Hebrews 11:7: By Faith Noah
2023-07-08
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
Note here that faith is “seeing” the unseeable. Noah, with his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law, were the only people in the entire world that entered the ark to be saved from the flood of God’s wrath. Consider Genesis 6:9-22. The Lord said He would destroy the earth because of violence. Everything was going to die. If Noah did not follow instructions, he would die as well. He “moved with fear.” We see that he did all that he was told, which would have taken faith. He only had God’s word on the matter, no physical evidence of any major storm coming. And his preparation was about a century in the making.
We know that it likely did not rain in the antediluvian world. We know this because of two things: “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground” (Genesis 2:5). While we could say that the Lord provided rain after the man was put in the garden, we find that rainbows were a new thing in the postdiluvian world. Consider Genesis 9:12-17. If there were rain clouds before the flood, there would be rainbows. Perhaps I am missing something and mistaken, but this seems to be the case.
If this were the case, then Noah would have that much more to trust God with. We know the concept of flooding from hurricanes and heavy rains. He didn’t.
After building the ark, they had to get on it by faith. “And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in” (Genesis 7:16). Because he had faith, trusting God, Noah saved himself and his household. Likewise, our faith saves us from another judgment that is coming, namely, the Day of the Lord and the lake of fire.
How did Noah condemn the world? “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:4-5). Noah was also a “preacher of righteousness.” Part of knowing that a judgment is coming is telling other people about it so they can be saved too. Only eight were saved in the ark, but surely there was room for more. If not, God would have foreseen the number of people to respond and would have made the ark dimensions bigger.
Even if this son of Lamech did not initiate a single conversation about the coming flood judgment, surely the passers-by would be asking questions. Well, Noah, that’s quite a strange summer home you’re building for yourself. Wait, a boat? Here?? He took the opportunity to explain what he was doing and why.
Moreover, we read this, “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:38-39). Everyone else was enjoying life, celebrating marriages and so on. Noah was too busy looking for that day when the Lord would come and destroy everything.
With this outlook of Noah, your life would be demonstrably different. Like this prophet, you move with fear. You prepare for the saving of your household and friends. Otherwise, you condemn them, because they want no parts of the means by which they would be saved. And, with Noah, we become heirs of righteousness by faith.
Noah was called righteous by the LORD, “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). How did he become the heir of righteousness? He was the ancestor of every human being on earth right now. We are descendants of at least one of his three sons, but more than likely all three sons due to the intermarriage that would have needed to happen.
Also, the line of the Messiah comes through Him, which is the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Noah: “And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed” (Genesis 5:29). He is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus: “Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech” (Luke 3:36).
The line of righteousness was passed down through Seth, the son of Adam that replaced Abel. “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:25-26). This contrasts with the line of Cain, which was too busy being innovative and enjoying life than seeking the Lord. Noah inherited that family line’s righteousness.