Noah and the Obedience of Faith
Hebrews 11:7
We come in our study of Hebrews to the eleventh chapter and the seventh verse. You might turn to that and at the same time stick something in the sixth chapter of Genesis because you're going to be going back and forth tonight.
James said, "Faith without works is dead." And what he means to say by that is that true faith always has actions to support its claim. James talks in the second chapter about the man who says - Oh yes, I believe, I believe, I believe - but there doesn't seem to be anything happening in his life to support the genuineness of his so-called faith. And so James says faith in order to be valid visibly must radiate itself in certain deeds. If you really believe God then there will be evidence of it in the way you live. The things you say and the things you do. And that's what he means when he says faith without works is dead.
Now the Bible has always, everywhere, taught that there's only one way to God and that way is by faith. And yet the Bible says a lot about works. Some people have become confused and then determined that you get to God by doing works because the Bible talks about being good and not sinning and being obedient and loving your neighbor and so forth and so on. But what the Bible is saying is that you come to God by faith. And then the genuineness of your faith is established in the eyes of the world by the goodness of your life which verifies the fact that you do believe. No man comes to God by works but all men who truly come to God will give evidence of the faith that they have by the things that they do. And that's the distinction. No man reaches God by good works, nobody is good enough. But works will always be a result of having come to God.
The Apostle Paul simply put it this way, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation." Old things are passed away and all things become new. A change takes place so that his faith becomes evidential in the kind of life that he lives.
Now in Hebrews chapter 11 we have the great examples of faith. And in all of the cases of Hebrews 11 there genuine faith was made known by something that they did. Faith in itself is such a fragile, almost ethereal commodity that its only visibility comes in works and deeds that are done. If I say that I believe, you cannot verify the genuineness of that unless you see something going on in my life that indicates that I, in fact, do trust God. And so in the book of Hebrews in the eleventh chapter when all the heroes of faith are listed here in this most marvelous chapter, and there's just one after the other through the whole chapter, we find that all of them are tied together with something they did in their life that showed that they really believed God. Faith without works is dead, it is indeterminate, it cannot be discerned.
Now in the book of Hebrews this chapter on faith fits in a very important place. At the time that the Holy Spirit wrote the book of Hebrews, Judaism had deteriorated into a works system almost entirely. Judaism in its true character had always been faith. Even in the Old Testament men came to God by faith. But they had begun to confuse it, even as men have in this day and age. And we have all kinds of things under Christianity that are nothing but self-righteous work systems, legalism. But in Judaism the same thing happened. What began as a faith operation deteriorated into a system of works. Why? Because man began to seek his own glory. And in coming to God by faith there's no glory for me. But in establishing a system of self-righteousness man got the glory. And so man's desire for glorification of self twisted Judaism into a works system, just as it has done to Christianity. And you have all kinds of Christian churches today and the people in them and the preachers in them have no connection with God whatsoever but are busy trying to please God on the basis of certain good deeds.
Now in the case of the book of Hebrews the Jews to whom the writer wrote had been in the traditional Judaism bag, and that they had been tied in to the works system. The leadership of Israel was based on legalism, ritualism. They were all going about to establish their own righteousness, as Paul says. They were all going about doing good deeds and thinking that God was keeping score and the goodies out-weighed the baddies and therefore God was happy. They were all busy conforming to rules. They would strain at a gnat, Jesus said, and swallow a camel. In other words, they would make great issue over little tiny nit-picky things and then they would swallow some giant kind of thing that was a moral issue. The same group that wouldn't break sticks on the Sabbath would execute the Messiah. And that shows the distinction. They thought it was a no-no to take some kind of manual effort on the Sabbath, they had no problem killing their own Messiah. They were real good on the little tiny rules, they were terrible on the moral value judgments.
And so Judaism had deteriorated into a system of works. And God hated it as He hates every system of works because it replaces Him with men. As I told you a few weeks ago, we all know that in the beginning God created man and we also know that man since has returned Him the favor. He has created himself into God. Now the whole system of works, reigns kind of in the background in the book of Hebrews. Because in the book of Hebrews the Holy Spirit is saying you must take that old system and set it aside. The whole covenant as good as it was, not only the deteriorated one but the real one, the good one that God gave is set aside now in Christ. He says that Christ is a better priest, with a better priesthood, who mediates a better covenant, who made a better sacrifice, whose blood is full, final and complete and He goes all the way through Hebrews to show how the new covenant in Jesus is better than all the old.
