Noah and Us

Chapter five of Genesis gives a typically brief overview of Adam and Eve’s descendants. Such brevity is a characteristic of the Biblical writers because God gives the reader only what is necessary to eventually come to faith in Christ. For example, John tells us at the end of his gospel: (John 21:25) “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”

So, as I read this short text in Genesis five, please pay attention to Noah’s genealogy as it begins in verse 28: (Genesis 5:28-32) “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and became the father of [Noah] . . . 30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. 32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

To summarize: Noah’s father – Lamech – had other sons and daughters. That means Noah had brothers and sisters. Furthermore, while we know Noah and his wife had three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) that information in and of itself doesn't necessarily mean they didn’t have any other children. And while I agree it’s unwise to argue a point from silence – it is because the biblical writers often gave us only that information God deemed necessary for us to know, I think it’s possible – even likely – that Noah and his wife had other children besides the three mentioned.

I titled today’s message, “Noah and Us,” and I hope to make two important points today about the man. The first revolves around his worship. The second, around his fall. Each point should speak to each of our hearts.

First: Noah’s worship. In telling the story, I think Moses purposely slows the reader down so we do not miss the point of that altar

Genesis 7:17-24 – “Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth . . . 19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered . . . 21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.”

We move now to chapter eight: But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided . . . . 4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible. Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.”

At this point, Noah sent out a raven to determine if the ground was yet dry. Then he sent a dove. After the second time he released the dove, it returned with a freshly picked olive leaf. Noah waited another week before sending the dove once again, and a short time later, God told Noah it was time to leave the Ark with his family and all the animals.

Now, verse 20 of chapter eight: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

As I said last week, Noah and his family lost everything they had. More to the point, they lost everyone they loved – their siblings, their cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors. They might have even lost their other children who persistently and obstinately refused to bow their knee to their Creator during the multiple decades Noah preached and pleaded with all of them to repent. And many of us understand their heartache because we ALSO have preached and pleaded with our loved ones who still remain outside the Ark of Christ.  

It’d been about a year since the floodwaters destroyed everyone they cared about. And if you think after a year that Noah no longer grieved the massive loss of life – and especially of his family and friends – then it is likely you’ve never lost someone you love. Grief like that goes on and on and on. For years.

But – and this is the point I want us ALL to catch – when the grieving Noah left the Ark – what was the first thing he did? He built an altar and he worshiped.

We must not read this story too quickly because if we do, we will surely miss the anguish, the despondency, the heart-wrenching misery of the man. But what he did next should speak volumes to us about faith. Noah built an altar. And he worshiped.

When I reflected on these passages in preparation for my message, a few other names in Bible history came to mind – names of godly ones who exemplify this same kind of faith and devotion to God as Noah. Job is one of them. Listen to this text in the first chapter of that Old Testament book:

Job 1:13-21 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,   messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”  Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I read that slowly because we all need to feel – as best as it is possible to feel – what Job lost. All in the same day. One unthinkable tragedy after the other, without time to even catch his breath.

But listen to this next verse: “Through all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God.”

Oh! We’ve got to get this. Noah and Job were REAL people. People who lived in history. People with families, and friends. People with emotions of grief and love and fear. People just like you and me in this sanctuary.

Now listen to the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk. On the eve of the Babylonian invasion of Israel, an invasion which would result in the slaughter of untold multitudes of men, women, and children, the prophet wrote words that can only be described as utter submission to God:

(Habakkuk 3:16-18) “I heard, and my inward parts trembled. At the sound, my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones. And in my place I tremble because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us.”

But he continues: “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

In it all and through it all – “I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

How many times have you read through the Psalms and seen that same kind of faith expressed? Multiple times. How often have you read the last half of that 11th chapter of Hebrews and seen that same kind of expression of faith? Multiple times.

Noah, with a dagger still in his heart, still hearing in his memory the desperate cries for help after God closed the door of the Ark and the waters flooded around them – Noah did what many would call ‘lunacy.’ As soon as they left the Ark, he worshiped God.

Faith. Directed toward our Creator. Faith that He does all things well – even when we hate what has happened; Even when we cannot understand what has happened.

