The Dove Sent Forth from the Ark by Gustave Dore
The story of Noah and the ark is one of the most familiar stories in the Old Testament, maybe even the whole Bible. Everyone knows something about Noah. I searched “Noah’s ark” on Amazon and found Noah’s ark puzzles, books, stickers, stuffed animal collections, and play sets. There are t-shirts for children, onesies and fleece blankets for babies, all featuring images of a wooden boat and a few irresistible animal couples. It’s the pairs of animals, I think, that make pictures of the Noah and his ark so popular despite some frightening details in the biblical story.
When the author of Hebrews summed up Noah’s story in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith, he didn’t mention the animals at all. He was focused on the man Noah. Here’s what he wrote:
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 is in keeping with faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
The introduction to the hall of faith describes faith as “assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Noah is a perfect example of this kind of faith.
When God told Noah he was going bring floodwaters to destroy life on earth (Genesis 6:17), he was warning him of something “not yet seen,” and also something never seen before. Neither Noah, his neighbors, nor his ancestors had ever experienced anything like it. The God who created a good world and filled it with good creatures saw how corrupt and violent humanity had become (Genesis 6:11-12) and decided to wipe them out in one mighty act of de-creation. It was unprecedented, and from a human perspective, unimaginable.
But Noah revered God and was convinced God would do as he said. He believed there was only one way—God’s way—to escape the coming destruction, so he “did everything just as God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22 NIV). He followed God’s instructions and built a big boat in the middle of dry land.
It must have taken decades to build such a large boat, even with the help of his sons. They couldn’t jump in a truck and drive to the lumber yard to buy supplies. There were no power tools. From start to finish, they did it all, and they did it all by hand. Still, as the years passed, Noah’s faith held firm. He continued to carry out God’s instructions without any tangible evidence that the judgment God warned of would ever come. He kept on believing that God’s word would come true, and he kept on preparing for the sure reality of something that did not yet exist. His unhesitating and unwavering obedience was evidence of his trust in God and God’s rescue plan.
What I think is the hardest phrase to understand in this verse about Noah is found in the second sentence. By faith, the author wrote, Noah “condemned the world.” Of course, it was God, not Noah, who wiped out the people of the world in the flood. What did the author mean, then, when he said Noah condemned the world?
Here’s what I’ve concluded. This phrase means that Noah’s trust in God’s word, his obedience to God’s command, and his rescue from God’s judgment, showed how wrong the rest of humanity was when they spoiled God’s creation and ignored his warning of judgment. Noah’s faith highlighted their unbelief, and maybe even helped harden them in their defiance against God. By his faith, Noah showed how wrong they all were, and it’s in this sense that he condemned them.
And by his faith, Noah became “an heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” That Noah is described as an heir of righteousness tells us that his righteous standing before God was God’s gift to him—a gift he received by faith. In other words, when God said to Noah, “I have found you righteous in this generation” (Genesis 7: 1), it was based on Noah’s trust in God’s promises to him. His radical obedience flowed from his faith and was evidence of it, but it was not the fundamental reason God approved of him. Noah was an heir of righteousness because he believed what God said and trusted him to preserve him and his family.
Some of the original recipients of the letter of Hebrews were in danger of falling away from the faith, and one of the objectives of the author was to encourage them to keep on believing. He included the hall of faith, for instance, to show examples of faithful Old Testament saints for them to imitate. He also built a logical case for the superiority of Jesus and his finished work. Jesus, he argued, was better than the Old Testament system they were tempted to return to, so they should continue trusting him.
And he used a carrot and stick approach to help keep them faithful, too. He reminded them that those who remained faithful could expect future rewards. God, he wrote, promised an eternal inheritance (9:15), a Sabbath rest (4:9), and a place in the heavenly city (11:16) for those who kept on believing. He also warned them of the consequences of falling away. In the warning passages of Hebrews (2:1-4; 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:12; 10:19-39; 12:14-29), the author urged his readers to avoid the final judgment by continuing in the faith. No matter how we understand all of the debated details in the warning passages, their purpose seems clear. They were meant to help preserve the readers’ faith.
Perhaps the author included Noah in the hall of faith because he was someone who believed both God’s warning of judgment and his promises of deliverance. As Noah built the ark, working daily, year after year, he was spurred on in his obedience by keeping in mind God’s faithfulness to his promises, and also his impending destruction of the world. Because Noah saw the reality of both these “unseen things,” he remained faithful.
As a man of faith, Noah was an example to the first audience of the letter to the Hebrews and he’s an example for us as believers too. Our continued faithfulness depends on our conviction that God’s word will come true, and that things not yet seen are sure to happen. We can keep on trusting for the long haul by focusing on the certain joy to come as God fulfills his promises to us, and also by considering the sure reality of the judgment he is saving us from. Both God’s promises and his warnings work for our good.
Previous posts in this series:
Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 6:59AM 