By Faith, Noah built an Ark
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11:6-7)
To have a genuine relationship with God, one must have faith. There are two key beliefs that must be in a follower of God’s life. First, they must “believe that He exists.” If you want to speak and have a relationship with Him, you must first believe that He is real. Second, His followers must believe “that He rewards those who seek Him.” Now, faith is not motivated by what you can get from the relationship, but rather, being assured in God’s promises and character that He is loving and full of goodness, willingly giving out to His faithful followers. As Thomas Lea writes, “It would be foolish to look for a God who does not exist or for one who-if He did exist-would punish you if you found Him.”
Shifting from those key convictions about faith in God, verse 7 speaks about Noah, whose story is documented in Genesis 6 to Genesis 9. Mankind became progressively wicked to the point that God decided He would wipe them from the face of the earth with a flood. Yet, He saw that Noah was righteous and faithful to Him despite the wickedness around him. So, God warned Noah of the impending flood and gave him clear instructions on how to build the ark and fill it with his family and two of every creature on earth. The author of Hebrews shows that Noah was motivated by “godly fear,” and, having faith “about what was not yet seen…built an ark to deliver his family.” It took Noah around 70 years to build the ark. In that time span, those around him mocked and ridiculed him and his family. Yet, Noah and his family was vindicated, and the scoffers were “condemned.” Not only that, but by Noah’s faith, he “became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
There may be scoffers in the modern day that will bring ridicule upon you due to your belief in God. There are many in our world today that doubt God’s existence. Even today, Good Friday, there are many that believe that Jesus never existed or that He was not God. Yet, we should be motivated by the testimonies of these people in this chapter of Hebrews to hold fast to our faith in Him. Noah and his family were mocked constantly for 70 years. Yet, in the end, when the flood came, their perseverance and faith in the Lord was rewarded. May we be found faithful, and encourage one another to persevere in our faith and trust in the Lord, for He has rewarded us with salvation, and in the future, greater rewards in heaven forever and ever.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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