In Genesis chapter 6 God observed the wickedness of the human race. His assessment wasn’t an exaggeration. Humanity had gone amuck. Things were horrible. When He made the call to wipe out the human race, except for one family, with a worldwide flood, it was because outside of Noah’s family, verse 5 says, “Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” That is bad for sure.
As bad as things are today, and there is no shortage of wickedness, we still hear about good things going on, but when God leveled His judgment on humanity in Noah’s day, He observed that every heart was evil, except Noah’s. People weren’t seeking God. The status was perversion, darkness, and evil, and it was pervasive.
The Scriptures said that God regretted making people and His heart was deeply troubled. How awful it must have been if God, who loves everyone that He has made, regretted making them? God was going to cleanse the earth of the evil that was taking place, and the only way to do that was to wipe out humanity and sort of start over. If that seems extra harsh or unloving to you, you need to spend some time studying the holiness and justice of God. He cannot and will not let sin go unjudged. God is long-suffering. He is patient. He strives with us. I am confident that He didn’t make the decision quickly or without giving people an opportunity to seek and find Him. I believe based on II Peter 2:5 that God had been using Noah to warn people of the impending flood. He had been using Noah to tell people to repent and turn to Him. This is what II Peter 2:5 says, “If He, (God) did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness”…
I think one reason it took so long for Noah to build the Ark was because God was giving people time to straighten up, but there comes a point when sin has to be judged, and God won’t hesitate to do His job.
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Other translations say that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is the first time in the Bible that the word “grace” appears. Grace is something gifted to us. Grace is something God does. Notice that Noah “found” grace with God. When does a person find something? When they are looking for it, right? Noah found grace with God because He was looking for it.
Grace from God is the power to live to please God. He will give it to you and me if we seek Him for it! Look at Genesis 6:9-10 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
What an awesome dad Shem, Ham and Japheth had. They had a righteous dad who walked faithfully with God. Noah was able to live a righteous life when no one else considered or consulted God. Under those circumstances, Noah still managed to live a righteous life, not going the evil and perverse ways of the world because he was seeking God. The word, “blameless,” here means, “uncontaminated.” With God’s help, Noah lived an uncontaminated life. We see an Old Testament portrait here of someone who was saved by grace because he was looking for God in the midst of a corrupt and violent, selfish and hedonistic society.
What a witness to his three sons about how fortifying the power of God was. What a legacy of faith Noah was handing to them as he sought God in the midst of absolute chaos and darkness. Dads and Moms if you are going to help your kids stand when the world around them is spinning out of control, teach your kids to seek the grace of God!
So, God told Noah that He was going to put an end to the evil on earth. He said in Genesis 6:13 that the earth was full of violence, and He had had all He was going to take. That is His prerogative as God. Why would we be drawn to a God that tolerated evil? There is a line and humanity had crossed it. But, because Noah had sought the grace of God and walked faithfully with God, Noah AND HIS FAMILY would be spared.
I don’t know if Noah could picture the devastation that was going to take place, but he trusted what God said, and he started to work on building the Ark at God’s command. Noah moved ahead in faith without evidence or experience that what God said would come to pass.
God not only told Noah to build the ark, a huge monstrosity of a boat, an engineering feat that was well-beyond the prowess and experience of anyone in the ancient world, but God told him exactly how to build the ark. Noah followed God’s instructions to the “T.” Genesis 6:22 says, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
This was an arduous task, a strenuous one. It was labor intensive. I am guessing he had his sons help him build the Ark. It took decades. We don’t know how long, but scholars know it took at least 50 years. Noah was an example of hard work and a devotion to excellence over decades. If his family was going to survive the flood, he needed to produce a reliable vessel, something that would float, something that would sustain the rains and winds as they would be tossed to and fro. It had to be done right.
Dads and Moms, we need to instill in our kids the value of hard work, the need to persevere, and the importance of a job well done.
You have to wonder what was going through Noah’s mind and his family’s mind as they worked on the ark and saw no evidence that rain, coming from the sky, could create the scenario God had promised, but Noah didn’t quit working. Noah didn’t stop believing what God had said. Noah, in faith, kept moving forward without any evidence, without any encouragement from a rain shower here or there along the way to reinforce that the words God had spoken were even possible.
Dads and Moms, if you want your kids to find safety in our Ark of Safety, in Christ alone, teach them to obey the Word of God in full obedience and faith even when there is no evidence or earthly experience to corroborate it.
What God says will come to pass. When the rain began to fall, it was too late for anyone else to find safety. Those who had scoffed at “Crazy Noah,” for spending perhaps what was perceived as the “best years” of his life, building a boat on a dry earth, they weren’t scoffing anymore. The criticism he would have received over all those years for doing what God had asked him to do, would have been a lot of pressure to tempt him to cave and quit on the project. But God had given him grace to stand out even when he had to stand alone. Dads and Moms, teach your kids it is worth it to stand out even if they have to stand alone.
In Genesis 7, the Lord told Noah to get his family into the ark. He told him to take seven pairs of every kind of clean animal and one pair of every kind of unclean animal and seven pairs of every kind of bird onto the ark. So, now we add “Zookeeper” to Noah’s resume. Genesis 7:5 again highlighted Noah’s obedience. It reads, “And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.”
When the rains began to fall, I’m guessing Noah wept. I’m guessing he was overwhelmed by the grace of God that had spared his family. I’m guessing he got his family together and said, “This is why I did it. This is what I have given my life’s work for…to make sure my family was safe. I did this for you. I did this for your protection.” There is nothing a parent won’t do to protect their children. Noah had done what was necessary to protect his family. Dads and Moms, we need some parents who will do whatever is necessary to protect their children’s souls. God is calling for more fathers and mothers who will do whatever it takes to make sure their children are safely on board with Jesus.
Are there some dads who are willing to build an Ark for your family this morning? Are there some dads who desire to lead their children to safety? Are there some dads who are willing to be questioned and even scoffed at as they parent according to God’s designs? Are there some dads who will be preachers of righteousness and walk faithfully with God? Are there some dads who will keep after it, and be relentless about obeying God even when it might seem absurd? Are there some dads who will do whatever it takes to protect your family from the evil in the world, from the evil in the spirit realm where Satan is at work? Hear me. Satan is propping up and giving energy to so many anti-God movements in our country. Satan is luring young people away from the faith in droves by getting them to focus on themselves and their human, fleshly desires. Are there some dads here today who will say, “Not my house, Satan. Not my children, Satan.” Are there some dads who will step out this morning and come to an altar to pray prayers of protection for your family? Are there some dads who will do everything God commands you to do because you realize your kids are watching and they need you to model what a life of faith looks like?
Moms, your role is just as strategic. If you are here with a spouse, come and pray with your spouse that together you can work to raise a godly family. If you are here as a single mom, pray for extra support to raise your kids in the spiritual environment that is conducive to the development of their faith.
And if you need rescued from destruction and disaster, if you haven’t gotten on board with Jesus yet, I invite you to come and surrender your life today.
