NOAH OUR HERO

Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…
Understanding important truths
from the Bible….

NOAH OUR HERO

Genesis 6:8 NKJV

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
In this coming year it is my plan to read through the
Bible. My daily Bible reading schedule
is to take the total of pages in the Bible I use, divide that total by 360 and
then to read that many pages each day. I
hope you will join me in reading through the Scriptures this year. Your schedule may differ for there are many
yearly plans that you can use to be successful in completing this purpose.

My comments are reflections of my belief in the Scriptures
as the Word of God and my understanding of this book. I claim no special authority, originality, or
insight. What I write will be my
understanding of the Scriptures in the standing Reformed tradition and the
application of them to my life. I thank
you for any attention you choose to give this daily walk.

Noah is an extremely important person in the
Scriptures. We are first introduced to
him in Genesis 5:28. From that reference
through the remainder of the Bible he is continually given as a model of grace,
piety, and obedience. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel
write of Noah as a historic person and Ezekiel writes of him as a paragon of
virtue.

In the Genesis account there are three statements that
warrant special attention.
Genesis 6:8 – God’s electing grace is
extended to him and all that follows is an outworking of that grace. This grace is discriminating and
life-giving. Noah becomes an active
servant of God. In Hebrews, I
Peter, and II Peter, Noah is commended to us by his service. But this service must be understood in
the light of Genesis 6:8 and Hebrews 11:7; Grace which was followed by
faith in God.
Genesis 7:5 – The
activity, obedience, and commitment of Noah is summarized in this
statement. Though he was not
perfect he was thorough-going in his obedience. This was demonstrated by his building of
an ark. In the face of constant
opposition, in spite of no apparent need, and over a long period of time
he built an ark. He deserves any and
all the attention given him.
Genesis 7:6 – The
occupants of the ark were put there by God and enclosed at His
determination. All entered who God
intended. None entered whom God
shut out. Noah and his immediate
family were the only human occupants.
The seriousness of this is pressed upon us by looking at
Genesis 5:30-31. There is no choice left
but that Noah had brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and a vast number of
other near relatives who were outside.
While Noah and his family experienced deliverance the rest were shut
out.

We have no reason to assume all of these were outside of
God’s pardoning mercy. But we have no
assurance that any were believers in the true God. We do know it is the covenant God who shuts
the door, “the Lord shut the door”.

Hebrews 11:7 very plainly tells us what Noah’s successful
obedience was directed toward, “for the saving of his household.”

The example of Noah is there for all of us who have
families. A first object of faith,
should be directed to this primary concern, the salvation of our families.