Noah And His Faith

by PATERSON, J. | Category: Types And Shadows In Genesis | Mar 1955

The name of Noah is amongst the faithful who are mentioned in Hebrews 11. Before we go to consider his character we shall look briefly at the characteristics of the days in which he lived.

As indicated by the words of the Lord Jesus in Luke 17.26 the days of Noah were typical of the days of the Son of man. Noah's days were immediately preceding sore judgement by God and so would it be in the days of the Son of man. From the beginning, men tilled the soil and kept cattle, but with the advance and development of arts and science ease and luxury were sought. They produced and handled the pipe and harp and made every cutting instrument in brass and iron. With such inventions men and women congregated in congested areas of population, dwelling in cities. (See Genesis 4.17). This resulted in all kinds of immorality, wickedness and corruption; unlawful intercourse was rife. The way of Cain, as distinct from the way of the LORD, was followed by the multitude and undoubtedly the people of that day are included amongst those referred to in Romans 1, who "became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened ... wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness"; and ultimately they were given over by God to a reprobate mind. What pathos is in the words of the LORD "My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever" ! (Genesis 6.3). The creatures of His hand had become so corrupt before Him that He decreed the end of all flesh. How true were the words spoken by Peter that "the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing" ! The steady decline of His creature's integrity tried the grace and mercy of the Creator.

Such were the days, and such were the people, in Noah's time. His faith is magnified when seen in the light of such sin and wickedness. It was precious in the eyes of the LORD, and, recorded in the annals of Scripture which will abide for ever, are the words-" But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD "(Genesis 15.6-8). He was like a green tree in an arid wilderness. Well might we covet such a commendation in our day which, perhaps, has not yet descended to the depth of sin and degradation prevalent in Noah's day. Let us be faithful, let us be blameless, let us be righteous before God in this generation!

NOAH BEFORE THE FLOOD.

In Genesis 5.24 we read-"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Little is said of this godly man, the seventh from Adam, whose fiery preaching is recorded in Jude 14, 15, but God has summed up his life in those few words. What volumes are conveyed to the mind in them! God has borne like testimony concerning Noah in these words-" Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6.9).

The revelation of God to Noah concerning the flood was clearly not the beginning of their intercourse. He enjoyed habitual communion with God and so was intrusted with God's purpose in regard to things not seen as yet, and he acted upon it as a reality. In 2 Peter 2.5 he is described as "a preacher of righteousness."

Peter confirms the fact that Noah's preaching was in the power of the Holy Spirit thus-" Christ also suffered for sins once, the Righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved through water" (1 Peter 3.18-20).

Preaching to man is generally through human instrumentality, and only in their days on earth does the challenge come to the spirits of men to be obedient; there is no second chance. Those disobedient spirits who were in prison when Peter wrote are still there, and this reference in Peter's epistle only confirmed their judgement. The last clause of verse 20 assures us that after all the preaching by the Spirit through Noah only eight souls were saved. Thus Noah is truly seen as a preacher of righteousness whose preaching had eternal consequences as its results.

God said-" The end of all flesh is come before Me ... I will destroy man." It was not merely some flesh, but all flesh; the mighty men, the men of renown, must all be set aside, they had been tried and found wanting; so there must be the entire destruction of all that which had corrupted God's way on the earth. The human heart may thrill to the sound of pipe and of harp, and swell with pride at the brilliant achievements of men of art, mighty men, but the doom of all was sealed.

Hebrews 11.7 reads-" By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house'; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Only faith would accept warning from God. Nature and the flesh are governed by what they see and by their other senses, but faith is governed by the word of God; this gives assurance whatever the outward circumstances may be. When God spake to Noah of impending judgement there was no sign of it, but to him the word of God made it a present reality. All the man of faith needs is to know that God has spoken. "Thus saith the LORD" settles everything and is the abundant answer to all the reasoning and imagination of the human mind.

