Noah faith’s witness. Heb. 11:7 (147)
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (v. 7). Gen. 6:13, 22; 7:1, 5, Matt. 24:38, Lk. 17:26, 2Pet. 2:5.
“As we have before pointed out, the first three verses of Heb. 11 are introductory, their design being to set forth the importance and excellency of faith. Then, in vv. 4–7, we have an outline of the life of faith: the beginning of it is seen in v. 4, the nature of what it consists in v. 5, a warning and encouragement is supplied in v. 6, and the end of it is shown in v. 7. Before bringing before us the glorious goal which the life of faith reaches, v. 7 gives us the other side of what was before us in v. 5: there we saw faith elevating above a world of death, carrying the heart of its favored possessor into Heaven. But we are still in the world, and that is the place of opposition, of danger, and hence, of testing. Thus in v. 7 we are not only shown what faith obtains, but how it obtains, it.” Pink Arthur W.
- God’s dealings with Noah and the world in his time were plainly a sample, a type and pledge of His dealing with the world in all ages 2Peter 3:6, 7. Inasmuch as God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, He is also the Revenger of all who despise Him. In the destruction of the old world, God showed His displeasure against sin Job 22:15, 16; in the preservation of Noah, He made manifest the privileges of His own people 2Pet. 2:9.
- Let us turn back to Gen. 6:5–22. There we find unsparing Divine judgment announced (v. 13), a way of deliverance presented to one who had “found grace” in the Lord’s eyes (v. 14), faith’s obedience called for if escape was to be had from judgment (v. 14), the Divinely prescribed means to be used (v. 15); by employing those means deliverance was obtained.
- Now in like manner, a most solemn warning has been given us, an announcement of coming judgment: see 2Thess. 1:7, 8; 2Pet. 3:10–17.
- In order to be saved from the destructive power of sin, the ruinous allurements of the world, and the devouring assaults of Satan, we must tread the path of obedience to Christ Heb. 5:9, for only there do we escape these fatal foes. Let us prayerfully ponder Mk. 9:43–50; Lk. 14:26, 27, 33; Rom. 8:13; 1Cor. 9:27; Col. 3:5; Heb. 3:12, 14.
- “By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.” It shows that we have duties to perform on earth, and intimates how they are to be discharged—by faith, in the fear of God, implicitly obeying His commands. V. 5 shows us that by the exercise of faith our affections are elevated above the earth and set upon things above. V. 7 teaches us that our lives on earth are to be regulated by heavenly principles. The real Christian is a heavenly man living on earth as a heavenly man; he is governed by spiritual and Divine principles, and not by fleshly motives and worldly interests. The Christian performs many of the same deeds as the non-Christian does, yet with a far different object and aim. Looking at Eph. 5:22–24, 5:25–31, we see that in obeying the husband and loving the wife, we are obeying God.
- Unless our wills have been broken, unless our hearts have been brought into subjection to God, we have no scriptural warrant for concluding that He has begun a good work in us Phil. 1:6. “He that saith I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments…” 1Jn. 2:4. The only path which leads to heaven is that of walking in obedience to God’s commands.
