Noah, Part 2, the Stage is Set and a Boat is Built

Today we're looking at Genesis 6:9 - 6:22. As always you can go to Biblegateway.com, NetBible.com, or BlueletterBible.org for reading the Bible online. I would encourage you to read the section in the Bible before reading the blog. There's a lot there to digest and I'm going to try and do it in just a couple of blog entries, so I won't be able to cover all of the details.

I miss those. Delicious.

For today's blog we're going to play the question game: Who, What, Where, When, How, and Why. (The question game, by the way, is not a bad tool for studying the Bible. Observe, ask questions, make notes, etc). The winner of the game gets a Pudding Pop.
Who? Noah, who was a righteous man. Noah walked with God. Who else walked with God? Enoch. What happened to him? He didn't experience the judgment of sin in his day. Hmmmm, maybe walking with God is something we should all aspire to.
What? God tells Noah he is going to destroy the world but will preserve Noah from destruction. He then tells him to make an ark, an enormous boat. God also tells Noah to bring in a pair of every living animal with him, male and female, and also enough food to feed the animals, himself, and all of his family that goes with him.
Where? Not sure exactly. It happened at a place that didn't have Pudding Pops.
When was this going to happen? Noah didn't know for sure, but it was coming soon.
Why was God doing this? Because man had increased in evil, sin, and corruption. The earth was full of violence. Man was thoroughly evil. God is holy and he judges sin.
How would God do this? God told Noah there was going to be a flood of waters that would cover the earth. Keep in mind there was no rain yet on earth at this time. People, Noah included, didn't know what rain was. Before that time God watered the earth with a mist, (Genesis 2:5-6). Noah didn't know exactly how judgement was going to happen or when, but he knew that judgment was coming. Noah listened to God and obeyed. He trusted what God had said and so "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 through faith", (Hebrews 11:7). Noah was a man who walked with God and who had faith.

So God tells Noah what he is going to do and how to escape the coming judgment. Mental note: It's always good to be buddies with God. It helps you escape worldwide divine judgment, which is always a plus. Ergo, be on the Almighty's good side. You should also note that God's judgment is not willy-nilly. It is not without just cause. The world at this time is evil. Man has rejected God and is not walking in his ways. (Good thing that hasn't happened in our day, huh?). Lesson: God will always judge evil, his judgment is just, and there is no way to escape judgment except by walking with God by faith.

We see here some important things yet again.
- God hates sin and evil.
By the way, what is good and evil, right and wrong, has its definition and basis in God, the Lord, the Creator. Right and wrong are not defined by culture, the majority population, or man's reason. Righteousness finds its definition in God. We don't get to make our own standard. The standard is set by the Creator.
- God will judge evil.
In the movie Tombstone, there's a dramatic scene where Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, tells one of the bad guys, "YOU TELL 'EM I'M COMING AND HELL'S COMING WITH ME, YOU HEAR?! HELL'S COMING WITH ME!" He dramatically illustrates the point of coming judgment for the bad guys. We who live on earth have no cowboy promising coming judgment. Instead we have an Almighty God who has declared to us what is right and wrong, who has created, loved and provided for men and who has reached out to mankind to have fellowship with him. He has given him life and breath, but has only been rejected and scorned. He has given us the Bible to show us the way to him. In every circumstance man has lived in, (see also Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and now Noah), man has rejected or disobeyed what God has revealed. God is righteous and he will judge sin. Judgment is coming. It's going to be bad for all those who have not walked with God by faith. Hell will one day come to earth and the Lord of heaven and earth will be leading the charge. It's best we all get right with Him before that time comes. This may sound unpleasant, but it is Biblical. When we read the Bible, our job is not to choose which parts which we like and ignore the rest, but it is to understand what the Bible says as a whole, pleasant and even unpleasant.
- Man has a means of escaping judgment by walking with God by faith. Enoch walked with God and did not die. Abel obeyed God by faith, (see also Hebrews 11), and is commended by God. Now Noah walks with God by faith and will escape destruction. There seems to be a theme here. Faith = walking with God = escaping judgment and the curse of sin.

As a side and possibly humorous note, check out Cosby + Noah. That link actually illustrates an interesting thought. Noah is out building this enormous boat for the salvation of his family and animals. At some point the neighbors are going to start to wonder what he's doing. Can you imagine the conversations that he had with folks?

Noah and his neighbors.

Neighbor: So Noah, what are you doing?
Noah: I'm building an ark.
Neighbor: What's an ark?
Noah: It's a big boat.
Neighbor: Why do you need a boat?
Noah: Because God's about to judge the world, flood the earth, and kill every living thing on it.
Neighbor (to himself): ....No wonder we don't invite this guy to our parties.

I am nervous to speculate on what's not Biblically documented, but it blows one's imagination to think about how Noah would have interacted with the unrighteous around him as he built this enormous, (1 and a half football fields), size boat. That's a conversation I'd love to have with Noah in heaven. But I digress...

Coming next - bad news bears.