We note seven things concerning Noah in Hebrews 11.7. (1) By faith, Noah: (2) Being warned of God: (3) Concerning things not seen as yet: (4) Moved with godly fear: (5) Prepared an ark for the saving of his house: (6) Through which he condemned the world, and (7) Became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Here we see the truth of justification by faith as set forth in the epistle to the Romans combined with justification by works as set forth in the epistle by James, for "faith without works is dead." Noah's faith was a living faith and led him to do what God commanded. Faith alone in the word of God! What rest is here for the believer's heart! What relief from all Satanic imagery and men's imaginations, which are only evil continually! Oh, may we ever adore God for this inestimable treasure the word of God!

NOAH DURING THE FLOOD.

God said unto Noah-" The end of all flesh is come before Me make thee an ark of gopher wood." Here we have man's ruin and God's remedy. Man had pursued his career to the uttermost, and evil had reached its climax so nothing remained but for God to destroy all flesh and to save those who believed, of whom there were only eight.

This brings us to the doctrine of the cross, where we find God's judgement of nature with all its evil, and at the same time the revelation of all His saving grace. There sin is perfectly judged and the sinner who believes perfectly saved.

The making of the ark was a long task for Noah, and day by day as he worked he bore testimony to impending judgement.

The history of Noah begins in Genesis 5.28-32. His father Lamech begat him when he was 182 years old and lived afterwards 595 years, begetting sons and daughters. When Noah was 500 years old he begat Shem, Ham and Japheth and we read in Genesis 7.6 that he was 600 years old when the flood was upon the earth, so we conclude the building of the ark was somewhere between these years. What anxiety must have filled his heart as he wrought day by day, knowing that the judgement was ever drawing nearer! Jehovah said-" My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever" and so we read in Genesis 7.1, "The LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark," and when he had taken his place there with his household and the animals as appointed, we read, "The LORD shut him in." Oh, what faith, to look up at a cloudless sky, and pass beyond the threshold of the ark, all the while bearing the scoffing and sneering of the godless throng! Now between him and the judgement was the ark, pitched within and without so that no water could reach him and no power, human, angelic or diabolic, could open the door. Perfectly secure were all within. How fully this expresses the believer's perfect security as being in Christ! He is the Proto-type of whom the ark speaks, the ONE WAY of deliverance from the judgement of God.

All who believe the word of God and accept His Son as their Saviour are secure, made so by God Himself, and He has placed the mark of ownership upon them. As the Ephesian epistle reveals, believers have been chosen by the Father, purchased by the precious blood of the Son and sealed by the Holy Spirit, thus making them "His very own." Oh, what bliss! sins put away, eternal life instead of eternal death, a right of access here and now into His holy presence while we "wait for His Son from heaven" to take all in Christ to be for ever with Himself! A like faith to what Noah had makes these things real, and should be laid hold of to our present joy. The word of God sustained Noah throughout his long life of service and His word has sustained millions of His saints to this day in the face of all the world's opposition and contradictions. Look again at Noah in the ark, secure where God had placed him! The waves of divine wrath were raging outside, wrath against His sinful creatures. All this sets forth the crosswork of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ upon whom fell all the waves and billows of the wrath of God. In Psalm 42.7 we hear Christ say,

"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts:

All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me."

Here is profound truth, the spotless Son of God bearing the creature's sin. There at the cross the fountains of the deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the righteous wrath of a holy God was meted out upon the head of His only begotten Son, who had stepped into the breach and" bare our sins in His body upon the tree" (1 Peter 2.24). He drank the cup of divine judgement, discharging all His people's liabilities, and now all who believe in Him may enjoy settled peace and eternal security.

"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth" (Genesis 8.6).

The unclean bird sought not the ark again, but not so the dove subsequently sent forth. It returned and he put forth his hand and brought her into the ark. After other 7 days he sent forth the dove again and this time she returned in the evening: "and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf pluckt off," sweet emblem of the renewed earth.

