration of justification by faith. He inherited a right standing with God. He became part of God’s family, thus God told Noah: “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time” (Gen. 7:11). Noah was righteous; blameless before God. God said: “Everything I have is yours!” That is the earthly and eternal consequence of walking with God.

When the floodwaters subsided and Noah stepped off the ark, the whole new world belonged to him. The ark pictured the cross and salvation in the midst of judgment. Christ is our ark; the One who saves us from judgment, and so Paul said: ‘I found the righteousness of God granted to me by faith in Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 3:9). Noah was saved in the ark and we are saved in Christ! So go out and preach righteousness like Noah while today is still the day of salvation.