Hope Afloat (Hebrews 11:7)

So sings Bob Dylan. And so might also have sung Noah while faithfully working on the ark with the hope of saving his family from the day of judgement which “only the Lord could make.”

For Noah, the times they were about to change—from bad to good, from the old world to a whole new world, from hopelessness to hopeful. And faith in God’s word was key to his hope remaining afloat—literally. It still is.

Sometimes your life may feel like “the levee gonna break” or that it has already broken and the flood waters of grief, relational alienation, poverty, futility, societal declension, and other sorrows are drowning you in despair. But the story of God’s grace producing Noah’s faith serves us well to keep hope afloat while circumstances do their best to sink it. As we study this verse, and its context in Genesis 6–9, I trust that, like Noah, our hope will remain afloat as we believe the gospel promises of God.

The author’s pastoral intention is to encourage believers in the early church who were facing imminent destruction in their generation when King Jesus would bring destruction upon old covenant Israel and her unholy city, Jerusalem. But though the times they were a changing, better days are ahead. By faith they would experience these better days. But they must faithfully work. Brothers and sister, the same is true for you and me.

In the previous examples of faith in this chapter, we see faith worshipping (creation/Abel) and faith walking(Enoch). In the example of Abraham we see faith waiting. But in v. 7 we see the vital aspect of faith working.

Saving faith works. John Calvin famously said that we are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone. Never. Saving faith always manifests itself in works. Or as Alexander Maclaren has put it, “If faith has any reality in us at all, it works. If it has no effect it has no existence.”  Paul said it this way: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8–10).

The account of Noah building the ark is Exhibit A of this principle. Noah believed God and the proof was that he obeyed God. Because he believed “things not yet seen”—solely because God said so—he worked. He builtthe ark, he warned the world, and, ultimately, and most significantly, he saved his household. He made a difference—a history-shaping, hope-producing difference for the entire world. We are called to do the same.

The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. All the nations of the earth will be blessed. Jesus will save his people from their sins. The gates of hades will not prevail against the church. Godly families will be raised. But this will come by the sovereign grace of God through the means of faith working. Let’s see this. Let’s believe the Bible. Let’s take God at his word.

We can say that Noah had a faithful—faith-filled—hope. Consider several aspects of his faith.

There were many unprecedent aspects of Noah’s experience: The theological ideas of “grace” and “righteousness” occur for the first time in association with Noah. The declaration of worldwide judgement is associated with Noah. As is the rainbow. God’s rainbow. The forty days of torrential rains producing a worldwide flood was as unprecedented as was the building of the ark—150km from the sea!

The significant factor here is that Noah believed God’s word about “things not yet seen.” By anyone. But God’s word (“divinely warned”) was all that he needed. Bruce comments, “What is emphasized here is that when God announced that he would do something unprecedented in the experience of Noah and his contemporaries, Noah took him at his word.”

Our call to faith has the advantage of the precedence of Noah. We have far more evidence than he had. Think about our days: days of violence, unrestrained sexual activity, unnatural affections, hedonism. Yet, as in Noah’s day, these are also days of salvation amid God’s judgement (Romans 1:18ff). Like Noah, we have every reason to believe God. Take God at his word. He judges unbelievers while saving his people. Truly salvation comes through judgement.

Noah believed God’s word and therefore he paid attention to the details of the divine instruction. This is the idea behind the phrase “with reverent fear.” The word “constructed” carries the idea of preparing thoroughly.

God was specific both about the judgement to come and about the exact plans for the ark, the means of deliverance (Genesis 6:14–16). Noah followed the instructions (Genesis 6:22; 7:5). As Phillips observes, “There were two things Noah believed that were unseen: the great flood that God had promised and the salvation that would come by means of the ark. Noah had reverence for God, which led to his attentive care to the details of what God commanded.”

Noah persevered for decades building the ark—in spite of very dry and cloudless weather! Despite the scorn of the world. He laboured for perhaps 120 years on the ark and, by his labour, “condemned the world.” It has been said that Noah “condemned the world by his contrast” (Kendall). Yet since he is called a “herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) it is also clear that he also condemned the world by what he communicated. Noah really believed in the coming judgement

He was uncompromising in what he proclaimed and was uncompromising in what he produced: an ark exactly as he was commanded. He practised what he preached. He was uncompromising in both the message of his lips and in the manner of his life. His works gave credibility to his words. What a need there is for this in our day!

Christian, do you really believe the word of God about judgement? Do you see it in our culture (see Romans 1:18ff). Do you believe that everyone will give account to God (2 Corinthians 5:10)? People die and enter judgement (Hebrews 9:27). As someone has said, “this skin and bones is just a rental and no one gets out of here alive.” And yet people scoff. We should learn from Noah to uncompromisingly herald both the bad news and the good news. The unseen final judgement is real. Proclaim it. But do so while proclaiming the equal reality that Jesus saves.