The raven would speak to us of the carnal mind (the unclean) which can find rest in anything, and all it wants amid the scenes of death and desolation; the olive leaf had no attraction for it ; but blessed indeed is the mind that rests alone on Christ until the time of His exaltation and glory.

"For yet a very little while,

He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry" (Hebrews 10. 37).

May the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ!

Let us look a little at the condition of those to whom Noah had so long preached righteousness. The saved were within the ark, all outside were lost. As the deluge came, no doubt many looked at the ark and saw it rising with the flood, but alas! the door was shut, the time of testimony was past, their doom was sealed. The Hand that shut Noah in shut them out. The strength of the men of renown, the giants who had sought out many inventions, availed nothing now. The long-suffering of God and the testimony of His faithful servant had both been slighted. Present things had engrossed them. "They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17.27).

There was nothing wrong in eating and drinking, in marrying and giving in marriage. Such things can be done in the fear of God and done to His glory. The wrong was in themselves. They left God out of their thoughts and, when told of impending judgement, they repented not, unlike the men of Nineveh when Jonah foretold their intended destruction, but continued in their unbelief and indifference. They thought, spake and acted without God and so could do nothing right. The earth was filled with violence and all flesh had corrupted God's way on the earth.

Are we not again fast approaching such days? Men speak of the advance of civilization, and the preparation of the kingdom for the King, but civilization is not righteousness; there may be a marching forward to-day, but it is not, as some suppose, to fit the house for Christ, rather is it for the antichrist. All the efforts of men to cover up the blots and blemishes of humanity, and their denial of the mental and moral degradation of Adam's posterity give way, and again, as in Noah's day, the testimony will cease and the voice of the scoffer will be heard saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" The answer is, "The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night."

With thankful hearts we can look up above such scenes of violence and strife, secure in Him who bore our judgement and whose appearing shall be for us as "the bright and morning Star, foretelling God's unclouded day."

NOAH AFTER THE FLOOD.

God spake to Noah, saying, "Go forth of the ark ... and Noah went forth ... and Noah builded an altar unto the LORD." All in simple faith and obedience! The ark had carried him and his family over from the old world into the new world, where now he takes his place as a worshipper. Noah's faith passed from the ark to the God of the ark. He did not make the ark an object of worship like the children of Israel did with the brazen serpent, but built an altar to the LORD and worshipped Him.

The apostle Peter refers to Noah being saved through water and applies the allegorical teaching to the present dispensation thus,

"Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not

the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him" (1 Peter 3.21, 22).

Great care must be taken in interpreting this portion, and we must guard against the serious error of attributing to water baptism that which is alone effected through the efficacy of the blood of Christ, and of transferring to it the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

To preserve us from such false conceptions God has said that baptism is "not the putting away the filth of the flesh," but that it is "the interrogation (inquiry, appeal or answer) of a good conscience toward God."

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1.3).

When Noah went forth out of the ark, he "took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." He did not offer a sin offering; he was on resurrection ground and burnt offerings were appropriate.

The LORD was pleased and " smelled the sweet savour" and made a covenant with Noah.

The earth was purged with water, and never again would God bring a deluge upon the sons of men to destroy them as He had done. God said,

"This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you

and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth" (Genesis 9.12, 13).

How happy it is to look up when the rainbow appears and to remember that God looks upon it, that He "may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth" (Genesis 9.16)! It is sweet to remember what God will and what He will not remember. He will remember His covenant, but He will not remember His people's sins. The cross-work ratifies the former and puts away the latter.

Thus we leave Noah, blessed of God, not only in having been brought into covenant relation with Him, but having this further command,

"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 9.1).

Leaving his footsteps on the sands of time he is reckoned amongst that host who received the promise of God through faith, to whom the Holy Spirit directs our attention in Hebrews 12.1,"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

They triumphed against great odds; shall we, in our day, who have not only lesser odds, but enjoy the fulness of divine revelation, also be found faithful?

"Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Hebrews 12.4).

PATERSON, J. | Mar 1955
Types And Shadows In Genesis