Faith – in many ways, the same kind of faith many of you have demonstrated when you lost people you loved. Instead of blaming God and walking away from Him – as MANY have done – here you are. And you should know that God is pleased that you are still here with Him.

I am encouraged by what St Peter wrote in his first epistle to those who were – at the time of his writing – enduring their own faith-testing struggles and suffering. I hope you also will be encouraged to keep on keeping on by what he wrote: (1 Peter 1:3-7)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us  . . . 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you . . . even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof [genuineness] of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

How often does God let tests enter our lives so that WE might know the ‘genuineness’ of our faith?  I think it happens more often than many of us realize.

Christian! Keep on keeping on. We’re not going to build an altar of stone, but we can build an altar in our minds, as St Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, and place ourselves on it as “a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

An altar in our mind which occupies the epicenter of our thoughts. An altar where we will worship even when we don’t understand what has happened – or like what has happened. An altar where we say with Job – even if we don’t at the moment ‘feel’ like saying it: The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

My self-allotted time for this message is coming to a close and before I end it I want to turn our attention if only for a short time to my second point about Noah. The first point centered on the altar he built. This one centers on his drunkenness. It is this point which acts like a kind of bookend to his devotion to God because as Noah was, so also are we. Noah loved the Lord, but he stumbled and fell into sin. And WE also love the Lord and, well . . .  you know the second part of that sentence.

Look with me at verses 20-21: “Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.  He drank of the wine and became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.”

It takes three years or so to plant a vineyard and be able to drink its fruit. That means it was three years since Noah and family left the Ark and built an altar to worship God. I think it’s very safe to assume Noah maintained his close relationship with God even to this point in the narrative. We find in Ezekiel that Noah was a righteous man (Ezekiel 14:14-20). And as we’ve already seen in this sermon series, God called Noah righteous in that 11th chapter of Hebrews.

If we think otherwise because of what Noah did – then what confidence can any of us have in our own salvation? How often have YOU sinned in the last 24 hours? Does that mean God has cast you aside?  Of course not. Your repentance always restores your relationship with God.

So, Noah got sloppy, falling down, shamelessly drunk and naked. We don’t know why he threw off his clothes. Maybe he vomited on them. Maybe the wine made him so warm that he wanted to cool off. But the point is, Noah sinned. Solomon wrote (Proverbs 20:1) “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” And St Paul lists drunkenness as one of the ‘deeds of the flesh’ which will lead a person to eternal damnation (Galatians 5:21)

Noah was an old man by this time. Six hundred years old. And one could flippantly say of the man – “He should have known better.”

Yes, one could say that. But we ought to be very careful because there’s not a Christian on this planet who doesn’t usually ‘know better’ when he or she falls into sin. Listen to this list of the deeds of the flesh that God warns us against in Paul’s letter to the CHRISTIANS at Galatia: (5:19-21) “Sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Do any of the sins in this list speak warning to our hearts? Sure, they do. And here is the point of application: Noah was an old man when he got falling-down drunk. And so please hear this: NO ONE in this sanctuary is ‘too old’ that Satan is done trying to tempt you to sin.

You and I MUST be ever on our guard against Satan’s subtle – and sometimes not-so-subtle – temptations to do what we ‘know better’ not to do. And we ought to often remind ourselves of the Lord Jesus’ warning to His disciples: (Mark 14:38) “Keep watching and praying, so that you will not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Noah found favor in God's eyes because of his FAITH – not because he was perfect. And you and I find favor in God's eyes because of our FAITH – not because we are perfect. And so we ought to often ask the Holy Spirit, in the midst of our imperfections, to continue working in us whatever is necessary to move us toward – as the writer to the Hebrews tells us (Hebrews 12:14) – to move us toward a maturing “sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.”

Noah worshipped God even while suffering unspeakable grief. And with God's help – so will we. But Noah also sinned against God. And so do we. Which is why we must daily seek the Holy Spirit to keep us vigilant against our own sin nature. St Paul’s counsel to the Christians at Rome is good counsel for us as well: (Romans 15:4) – “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Noah’s story is certainly a story of warning. But his story is also a story of hope. But that is not surprising, is it? God's word is always a source of warning to us – and it is always a source of hope.

Christian – get to know God's inerrant and infallible word better day by day.