Hebrews 11:7 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.
It must have been a lonely scene when Noah took to the stage to preach his message of world destruction. If he were alive today, we would call him a fanatic. I’m certain that Twitter would have a field day mocking a madman building a boat in his backyard. To that was the fact that it had never rained before. No one even knew what Noah was talking about. The skies opening up was both an unknown and ridiculous proposition, but there stands Noah on his heap of discarded gopher wood scraps preaching the end of the world and calling them to repent and find a place in the ark. He has no followers besides his own family, which doesn’t make for a very attractive group. He’s telling them to prepare… …and by the way, you’ll have to share space with the animals. It’ll be mostly dark and filled with an oder of the worst kind, but you’ll be saved.
Noah builds the ark and then fills the open crevices with tar inside and out. He secures the boat as best he can seeing there is no reference to the longevity of his stay. All he knows is that God said build an ark and get inside. He’s moved with fear of all things. The entire idea is so foreign to our modern Christianity with all of it’s feel-good sermons and prosperity doctrines.
Crazy Noah! All that preaching about things that have never happened. He’s redundant. Peter said that he preached for 120 years while the ark was being prepared. That’s a long time not to have some other thought. You’d think Noah would get some new material. Why should we bring our families back, if we hear the same thing we heard last week? We need some innovation around here. How about current events or life applications? Don’t you think those subjects would benefit us more than the same old, worn out “God is coming soon” message?
I hope you are getting this: It’s foolish until it starts raining. Paul wrote: 1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The message of New Birth might sound nonsensical until the Trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise first. Being devoted to the church, worshiping, giving, sacrificing, prayer meetings, and obedience all sounds constricting until that Great and Terrible Day of the Lord come. As Noah believed in something not yet seen, so too we are moved to prepare our lives and families for the coming of the Lord.