Consider Kent Hughes’s penetrating question: “We must ask ourselves if we truly believe God’s word—that he is coming in judgement—if we do nothing to bring salvation to those around us.” Don’t be swayed by the scorners. As Alexander Maclaren so graphically put it in describing the unbelief of Noah’s contemporaries, “How their gibes and jests would die in their throats when [the flood waters] reached their lips.”

His faith may have been unprecedented, but it was not unreasonable. That is, Noah knew whom to fear and he knew what was at stake. You see, he acted “in reverent fear.” He knew that God would win—by love or by judgement—and he obeyed.

Noah was uncompromising, and therefore unapologetic, because, fundamentally, he was unashamed of the gospel. We see this in the words “he … became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

I don’t know how much of the gospel he understood. Certainly not as much as we do. And yet he believed the good news that God would save him, and all those who would enter God’s promised way of salvation: the ark. In a real sense, like Paul, he knew that that God’s good news of a way out of judgement was “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

Bear in mind that Hebrews 11 is a thoroughly Christ-centred chapter. The writer is seeking to exhort his readers to believe and to continue to believe in Christ. He does so here by referencing these Old Testament believers, who believed God’s promise of salvation and whole new world. Noah believed this because he “found favour in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). Hebrews 11:7 gives us a fuller understanding of this favour and we see that it was salvific favour, for we are told that he “became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” That is new covenant language (often used by Paul), which informs us that Noah was saved by grace through faith in God’s promised salvation. In some way, he believed in the promised seed, which he would actually carry on his boat!

Just as this original audience was to take seriously the words of Christ as proclaimed in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:37–44), so we are to believe his words. And, like Noah, our faith will empower us to do whatever else he says, regardless of how unprecedented it is.

We can raise children with a full-orbed God centred worldview. We can sacrificing our treasures our time for his kingdom. We can honour the Lord every day, including on the Lord’s Day. We can labour with unimpeachable integrity in the workplace. We can reject the sinful ways of culture.

Positively, we can be actively committed to doing whatever he says and believing whatever he tells us unashamedly and uncompromisingly.

There is no indication that Noah hesitated when it came to trusting God’s word—either concerning judgement or concerning salvation, especially the salvation of his household. There are a couple of very important matters here that we need to address.

First, the emphasis, whether in Genesis or in Hebrews, is with reference to Noah’s faith and the salvation of his family from God’s judgement. Leon Morris is correct when he writes, “The purpose of building the ark was ‘to save his family’ … from disaster…. Noah’s faith led to the preservation of his entire household during the flood.” Or as Marcus Dods translates, “By faith Noah, on being divinely warned of things as not yet seen, with reverential heed prepared an ark to save his household.”

We might say, “By faith Noah saved his family.” His faith was credible. His wife and sons believed his preaching. They believed his warning of judgement to come. There must have been something of the unseen about him. And this is to be assumed since, like Enoch, “Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

In fact, the “gospel” was in his in his backyard! With every tree he cut down, with every board he planed, with every gap he filled with pitch, he was preaching the gospel (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4–9; Ephesians 6:4). He believed with all his heart, with all his life, and therefore, thank God, with all his family.

Second, the timeline is very significant with reference to Noah and his family. Noah became a father at the age of 500 (Genesis 5:32). In Genesis 6:1–3, the Lord announced, through Noah,120 years before judgement. In Genesis 6:18, the Lord promised to save his entire family. The judgement of the flood occurred when he was 600 years old (Genesis 7:6).

This means that Noah began to father children twenty years after the announcement of divine judgement. One might question his wisdom, or even his decency. After all, why would you want to bring children into a world that was so corrupt and destined for certain destruction? Why take that chance? You might choose to have children in a world of woe if you had faith in God. And clearly Noah did.

He believed the promise of God about judgement but equally believed God concerning salvation. He did not believe that parenting was a coin-toss. He knew the promises of God and lived like he believed them. The result was that his household took his leadership seriously and were saved from destruction. His unambiguousfaith resulted in at least two positive things for his family.

First, his faith protected. His faithful response led to the deliverance of his family from destruction. “Noah’s moving with fear did not save millions or even thousands, but it did this: it saved his family. [This is] a remarkable accomplishment. When faith leads anyone to the “saving of his house,” it is very valuable indeed” (Kendall).

Fathers, do all you can to secure the salvation of your family. Noah no doubt had his faults but passivity was clearly not one of them. Fathers, and mothers, behave as though the salvation of your family depends upon you.

Fathers, as you obey God’s word, it will be revealed in how you raise your children. God’s law will be the law of your home in every area: sexuality; self-control; materialism; secularism; self-government; priorities; honesty; holiness; worship. Fathers, be fathers. Man up. Lead. Teach. Exemplify. Command. Instruct. Raise. Nurture.

There is a difference between being a good man and being good at being a man. Focus on the latter and you will excel above the sentimental notion of being merely a “good man,” as the world defines.

