Noah: A Character Study

Introduction

Good morning.

I hope your heart is full this morning as we gather and worship a mighty God. And as we consider doing that, I’d like to point out that this morning, we’ll find ourselves primarily in Genesis chapter 6 and Hebrews chapter 11. In Genesis chapter 6 and Hebrews chapter 11, we’re going to look at a study of Noah. Will you find me first in Hebrews chapter 11 and in verse 7? In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7, it’s written, 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. And many of us know a lot about Noah.

In fact, we’ve heard stories of him perhaps from when we were little. Perhaps he’s even being taught in the curriculum we have here in some of the children’s classes. I think one of the interesting things about stories like Jonah, the prophet or Noah, is that sometimes we we might tend to relegate them a little bit to the level of children’s stories, and not take all that was inspired by God there for us to learn from. We say, well, we know about Noah and how the flood came and how God told him what he needed to do, and Noah did it, and he was great. Will you look with me at Genesis chapter 6 and verse 22? If you have a tagline for your life, you’d want to have what was said about Noah said about you here in Genesis chapter 6 and verse 22.

If inclusion in the hall of faith, so to speak, is not enough. Note with me, Genesis chapter 6 and verse 22. At the conclusion of doing what God had commanded him to do, this is said. Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him. What a wonderful thing to be said about us. If we are facing the end of our life, and it could be said of us, he did this. He did all that God commanded him. What a wonderful blessing it would be to have a God that we know how to serve. Amen. And a God that we can. Noah is a wonderful example, and I do, as you can see, want to focus on Noah this morning, but before going too much further, I must stop and say that our hearts should also be full.

Brother Earl Nost is here with us, and Sister Joanne Beers is here with us this morning. And if you know of someone who is more committed to coming to church, coming to be with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ than the two of them, then they’re pretty, they’re being held in high esteem. Please take a moment. Let’s talk and rejoice at the fact that we can be with some of our brothers and sisters this morning. Take advantage of the opportunity, and perhaps maybe one day we can be such an example as well. Brother Earl, Miss Joanne, we’re very thankful that you’re here this morning. In Genesis chapter 6 and verse 1, we know the picture, but let’s read it. When man began to multiply in the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.

And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh. His days shall be one hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. And here’s verse five. This is the part we know. This is the doom and gloom. Then 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.

1. Noah Found Favor and Stood Out

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. And we find this gem, this wonderful Bible story, and I want to examine it and just pull out some lessons for us that are so basic but so important to our faith. Let’s see how Noah believed. Let’s see how Noah showed faith. Will you look with me at continuing on in this reading in verse 9? 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.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

And you see, this is a society that is moving on. And I want to stop for a moment and consider what would they have considered that their life would be like? If Noah was warned by God about that man was so wicked that he was going to destroy them with the earth through the flood? What would everyone think the world was like? If you stop and consider that, you might say, well, everything was pretty wicked. Well, you look back at verse 5, you see two pretty strong indications here. First of all, in verse 5, you see that what was what was rampant? Wickedness and evil thoughts continually. Then scan down to verse 11. You see that there was corruption and violence? Perhaps this morning you consider that, well, at least we’re not quite that bad yet.

And that’s an argument that only God knows the answer to. But might we look around and see wickedness and evil thoughts? Might I look around and see corruption and violence? I wonder what it would be like to live in that society, aside from losing all the wonderful amenities that we’re enjoying this morning? What would it be like to be in a position of Noah where you were warned by God that everyone who is around you is going to be destroyed? And they’re going to be destroyed not just because God is mean, but because their wickedness is exceedingly awful. That things are really bad. Well, we saw that Noah was not. Did you see that in verse 8? He found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

In verse 22, he did all that God had commanded him to do. We find our example, even in this dark time, even in a time where everything was evil, the thoughts of the heart were evil continually, Noah stood out. And doesn’t that just make sense that in a time of darkness we can shine the brightest? Have you ever stopped to consider what an example Noah could be in this time? If in fact everyone is so wicked, if the world is so enraptured with the idea of selfishness and corruption and violence, wouldn’t someone who is selfless, someone who is God fearing, someone who is helpful to others, wouldn’t that be someone who stands out all the more? Perhaps that’s a challenge for me. That’s something that I can work on.

2. Everything Just Continued On

You see in chapter in chapter 6 and verse 17 and 18, how the story continues. After giving some dimensions and some instructions for building the ark, that ark which would deliver Noah and his close family. In verse 17, we see, for behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wife’s with you. Did you know what Noah saw? But we don’t really know what Noah saw, did we? God spoke to him. God warned him that this was coming. Noah didn’t need some series of visions.

