“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)
Let’s get the context of this story. In Genesis 6:5-7 we are told:
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.’”
Ah, but here comes that tiny little glimmer of hope: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (vv. 8-9).
So faithful Noah is assigned the lead role in God’s plan to save mankind. God tasks him with building a boat (“What’s a boat?”) in which he and his family will ride out a coming flood (“What’s a flood?” “Rain? What’s that?”) that would destroy “all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it” (v. 17).
And Noah sets out to do that very thing. For him, it is enough that God has told him what to do and how to do it—he had detailed plans for this boat, and everyone and everything that was to be safely preserved inside it. Genesis 6:22: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
That, my friends, is the very definition of faith—“the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains what is meant by the phrase “holy fear”:
“In the expression ‘holy fear’ some put the emphasis on ‘holy’ and some on ‘fear.’ While it is true that this word may convey the notion of fear, it does not do so here. The author is not telling us that Noah was a timid type but that he was a man of faith. He acted out of reverence for God and God’s command and ‘built’ an ark, in order ‘to save his family’ (lit., ‘for the salvation of his house’). In the NT the noun ‘salvation’ usually refers to salvation in Christ. Here, however, as in a few other places, it is the more general idea of salvation from danger—deliverance from disaster—that is in mind.”[1]
How did Noah “condemn the world”? Everyone around him could see what he was doing. I imagine he faced a good bit of verbal and perhaps even physical harassment. But I also imagine, with some reasonable certainty, that Noah spoke openly and often of what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He would have warned his neighbors of their impending annihilation if they chose to disregard his warnings. He would have explained to them, to the best of his knowledge, why God had chosen to take this action against them.
When all was said and done, the warning Paul gave in Romans 1:18-20 would surely have been applicable to them:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
As the rains began, those outside the ark were without excuse. They were condemned by their own wickedness. They died, not because there wasn’t room in the ark, but because they refused the opportunity to enter it. (Read the book of Jonah for a good illustration of how God responds when people—even exceedingly wicked people—repent!)
But in their commentary John’s Gospel, Hebrews-Revelation, Craig Evans and Craig Bubeck give us a revealing insight into why this particular story would have been so relevant to people to whom the book of Hebrews was addressed. They explain:
“They, too, have heard God’s announcements about a coming ‘Day’ (10:25, 37–38) when an even more decisive act of judgment will take place. They have been warned about future things (9:28; 10:12–13, 25, 37–39) and the author invites them to imitate Noah, to trust the word about God’s coming, to judge the contrary and reward the loyal, and to act in their present situation so as to condemn the world by their ongoing witness to God’s law and standards. Like Noah, the addressees are to use their time and resources in this life to prepare for salvation at the day of judgment, at the return of Christ, and to pour themselves into meeting that crisis, as they did in the past (Heb. 10:32–34) and are exhorted to keep on doing (13:1–3).”[2]
Noah was the first person to specifically be described as “righteous” in the Old Testament. The word translated “righteous,” saddiq, means to be upright, just, innocent.
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to navigate the life God has given you responding to Him in faith, forging ahead without necessarily knowing what is coming, trusting all the time that the One who has called you to “follow Him” will walk with you every step of the way. He has already given you instructions for the “ark” you are to build in your life—that’s what His Word, the Bible is. Will we warn our generation of the wrath to come?
When we reach the end of our own life of faith, will God call us faithful? Will you stand apart from your world by standing up for God? Peter Adam says this in his commentary, Hebrews: The Magnificent Son:
“With Noah we have another hint of the kind of life of faith that is expected of present-day readers. For Noah is seen in stark contrast to the world around him: he was warned by God of imminent danger; he acted to save his family; he condemned the world by his obedience; and he showed that the righteous one will live by faith. He did not shrink back, but persevered and received what was promised (see 10:35–39).”[3]
Jesus has issued you a command to warn your own generation of a coming day of judgment. With the command He gives a promise, one that should encourage you to be strong and bold as you go forward:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, emphases added.)
Will you obey?