Now He knows also that it's not just enough to present the new covenant in Christ, He must also show them how they can come into the new covenant. They're going to say - Oh, that's fine, I like that new covenant, how do I get into it? There aren't any sacrifices to make, there's no temple to go to, there's no laws to obey of an external nature, there's no ritual connected to it, how do I get into it? And so at the end of chapter 10 verse 38 He says; "Now the just shall live by ... what?...faith." So He says the way that you come and take this wonderful salvation in Christ. the way that you make it your own is not by doing anything it's only by believing. It's only by faith. It's only by saying God, I believe You are, I believe You are a rewarder of them that seek you, I believe the only way I can seek you and find you is through Christ, I come on that basis. That's faith. And He says the just shall live by faith. That's the premise upon which a man enters the new covenant.
But what's so interesting about this is that's a quote out of Habakkuk which is one of their old prophets. That's the same principle of the Old Testament, even in the Old Testament the true saints lived by faith. But they had so long ago forgotten the concepts of faith that He takes the eleventh chapter, forty verses to re-explain faith as a subject to them.
You say - But these were religious people - they knew the old covenant. Yes, but it had gotten so twisted into a works system that they had forgotten the basis of faith. And so for Him to say that the just shall by faith, wouldn't be enough - they'd all say Oh, yeah, faith .... faith ... I remember that word. You see, that was something that had been set aside in a very real sense. And so He must then stop and totally define the theme of faith which He does in chapter 11. And this is the theme of the eleventh chapter - a definition of faith.
Now it's important, as I say, first of all because they had forgotten it. And they had been moving around in a works righteousness system. It's also important for Him to talk about faith the way He does because the Jews were always afraid of something new invading the sacredness of their traditional religion.
Now you know the Jews are very traditional people. The orthodox Jews today do essentially the very same thing they did way - way back, even before Jesus Christ. They hold with tenacity to tradition. And for somebody to come along like the Apostles of the New Testament and announce this was a scary thing. Because it threatened the solidity of their tradition. And that's why they got mad at Jesus and that's why they got mad at Stephen and that's why they got mad at Peter and John and that's why they got mad at Paul. And they accused everyone of them of bringing in something new. And so the genius of the Spirit of God presents faith as a commodity and then defines faith in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, completely without ever using a New Testament person. He goes right through the heroes of the Old Testament and says Look, people, this is nothing new. You see the genius of it? He goes from Abel right on out the other end and never talks about anybody but Old Testament characters that they all knew. It's nothing new, He is saying, this is what God intended all along was faith. Let me redefine it so you'll understand what it is you're supposed to be doing.
And so the new covenant is not teaching something new, faith has always been the only way to God. The people in the Old Testament believed God, it says of Abraham he believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. All the Old Testament people listed in chapter 1.1, it says by faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham, by faith, by faith, by faith, and He is just saying this is always the way it's always been. And so it's nothing new. It's nothing new. But it needs to be redefined because they have long ago forgotten it and drifted into a works system.
And He starts, you'll remember, with Abel in verse 4, with the life of faith. And really talks about the entrance into the life of faith. Then He moves to Enoch in verse 5 and talks about the walk of faith. Abel began by faith, Enoch did what? Continued by faith.
Then thirdly, and for tonight, He comes to Noah in verse 7. And Noah illustrates the work of faith. It may say the obedience of faith in the bulletin, either one. The work of faith - Abel is the life of faith, the beginning; Enoch is the walk of faith - the continuance; Noah is the work of faith - the obedience. It's the old song we're beginning to love around here, "Trust and Obey." Noah illustrates faith that is obedient. He is a classic of all classics of believing God. Of saying, I believe God and then doing something to prove it. His faith was not dead because it had works.
The record of Abel shows us the worship of God. The record of Enoch shows us the worship and the walk with God. And in Noah we see one who worshiped God, walked with God, and worked for God. So it just takes us another step. Progressive steps in the relationship of faith.
And it's kind of interesting that faith works that way. You've got to have worship before you can have walk, and you've got to have walk before you can have work. And that's how God has established it. That's the pattern that is divine.