He didn’t need a series of thunder and lightning storms. Do you think that’s what was happening at this time when Noah’s told with those specifics that we skipped over for the time being? When he was told to build the ark out of gopher wood and to build it to X, Y, Z dimensions? Do you think the sky was just menacing for those decades? That there was no sunshine, that there was no light? Do we think that perhaps maybe everything just kind of continued on? Maybe life just persisted. What would it be like to be in a world where people were largely wicked? You knew destruction was coming, but everything just happened the same each and every day. Might I add that that’s not too different than what we experience?

You think about our life, you look around and you say, Well, we’re kind of losing God in this country. Although I would question where was God the beginning of the country in terms of man? Were we honoring him as he expected to be? But regardless of that position, regardless of what the world is doing, don’t we just continue to exist day after day? How many times do we wake up, we brush our teeth, we take a shower, we get our work clothes on, we drive to work, we go to work, we sit at work, we come home, we change out of those clothes into our sleeping clothes, we brush our teeth, we go to bed. Then what do we do the next day? We wake up, we brush our teeth, we get in our shower, we put on our work clothes, we drive to work, we go to work, we come home, we change into our sleeping clothes, brush our teeth, we go to bed.

Life happens over and over and over. And what is the cost of that repetition? Perhaps is it the passion to serve God the way we should? Perhaps is it the endurance that Noah had? Think about the time that it would have taken. We don’t have any way of knowing exactly how long it might have been. Numbers are as large as perhaps 120 years that Noah had to prepare the ark. But likely it was at least five to seven decades of time. Can you imagine waiting five to seven decades for something to happen? I wonder if we stop and consider what it’s like to view things the way God did. While Noah was living, did he consider man to be as evil as God did? I’m not sure.

3. Noah, a Preacher of Righteousness

But we know how God viewed it. We saw it in verses 5 and 11. We saw that evil was on the heart of man continually. We saw that there was great corruption and violence. Noah was warned. And Noah tried to warn others. Will you find me in 2 Peter chapter 2? And 2 Peter chapter 2. Consider this point with me. I think it’s an interesting use of Noah here. In 2 Peter chapter 2. Often we may think of Noah as just this man who just devoted his life to building an ark, and that was pretty much what he did. He obviously taught his family. He obviously repopulated the earth through his seed. But really, what did he do? But notice with me in 2 Peter chapter 2, and we’ll start with verse 4.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world but preserve Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep, also keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Did you see what Noah was there in verse 5? He was a preacher of righteousness. How would you like to be the preacher of righteousness at the time where the world was so wicked that God was going to destroy man? Everyone around you is so perverse and corrupt that God is literally going to kill them. And that’t it, to think about how did Noah do that? You start to wonder, you start looking at Noah’s story, and you think, how did this man wake up every day? How did this man continue preaching? How did he continue building an ark when the flood isn’t going to come for decades later? How did he preach to people who were continually turning him down, who would not be saved despite the fact he knew the flood was coming.

4. In Reverent Fear Noah Constructed an Ark

It’s a bit difficult. What pushed Noah on? We saw it in Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, Noah being warned by God. Well, what about being warned by God? Moved with godly fear. What did Noah do? And reverent fear, Noah constructed. He constructed an ark. Why? Because God told him to. Noah’s faith in God pushed him through the hard parts of life. Noah lived a difficult life. We looked at the story. We see how God was going to make a covenant with him, but we’re glossing over the hard work involved. Go back to Genesis chapter 6. Do you pick up with me in verse 14? See what happened here. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch.

This is how you are to make it. The length of the ark, 300 cubits, its breadth, 50 cubits, and its height, 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower second and third decks. And that’s not even the fun part. Look with me in verse 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort in the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.

Also, take with you every sort of food that is eaten and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them. Noah did this. He did all that God had commanded him. You see how this is not a simple procedure? This is not easy what Noah had to do. But in reverent fear, who is the fear of? God. Noah constructed. Now, I told you there’s a lot of easy lessons to learn. What type of wood was Noah to make the ark with? Probably know where I’m going with this. This is gopher wood. So what type of wood was Noah to make the ark out of? Go for wood. Why? Because God told him, use gopher wood. Now, how silly would this story be if God said, you use gopher wood, and he’s like, I’m going to go over here and use this other type of material because that works for me?