Noah was truly in the minority. In the midst of a corrupt age, in the midst of millions of people who were rejecting God and his word, he stood firm. He laboured on a project that seemed to be irrelevant. His contemporaries doubtless mocked him for wasting his time. “You could be doing something more constructive!” So they thought.

Hear the scoffers: “That Noah fellow is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” Or, “What a killjoy! All of this ‘judgement of God’ nonsense. Come on Noah, get with the times!”

Perhaps if there were ancient representatives of the “Greenies,” he was criticised for wasting the precious resource of trees. And what do you suppose the ungodly culture said of Noah’s children? “What a strange family—spending all of their time building this odd shaped boat. What weirdos. These three boys don’t join in with the habits and activities of our sons. They probably think they are so much better than us. Well, we will see. Our kids will be the successful ones and Noah’s sons will be the losers.”

Perhaps my imagination is running a bit. But these are the same kinds of criticisms that are lobbed today towards those who live for another world; a world that is unseen; one beyond the clouds and yet one more real than those clouds. Many criticise the committed Christian who prioritises the church. “What a waste,” many disparage, as you are criticised for supposed waste of time and money on the building of the local church.

Parents who teach their children the priority of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness are criticised and their children are sometimes shunned. But at the end of the day—through the door—Noah’s kids were saved—literally—while the children of the mockers were drowned. Looks like Noah was the winner after all.

Second, his faith produced. This record has a huge historical-redemptive context. The salvation of this family was essential for the preservation of the gospel promise of Genesis 3:15. For the promised seed to come required the preservation of the line of that seed. There had to be humans if there would be the God-Man. Therefore, there had to be the preservation of at least one family in order for the gospel to be preserved. In Genesis 9:1, 7 we see the significance as we read the instruction, repeated from Genesis 1, for Noah’s family to repopulate the earth. Noah was used by God to establish a whole new world.

We learn from this that, when God saves us, he has reasons that transcend our salvation. His saving us part of his overall plan to save all of his people. This is truly a “cosmic commission.” The church is deeply cosmic. We are called to be faithful where we are and the results, under God’s control, can spread far and wide or as close and near as he designs.

Children are still God’s good gifts. Brothers and sisters, be encouraged by this account of Noah that we are notbeing irresponsible to bring children into this world. His obedience put him in the position to become the head of all of those in the new world who would believe and be saved. He was the beginning of a new people of faith. His faith put him in the position of being at the head of a continuation of a people who believed God (see Genesis 5). The salvation of this family is the reason that there can be the salvation of your family.

Noah experienced a decreation followed by a new creation. This is precisely what the early new covenant church was about to experience. They would experience a decreation of their (Jewish) world followed by the commencement in a dramatic way of the new heavens and new earth. We live in this new creation, and yet we expect a fuller manifestation of it in space-time history, followed by its full and glorious manifestation when Jesus Christ returns. We are to live by faith in the light of this. We must work by faith in the building of the church. We must witness and warn by faith about the judgement to come. We must involve our family in this walk and work of faith.

The account of Noah is undeniably repeatable. It can be experienced again in our world.

The record of Noah is undeniable. The account is completely factual. How do we know? Because you are here today! Noah did live and did believe, and his family did believe him. They were fruitful and they did multiply and the result is that we are alive today. Be encouraged that such faith does make a difference. This is undeniable.

But though this account is unrepeatable in its historic uniqueness, nevertheless the faithfulness of both God and of Noah has been repeated ever since. God continues to be gracious to grant saving faith to his people.

Someone has commented that God saved Noah and his family by a “paltry piece of wood.” At the risk of allegorising, it must be said that, in a very real sense, this is still how God saves his people: by the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus died on a “paltry piece of wood” for those he came to save.

As with the ark, it is not the wood per se that saves, but rather faith in the God who has provided the appointed means. By faith they entered God’s appointed means of salvation from the flood. Likewise, we are saved by God’s appointed means of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ—by faith in the one who was on the cross.

Noah endured intense scorn and mocking as he laboured faithfully in a corrupt world. But that cannot even be compared to the scorn, mocking and hostility endured by the sinless Son of God. Jesus was not merely a herald of righteousness; he was righteousness incarnate. Yet he who faithfully lived a perfect life was despised and rejected by men even to the point of death by crucifixion.

Noah was favoured by God but rejected by men. Yet while Jesus hung on the cross he was rejected by bothman and God. For sinners. Rejected by the ones that he came to save and rejected by the one for whom he came to save. But, by his death on the cross, he secured eternal salvation for all who will believe God’s word about him. This is what this Hebrew audience needed to hear and to believe. And so do you.

Will you, like Noah so long ago, believe God’s gospel? If so, you will be a joint heir, not only with this great man of faith, but more importantly with the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to him today and, by faith, begin worshipping him. Continue walking with him in your commitment of working with and for him.

AMEN