So Noah takes us to the next step. Now in Genesis chapter 6 I want to read you one verse and then we'll go back to there in a minute, but verse 9 there, it says; "These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man. He was righteous." He was established righteous by faith. He was perfect in his generations and "Noah walked with God." He was righteous, it says, dikaios, it's translated just, it's the same word as righteous, the Greek is dikaios, Septuagint. He was righteous like Abel, watch it, he walked with God like Enoch, and he worked with God and that is his singular identity in the listing of Scripture. He was obedient.
I think some people get number one, they come to God by faith, some people get number two - for a while they walk with God. Then some people work for God. That's Noah. Some people believe a lot but don't do anything. Other people really believe God and they are committed to it.
I couldn't help but think of this, and I'm always listening for sermon illustrations, somebody said a preacher is the only person who can use everything he hears, either it's truth or it's an illustration of error. You know, but I was hearing an interview by a particular sports commentator who was interviewing one of the players on the Washington Redskins after the last victory over Dallas, and commenting on the coming Super Bowl, which is coming up next week, praise the Lord, it's at 12:30 ... not only for me but for you ... but commenting on the coming Super Bowl he asked a particular -lineman what he thought his chances were in the Super Bowl. This is what he said - he said, we believe that if we'll just do what Mr. Allen says we'll win. Now that's faith. You get out there in that little trench and you look at those eyes across that line and behind those eyes is 280 pounds of fury, and you just keep banging heads, and you just do what you're told to do, and you'll win. That man believes that. And that's faith. It's not only the faith that says - Yeah - but it's the faith that says - I'm going to get out there and attempt to do it. He's going to get into the battle.
Now the obedience of faith is just that. It's believing that if God says it, and you go do it you'll win. That's the obedience of faith. Now Noah's faith is stupendous. It is absolutely so far beyond the just human rationale that it doesn't even make sense to the normal mind. Unless a man knew God and had some kind of spiritual insights, he would be a blithering idiot to do what Noah did. I mean, he would be on the level of somebody who thinks he's a poached egg, like C. S. Lewis said, he wouldn't have enough sense to come in out of the rain to do a dumb thing like this. I mean, I've driven down Balboa Boulevard many times and seen that giant boat in somebody's backyard there and thought that about the poor guy who lives there. What is he doing building that monster in his backyard? But to imagine what Noah did because God told him what was going to happen when he couldn't see anything past his own trust is absolutely stupendous. He not only believed God - it would have been easy for Noah to say - Lord, I really trust You and believe You but I don't know... this is a little far out. He believed God to the point that he did what was totally irrational because God told him to do it.
Now there are three things in verse 7 that tell us Noah's faith was legitimate. Three great proofs of Noah's faith. One, he responded to God's word. That is always a characteristic of true faith. He responded to God's word. Number two, he rebuked the world. He was such a man of God that his life was a contrast. Three, he received God's righteousness. He responded to God's word, he rebuked the world, he received God's righteousness. And those are three classic indications of true faith. If you find somebody whose faith is real, he will - one, respond to God's word; two, live as a rebuke to the world; three, he will receive God's righteousness which comes to those who believe.
First of all, Noah's faith is valid because he responded to God's word, look at verse 7; "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not yet..not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." Stop there.
He believed God. So much so that he built an ark. Now it may have appeared on the surface to be somewhat foolhardy, and we all can imagine what went on with his neighbors and the laughing and all of that that was going on as he was out there building that thing. But God said to Noah - Noah, judgment is coming. I am going to destroy the world by water. You better build a boat. And you know what Noah did? He dropped everything and spent over a hundred years building a boat. Somewhere in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates River, miles of miles from any ocean, his whole life was one continued concentrated preparation for that which God said would happen. I don't know about you but after 70 or 80 years I'd begin to wonder. I would get a little old working on the same boat. But that's faith. Faith responds to God's word. You see, true faith doesn't question its obedience.
Now the choice is the same for every man, you may live as if the message of God was of little value or else you may live as if the message of God was of absolute importance, the most important thing in the world.
Now Noah was a man like we are, he had a lot of things to do to occupy his time and for him to give up his great gap of life and just spend his time building a boat took some kind of commitment. And it's very likely that he never even understood much about boats because he didn't live in an area where there were ships that went into the sea. But he listened to God and he spent his life obeying what God said. Isn't that amazing? It would have been one thing for him to run out and order the lumber, but it was something else to see him a hundred years later still putting the pitch on. I mean, I think some of us believe God and we run out and we start and then that's it. Never gets much past that. Noah did it and he continued.
