| The story of Noah has brought out many nicely illustrated children's books. Comedian Bill Cosby popularized the story of Noah in a most humorous way. Let's go to God's rightly divided word and see what God wants us to learn from this fantastic record. Hebrews chapter eleven gives many exemplary accounts of people believing God unto getting powerful results. In studying these records it is best to go into the Old Testament accounts. Read it over and over again. Let it soak into our hearts to the point that we are built up with confidence and trust in God. "By faith [believing] Noah, being warned of God of things not seen yet, moved with fear [reverence], prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is of faith [believing]" (Hebrews 11:7). God warned Noah of the flood which was to come. Noah believed by preparing an ark. His good example of believing God openly revealed and made evident the wickedness of the rest of the world. As a result, he and his family were saved. Go to the scripture. The first record of Noah is found in Genesis 5:29. He was the son of Lamech. He was prophetically named because he was going to be a comfort for God's people. Noah is next mentioned in Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." The context is understood according to verses 1-7. Ungodly generations of people began to multiply on the earth. There was only one man who was favorable in God's eyes. If there was any other person who loved God at all, you can bet your bottom-dollar God would have included them in the ark. As a side note, this was another spiritual attempt by Satan to destroy the seed of the woman prophesied of in Genesis 3:15. If he could have destroyed Noah and his family, that would have been the end of God's plan for redemption. But god knew better. Genesis 6:13, "And God said unto Noah, 'The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." God knew a great destruction was coming, and he warned the only person on earth who would believe Him. In verses 14-16 God gave Noah instructions concerning what to do and how to do it. He then established His promise with Noah that he and his family would be saved as long as they believed Him. In verses 19-21 God explained what to include in the ark. Then we come to the most wonderful part of the whole story, "Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded, so did he." He believed God by moving on His word with reverence. Yet we have God's word in Hebrews 11:39-40, "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith [believing], received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." In this Age of Grace, we have God's precious promise of the righteousness that is in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be filled with holy spirit by simply believing with the heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead (see Romans 10:9-10). |
| Believing...Hebrews 11:7 By Timothy W. Burnett |