Genesis 7:1 7 "The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation."
I hope He feels the same about us. There is something special about the story of Noah. We know it so well and perhaps we have forgotten just how amazing it is. God looked on the world and saw how evil mankind had become. Genesis 6:5 tells us: “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.”
And yet, in the middle of all that wickedness one man stood out, just one. Genesis 6:8 says: “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.” And verse 9 tells us: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” God told Noah to build an ark because judgment was coming to all on the earth. And Noah did something then that now, to us with hindsight was extraordinary. He believed God. He didn't simply believe in some vague sense that a God of some sort existed. He believed in the God we now recognise, and God told him about something that had never happened before, (it was going to rain) and Noah accepted this in spite of it being almost unimaginable.
Does that ring any bells today, does that remind you of what we are being told today about the return of Jesus, almost unimaginable?
Hebrews 11:7 says: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Noah was building a massive ark because God had told him that a flood was coming. Year after year, he continued building. People around him would have seen what he was doing and probably laughed and scorned him. But Noah continued building. Why? Because he believed God's word more than he believed the world around him.
We know how easy it is to be drawn towards whatever the world offers. That is one of the great lessons of Noah. We are in a similar position, how few of us BELIEVERS there are among the thousands that live in our town. Jesus makes a powerful lesson. In Matthew 24, Jesus says that the days before his return will be like the days of Noah. “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.” Notice that Jesus doesn't describe people as doing unusual things. They were eating. They were drinking. They were marrying. In other words, life was just carrying on.
People had ordinary lives. They had their plans, their families, their possessions and their daily routines. But they had one enormous problem: Noah believed but they had ignored the warnings of what was to come. They didn't know until it was too late.
Noah knew. Noah believed. Noah prepared. And then came the moment when the opportunity ended. A MOMENT!
“The LORD shut him and his family in” Genesis 7:16 describes one of the most significant details in the entire account. After Noah and his family had entered the ark, “Then the LORD shut him in.”
Think about that. God shut the door. Noah didn't shut it. His wife didn't shut it. His sons didn't shut it. God shut the door. And once God had shut that door, the invitation to come inside… had gone.
The period of preparation was over. The period of warning was over. The judgment was about to begin. For a long time, the door had effectively been open. Noah was building. Noah was preaching righteousness. Noah was preparing. All could see him. There was an opportunity for people to respond. But eventually God shut the door. I think that detail gives us an important picture of God's mercy and judgment. We sometimes like to think about God only in terms of His love and mercy. But the story of Noah reminds us that God's mercy does not mean that judgment will never come. There is coming a time, a moment when the opportunity will end.
God wants us to listen, God wants us to respond, and He gives us plenty of time to do so. Because on the day when He effectively shuts this door of today, those on the inside will feel safe and secure, those on the outside who now see their error, will certainly not be able to open that door.
Noah didn't enter the ark alone. Noah's whole family was saved Genesis 7:1 says: “The LORD then said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.’” Noah was not a man who was going to say, “can we do this tomorrow or next week or until I see proof”.
Noah's family went with him. Eight people entered the ark. Noah Noah’s wife Shem Shem’s wife Ham Ham’s wife Japheth Japheth’s wife And when the waters came, those eight were saved. And we are told the rest of the world was swept away.
We shouldn't read this just as an interesting historical detail. This is an important lesson. Noah's family had to get into the ark. Everyone should have heeded Noah’s warning and got into the ark too but they failed to heed the warnings. It wasn't enough for Noah to believe. It wasn't enough for Noah to have built the ark. His family had to enter it. And so, there is a connection with our own position.
Today God has provided a means of salvation yet again, through His son Jesus. Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
We have heard God's warnings. We believe that Christ is coming and that God's purpose with the earth will eventually be completed. But knowing those things is not enough by itself. We have to respond. Noah's faith was not merely something he kept in his mind. His faith moved him to action.
There was only one ark. There wasn't one ark for Noah, another for his neighbours, and another for people who preferred a different approach. God had provided one means of salvation from the coming judgment. And when Noah and his family entered that safety with all the rebellious people outside, they were surrounded by the very waters that brought such terrible judgment on rest of the world.
And God shut the door Imagine what that must have been like! For Noah, it was the confirmation that he had trusted God correctly. But today, as in the time of Noah, we say to those who don’t agree with us, the simple fact is, truth is truth, we try to tell folk, we are not bragging, we are trying to do for them what certain folk did for us many years ago.
When God shut that door, it marked the end of opportunity for those outside. And this is where Noah becomes particularly relevant to us. We live in a world which, like Noah's world, carries on apparently as normal. Jesus' warning is not simply that the world will become wicked. It is that people will become so absorbed in normal life that they fail to recognise what God is doing.
Noah must have seemed strange to his generation. But Noah had a different vision. He conducted his life with the certainty of a promise not yet seen. What does Noah say to us? “When will the door be shut?” “Am I ready while the door is still open?” There is clearly a limit to this period of opportunity.
One day, God's patience will have reached its end.
One day, Christ will return.
One day, the opportunity to prepare will be over.
And so, Noah's story asks us a very personal question: Where are we? Are we outside, absorbed in the ordinary affairs of life? Or are we, like Noah, listening to God's word, believing it, and acting upon it? Noah was not saved because he was stronger than anyone else. He was saved because he believed God, obeyed His command, and entered the place of safety God had provided. Amen.