5. Noah Was Righteous Before the Warning

It just doesn’t make sense. It’s not plausible. It doesn’t follow Noah’s obedient faith. Who was Noah trusting? God. Who gave Noah the commandments of how to be saved? God. So guess who Noah obeyed? God. Noah obeyed all that God had commanded him. We need to realize that there are specifics that we are to follow. And when God has outlined what we are to do, brothers and sisters, we should just do it. Because that’s what God has said. And that is the beginning and end of the matter. But also I want to look at Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7 again. Remember that? By faith. Was Noah saved because he built an ark? Why was Noah saved? Wasn’t he saved because he found favor in the eyes of the Lord?

Did God reveal to Noah some sort of personal kryptonite that his flood waters could not have otherwise destroyed? Did God say, Alright, Noah, you’ve been really good so far, so what I’m going to tell you is what I’m going to do. I’m going to flood the earth. I’m going to give you the one thing that I, God cannot destroy. Now that’s not how it went. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Why? Noah was righteous before the warning. Yes, the warning pushed Noah on. But Noah had a relationship with God that allowed God to see him with favor first. Despite all of this, despite the wonderful story, Noah had a relationship with God. What would that be based in? Faith in God. Noah did not just become a righteous man when the ark was being told to him to be built.

Noah didn’t become a righteous man when he realized if I don’t just do what God says, I’m going to die in the flood. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord before Genesis chapter 6 reveals that God spoke to him about the world being destroyed by the flood waters and how to build the ark. But I, living on this side of the cross, not only do I know what God has expected of me, I know what’s coming. I know that I am coming to the judgment. And so what is my life like? I have been warned by God. Will I in reverent fear prepare, despite how long it takes? You see, that’s what’s really interesting about Noah. He did it year after year. I think sometimes my faith, and maybe you share this with me, it kind of ebbs and flows, doesn’t it?

There’s some weeks where I’m just on fire for the Lord today. I want to help others. I want to spread the gospel. I want all of this righteousness that God expects me to have. But you know, then there’s those other times. There’s times when maybe I find myself more like those men that would not answer the harold of righteousness, that would not respond to Noah’s invitation. Or I find myself okay just getting by. I’m okay because you know what? It’s not a big deal. Life’s moving on, things are okay. What did God expect from Noah? He expected him to be preparing for what he said was coming. What do we know is coming? The judgment. What would it be like? If I knew that I was going to die in a few weeks.

I understand this is a basic thought, and we’ve had it many times before, perhaps. And I don’t mean I’ll huddle with my family, I’ll spend one more week at Disney World. I don’t mean that kind of thing. I mean in general, what would I be like? How would I control myself? How would I teach and help others? With what fervor would I serve God? And if that’s a different level than how I am now, brothers and sisters, I have got to change. Because God has promised that this world is coming to an end. And we can know he keeps his promises by reading the Bible and knowing he already destroyed the world once. The floodwaters already destroyed those who were not Noah, his wife, and his three sons and his sons’ wives.

We know God will do this. He has promised us that this will happen in 1 Peter. Excuse me, 2 Peter. Will we not cling to God? Will we not choose to show righteousness in our lives all year? All this decade? All our life. This is crazy. If we were to prepare for something, we would we go into intensive modes. Where are my planners? Raise your hand if you were a planner. Alright, this is this is kind of depressing. Backup question. Who’s sitting next to a planner? There we go. Yeah, we got a couple of hands going. I am a planner, so this is my confession. Now help me. We can work through this. Be with Cosco, really. As I’m planning, what I like to do is I like to see the details of what I’m doing.

What is my goal? How am I going to get there? And oftentimes, with most goals of any type of merit, it’s not just, okay, this is my goal. I guess I’ll try. Hey, you know what? I want to drive up to North Carolina this weekend. I guess we’ll just get in the car and hope we find the right roads. You know, and we’ll worry about clothes as we go. There’s probably Walmart somewhere. I hope there’s lights on the streets and street names, but it doesn’t matter because I’m just gonna go. No, that’s not how we prepare. We think about where we’re going. How am I gonna get there? That’s the first question. Do I have the provisions to get there? Do I have the money for the gas in the car?

Is my car nice enough to make that type of drive safely? Am I gonna have enough food to fill me? That’s a concern when you’re a guy. And you consider all these ideas. That’s besides the point. I have to bring clothes to that. I have to make sure that my wife has a bag for her clothes to get there. I have to make sure that we know we’re gonna stay somewhere when we get there because we’re not gonna just drive all night. I have to make sure that the hotel we’re gonna stay at is nice enough to stay at all night so that we don’t have to drive all night. I have to know why. Am I even going there in the first place? There’s all these plans, and we spend all this time thinking about it, making the plans, and of course, you know what happens.

