FAITH || Lesson 5 

FAITH

Text:  Hebrews 11

Lesson Five – V.7

Examples of the ancients who were commended for their faith: (Cont’d.)

NOAH:  V.7 – By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

(Amplified Bible) [Prompted] by faith Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family. By this [his faith which relied on God] he passed judgment and sentence on the world’s unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness (that relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith).

(The Living New Testament) Noah was another who trusted God. When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family.  Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to the sin and disbelief of the rest of the world—which refused to obey—and because of his faith he became one of those whom God has accepted.

See Genesis 5:28-9:29.  [Genesis 6:8-9 – ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

And he walked with God –The same was said of Enoch. (Refer to previous study.) They were “true worshipers.”

The contrasting “walk” of the other people who lived in Noah’s time is recorded in Genesis 6:5, 11-12 – ⁵The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.  ¹²God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

Their lifestyle, with its consequence, is summarized in Matthew 24:37-39 – ³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Their behavior depicted “the love of the world.”  Note 1 John 2:15-17 – ¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  ¹⁶For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world.  ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Note also 2 Timothy 3:1-5 – But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Let us thank the Lord for the provision He has made for us to “walk with Him.”  Titus 2:11-14 – ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Genesis 6:13 – So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Compare 2 Peter 3:5-7, 10 – ⁵But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  ⁶By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  ⁷By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Genesis 6:14 – So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

Compare 2 Peter 3:11, 14, 17-18 – ¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

¹⁷Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.  ¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Genesis 7:1 – The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

This was as a result of Genesis 6:22 – Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Let us ask the Lord to help us to emulate Noah’s obedience and thus obtain the reward of Matthew 25:34 – “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

Genesis 7:4 – Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.”

Contrast Mark 13:32 – “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

It is therefore crucial that we be ready for “that day” by heeding, along with the other Scriptures, the following:

Philippians 2:12b (Amplified Bible) – Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).

Let us thank the Lord for His promise to help us in verse 13 – [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Genesis 7:16 – The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

Then the LORD shut him in.  Compare:  Matthew 25:10 – “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

John 10:27-30 – ²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  ³⁰I and the Father are one.”]

Let us ask the Lord to help us to be mindful of 2 Peter 1:10-11 – ¹⁰Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.