The Righteousness of Noah

October 7, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 6; 8:19 Lesson Passage: Genesis 6:9b – 22 The multiplication of mankind upon the face of the earth should have been a glorious development. This was the original plan of God for mankind. This plan was supposed to unfold with man as he was created: in God’s image, after God’s likeness, and holy. If mankind had multiplied and spread across the face of the earth in this state, then the whole earth would have been filed with God’s glory. God could look at the physical world and see a reflection of Himself! However, when sin entered the world, it brought corruption and violence with it. As mankind began to multiply upon the earth, the corruption and violence multiplied as well. It continued until God had had enough of it. God declared that He was going to destroy all living creatures on the earth that breathed air. This included mankind, animals that walked upon the ground, and birds that flew in the air. Then came one of the most profound statements in the Old Testament: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Immediately after the statement, there are three reasons given for Noah’s standing with God. Noah was a righteous man. Noah was blameless in his time. Noah walked with God. Because of this, God granted that Noah would be allowed to know about His plan for the world. God talked with Noah and shared it with him. God was going to destroy the earth’s air-breathing creatures, but He was going to preserve Noah and his family and repopulate the earth through them. God gave Noah the plans on how to build a ship with three decks. The ship would be made waterproof and it would be used to house Noah and his family along with pairs of animals that also would be spared destruction by the flood waters that God was going to use to purge the earth. As God had caused the animals to come to Adam to be named, God would now cause pairs of animals to come to Noah to be saved from the punishing flood that was to come. Note that, Noah did not wait for impending doom to approach before he decided to have a right relationship with God. Noah was in right relationship with God before the impending doom arose. Noah had walked with God before and now God was going to preserve him and his family from the destruction. Noah was called blameless in his generation. This is noteworthy because it suggests that perhaps there is something “relative” about how we can assess our own character. I am not evaluated based on how those who lived a hundred years before me were, and if Jesus tarries, nor will those who shall live a hundred years after me, be evaluated based on how I live. This is not to say that right is not “absolutely” right. It is. There is a vast difference in how one’s public actions are viewed today versus how those same actions might have been looked upon a hundred years ago. In either timeframe, it takes a great amount of effort on the part of an individual to be different, in a positive way, from their peer group. This is observable at all times—especially in young people. No matter the upbringing, the pressure to conform to the general consensus of one’s peer group is very strong among peers. As humans, we strive for acceptance by other people. The surest way to be accepted—or, at the least, to be treated as such—is through conformance. Noah’s relationship with God made him stand out from the other people of his generation. Because of this, when they were destroyed, Noah was saved because he was in right standing with God. This was Noah’s righteousness. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018