By Faith Noah

This is the fourth post in a series on Hebrews 11. You’ll find the other posts in this series here.

After discussing the faith of Enoch in verses 5-6, the writer of Hebrews moves to the next faithful “ancient” on his list.

By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:7 NET)

We’ll find God’s forewarning to Noah about these “things not seen” in Genesis 6:

I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. (Genesis 6:17 NET)

The flood God warned of was unseen in the sense that it was yet to come, and also in the sense that it was unlike anything Noah had ever experienced. God spoke a warning and gave a command to Noah, and that word from the unseen realm of the eternal was more real to Noah than what his own five senses told him. There was no sensory evidence of what was coming, but on the basis of God’s word alone, Noah was convinced of the reality of the coming flood and destruction. He built the ark because his firm conviction of   the rock-solidness of what was yet unseen to him.

Noah obeyed God’s command to him, but those around him—the “world”—did not heed God’s warning. His faithful obedience stands in contrast to the disobedience of the rest. His faith in action condemned them.

But more than that, Noah received something through his faith: He “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” His status changed as a result of his faith, because he was given the righteous standing before God that comes through faith.*

*This is not the way the writer of Hebrews most often uses the word “righteousness,” but it does seem to be the way he uses it here.