Inevitably, something goes wrong. Something is forgotten. But still, we put a lot of time and effort into that. Why? We know something is coming and we must prepare for it. Noah did that for decades. Noah, for decades, prepared for the flood. I need to serve God at the utmost intensity my whole life. Because this life is just waiting to get to eternity. That’s all this is. This is our time to serve God in the flesh. We don’t get a second chance. We want to be with God eternally. We need to be on fire now. Noah in reverent fear constructed the ark. That wouldn’t have been popular. That wouldn’t have made sense. It would have been depressing. It would have been hard. But Noah did it because he trusted God.

Do we see what an influence that Noah is? That he didn’t just look around and say, you know what? I’m really not that much of a handyman. I don’t know what Noah’s skills were. If it was anywhere close to mine, that would be a depressing chore. In fact, I wouldn’t have been a well-constructed one either. I wonder if sometimes is it is easy to be a little envious of Noah when we look at what did what did God call Noah to do. Yeah, he had to exist in that generation, but he knew God had a special relationship with him. All he had to do was build an ark. I have to be faithful to God. I have to continually suppress my inner man and try to be this perfect person like Jesus was.

That seems a lot more difficult. Life is hard. People around me don’t make this easy on me. How am I going to get through? It is only if we trust in God.

6. Noah’s Faith Worked

That is how we will get through. That is how Noah did. Noah’s faith was not one that said, God’s going to save me, so I’m going to sit by and watch. Noah’s faith worked. He prepared an ark by faith. And we see the conclusion of that. Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. I want to read the verse in its entirety. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7. 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. How did Noah condemn the world? Remember 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 5. What was Noah? He was a herald of righteousness.

It wouldn’t be easy to live in this time because perhaps Noah had friends. Perhaps Noah had family who was not those chosen seven to accompany him on the Ark. What would it be like to try to teach them to know that this flood is coming and they are not prepared? What would it be like to know that God is going to destroy the very people he gave life to? Might I suggest that it’s really not all that different than what we look around at today? That we see people who we know are not prepared for what is coming. Orlando’s an interesting place to live. There’s a lot of benefits here, but one of the downfalls is there are hurricanes that come. And I believe it was 2004 when several hurricanes passed through here.

If we knew that a category 5 hurricane was going to come through and it was aimed right for us, and it was one day before, and you notice that your neighbor sat there in his house, windows unboarded, supplies not bought, house not secure. Would we not reach out to that person? Would we not beg them? Plead with them. Consider your life. And if not your life, consider your children’s lives. Consider what you mean to others. Would we not do everything we could to warn them of what was coming? Living like Noah, having faith like Noah means I personally will stick with God. I will persevere because I have a God that will help me do so and that I can be with for all of eternity.

Conclusion

But being like Noah also means that I am on the front lines trying to save everyone, regardless of whether the message is going over well or not. Noah was a herald of righteousness, and as we know from how the story concludes, one that did not produce seed outside of his wife, his sons, and his sons’ wives. So should Noah have just given up? Not at all. What is my charge? I need to be a light for God always. If this world is dark, all the better for me to shine my light in. If I have a long life ahead of me, all the better to serve God with. My days are short, I better prepare for what I know is coming. We can look around and we can see many brothers and sisters who are strong in the faith.

It doesn’t just have to be someone like Noah, someone who lived thousands of years ago, someone that the Bible personally exalts. There are Bible based heroes in our assembly this morning. What I mean by that, there are people who have chosen I will put God first, no matter what, all of my days, because he is worth pleasing, and that is my life. Will I serve God like Noah? 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. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious Heavenly Father, we praise you for your greatness.

We are marveled by. We marvel at your power, O Lord. We’re in awe of the fact that you spoke when this world came to exist into existence. We’re thankful, Lord, that you have chosen to look upon us with favor and allowing us to live this very day. We’re thankful for being being able to be here, to be with fellow Christians. Help us to strengthen one another, help us to team up in this life, realizing that this is a temporary home we’re passing through. That simply put this world is not our home. Help us to be living for that spiritual home. Help us to yearn to be with you forever, to shed this physical temporal body, and to be with you. Lord, help our entire lives to be centered around pleasing you.

Lord help me. Help us to be pleasing in your sight. As we worship you this day, dear Lord, help us to recognize that you are the God who not only created this earth, but who flooded it, who has expectations of righteousness and desires for us to be holy as you are holy. We’re so thankful for you for having grace and mercy that you show upon us. Help us to show it towards others. But dear Lord, we’re most humbled by, grateful for, and need to be mindful of you sending Jesus the Christ to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you so much for that great sacrifice. Be with us this day, be with those who are traveling and sick, and help us to worship you in spirit and in truth this very morning.

It’s in your son’s name we do pray. Amen.