Now you'll notice it says -"By faith, Noah being warned" ..and the terms, - of God, - do not appear in some of the best manuscripts, but certainly should be included if not in the manuscripts, in italics because obviously it was God that spoke, "He was warned of God of things not yet seen." That's the test of faith. What does verse 1 say faith is? The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things ... what? ... not seen. He didn't see any water. The Lord didn't rain on him a little bit for an afternoon so he'd get the feeling. He had no idea of what was going on. But it says he was moved with fear. You say - Aha, that's why he did it, God held a big stick over him, and said - You'd better do this or I'll let you have it. Not that. The word fear may give you an erroneous impression that Noah acted under the influence of fright, but the Greek word means to reverence. He did it because he reverenced God's word. And God told him to do it.
You know what the Bible says? God commands all men everywhere to do what? Repent. Some people believe that and they repent. Some people don't believe it. Noah believed God's word. Some of us as Christians hear the word of God - Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Some of us hear Jesus say - "And lo, I am with you always." Do we believe it? Do we believe we're adequate for every situation if we were obedient? Noah acted with pious care, that's what it means. Pious care, he treated the message of God with great reverence and he prepared the ark. And his faith was honored to the saving of his house. It wasn't only he but his wife and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their three wives; eight souls were saved.
Now let's look at this incident, going back to Genesis 6, and see some of the fascinating things that took place, Genesis, chapter 6 ... verse 14, we'll start. Listen to this: here's God's talk to Noah, He says - "Noah," verse 14, "make thee an ark," or a ship or a boat, "of gopher wood, rooms shalt thou make in the ark and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." Now there is a challenge to faith on an absolute unprecedented scale. I mean, what would you do if God told you to build a 20,000 ton ship in the middle of the wilderness? One of the greatest acts of faith in the history of the world was when Noah stretched out his arms and chopped down the first tree. What faith, or better yet when he picked up the tool to chop down the first tree. What faith!
Notice this, interesting footnote, the word pitch, there is much allegory and much symbolism in the ark, but here's a beautiful thought, the word pitch in Hebrew is exactly the same word as atonement. It can be translated atonement or pitch. Leviticus 17:11 might read this way, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, for I have given it to you upon the altar to be pitch for your souls for it is the blood that serves as pitch for the soul." Watch this, the ark was safety, the pitch kept the waters of judgment out. And the pitch in the life of the believer is the blood of Christ which secures us from any judgment. There can be no leaks in the ark because of the pitch, and the judgment of God can never touch the believer because the blood of Christ has sealed him from the flood of judgment. It's a great thought.
Look at verse 15; "And this is the fashion," God even gave him a verbal blueprint, "This is the fashion which thou shalt make of it. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits." And there's quite a bit of variation as to how much a cubit is, whether you're talking about a Jewish common cubit, or a little more sophisticated measurement or whether you're talking about a Babylonian cubit, and it goes everywhere from about 17.5 inches to perhaps 22, but let's stay at the lowest level so that we're being fair and assume that it probably was bigger. But anyway it says it would be 300 cubits, the breadth 50 cubits and the height 30 cubits. That would be 437.5 feet long, 72.90 feet wide, 43.75 feet high, or about 4 stories high. Since it had three decks it had a total deck area of approximately 95,700 square feet, that would be more than 20 standard basketball courts of deck space with a volume the size of one million three hundred and ninety six thousand cubic feet. That's a big ship. Its size puts it well in the category of large, steel, ocean-going vessels today in our modern world. And from the best we can tell it was sort of like a covered raft shaped like a coffin. A rather square and flat bottomed, apparently.
But it's interesting to study these dimensions. There was a lecture at Annapolis given by a particular naval instructor, and it was given to all of the admirals. And in this lecture these were some of the things that were brought out:
For centuries, the man said, men built ships in various proportions. But since British naval machinists found the formula for the battleship "Dreadnought" all naval construction follows the proportions of "Dreadnought" since they have been found to be scientifically perfect, so said the instructor. Then he said - The proportions of "Dreadnought" were exactly the same as the ark. So God knew how to build ships.
Can you imagine building this thing with no rudder and no power and no sail and no nothing? He had to trust God. Even when the flood came you couldn't go anywhere you wanted to go, you wouldn't know where to go anyway. And I've often thought to myself, - how fortunate that they landed on a flat spot on Ararat and not a slope, that would have been a mess in one area.
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