7/3/22

Today our pastor continued a series entitled “Timeless Bible Stories.” The featured story was of Noah and the ark from Genesis 6:9-8:14.

The major points of the story are familiar to us but there are some subtleties that struck me today as we read and heard Craig Carter’s message.  His sermon notes printed in our worship guide are shown in this photo above, with my notes scribbled on it at the end of the hour.  There were so many additional thoughts that zoomed in from other Bible scriptures as he preached.  I felt like I was all over the place as I thought about Noah.  I had written about him elsewhere regarding the post-Ark episode of his drunkenness and his sons’ responses in Genesis 9.

 

A Study in Soul Character

These thoughts from today’s sermon actually converged with conclusions drawn in the previous essay on the post-Ark Noah and his sons. I want to capture today’s thoughts and revisit the previous reflection…..

My notes are indicated by the leading and ending asterisks****

NOAH AND THE ARK

It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. (Hebrews 11:7a NCV)

1) Noah walked with God – he listened.

Noah was a good man, the most innocent man of his time, and he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9b NCV)

****  This verse triggered a memory of another verse that sounded vaguely like this triad of attributes.  It is Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  So I took a quick look at my Hebrew dictionary in my Bible.  Sure enough, the two verses are parallel in themes and structure.  Observe:

“Noah was a GOOD man, the MOST INNOCENT man of his time, and HE WALKED WITH God. ( New Century Version).  My New American Standard Bible renders those three phrases this way;

-Righteous-HEB 6662- “just”, “lawful”

-Blameless-HEB 8549- “upright”,”without spot”

-He walked with God – exact wording as NCV

The point is, no matter how it’s translated, it lines right up with Micah 6:8!

• “to act justly” or “do justice”

• “love mercy”  or “be deemed blameless” before God by having received mercy and merciful to others (See also the correlation with order and themes observed in Matthew 5;6-8: desire for righteousness satisfied, merciful shall receive mercy, pure of heart shall see God.  These themes are also repeated in Luke and in James.)  My Bible’s footnotes call the character commended to man in Micah 6:8 as “the most succinct description of the type of religious devotion that God desires. Love of God and man are inextricably connected in what can be described as a high-water mark of religious thoughts of the OT. The message of the prophets concerning the desired conduct of Israel, which was preached over several centuries, can be boiled down to this verse” and it cross references Matt. 22:37-40.

• “walk with God”

Noah is the first man in the Bible whose character reflects the fullness of God’s desire for the character of mankind. It is the reason, too, that in a world of wanton sinfulness, Noah alone in his generation fit the bill for the captain who would transport rescued humanity to a fresh start after the flood.

This also is evidenced by his inclusion in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith.”  He is third in the line up, preceded by Abel, whose acceptable sacrifice was deemed “righteous,”  while Cain made comparisons of Abel’s sacrifice to his own and felt jealousy to the point of murder.  The acceptability of the sacrifice determined his righteousness, which was the ancient system for redemption. Next in Hebrews 11 comes Enoch, who was taken up by God without dying because he witnessed to the assurance man can have about being found pleasing to God and is described in Genesis 5:22 as a man who also  “walked with God.”  My sense of that phrase is that it implies faithful obedience to God’s will, which would, of course, please God. BTW Enoch was a son of Cain and the great-grandfather of Methuselah who was the grandfather of Noah. It would seem that the curse on Cain was broken in the next generation by Enoch’s obedience and gave rise to the moral and religious character  “completeness” found in Noah that became the standard for God’s people with the post-flood fresh start.  *****

2) Noah built the ark in the sunshine – he obeyed.

Noah did everything that God commanded him. Genesis (6:22; 7:5 NCV)

***** These statements further confirm Noah’s “walking with God”, fulfilling God’s will by obedience.****

In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah and his family entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away.
Matthew 24:38-39 NLT

3) Noah let God close the door of the ark – he trusted.

One male and one female of every living thing came, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them. (Genesis 7:16 NCV)

*****  Noah’s habit of walking with God and his obedience were indicators of his trust in God’s plan and wisdom. ****

4) Noah built an altar in the mud – he worshiped.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of all the clean birds and animals, and he burned them on the altar as offerings to God. (Genesis 8:20 NCV)

*****   Salvation by God leads to gratitude and worship of God in their new circumstances.****

******  After Abel, Enoch, and Noah Hebrews 11 continues with the “faithful” lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua’s faith is implied and Rahab’s is commended by the references in Hebrews 11:30-31.  Then Hebrews lumps many others together and notes their acts of faith. Then in Hebrews 12, Jesus is lifted up as the epitome of faith,  in fact its author and perfecter!  And sets the bar for the church (us) to grow in faith, too. How well does any person in any generation measure up to the faithfulness and character of God’s people and Jesus as those listed in Hebrews  11 and 12? The faith that glorifies God is shown as becoming more in line with God’s expectation as expressed in Micah 6:8 as God’s people became the nation into which God’s own son would come to exemplify its perfection.

Now, back to Noah and his sons… the incident of drunkenness in Genesis 9:18-27, in which Ham saw his father’s drunken nakedness in his tent. Ham demonstrated disrespect and shaming of his father,  whereas Shem and Japheth, modestly covered him.  The two of them showed character and behavior in keeping  with righteousness and mercy toward family when Ham didn’t, resulting in Noah’s curse against Ham, who became the father of the pagan Canaanite tribe.****

 

“The Great Requirement”

by Cathy Boyd Byrd