The Bible Story Of Noah-Is It a Fable, Or A Picture Of The Future Judgment and Salvation Of God?

                                                                                         

True to the nature of the wisest of story tellers the Sovereign One, who is called Yahweh by the Hebrews, caused to be formulated in the ancient Scriptures a story that men of unbelieving hearts often refer to as something of a fairy tale.(Genesis 6:1—9:1) But to the believing, whose understanding as been opened, it can be a very revealing testimony of the judgment of God to come upon this world and the salvation offered to those that have set their hearts to believe and follow the one and only true Son of God: Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts 4:12) Can Christ and His salvation be seen in the ancient story of Noah and his family as they built a huge wooden box, (commonly referred to as “the Ark”, or “Noah's Ark”) that according to the Biblical account provided a means of salvation for themselves and assured the continuance of not only the human race but also the animals of the earth.

The Bible testifies that somewhere near 4,400 years ago men whom God had created began to multiply upon the face of the earth, and that these men instead of seeking the way of righteousness corrupted themselves so that the whole earth became filled with wickedness and violence. So much so that the Creator looked down from heaven and was sorry for man's presence on the earth, their wickedness and violence caused His heart to be filled with pain. Since the first man, whose name was Adam had introduced sin into the world, (Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12) sin had become the entire imagination of nearly all the men on the earth, which also served to corrupt the animal life that then existed on the earth. This saturation of the contamination of sin so filled the earth that Yahweh purposed to destroy nearly all flesh from off the surface of the world.

However, the Bible further testifies that Yahweh's favor (grace) was upon Noah, for Noah was a righteous man, a man of truth and integrity who walked with God. Therefore when Yahweh purposed to destroy the known world of that time (with the exception of Noah, his wife, their three sons, their wives, and a sampling of each kind of animal life) the Lord spoke to Noah, instructing him that he was to build a very huge box out of gopher wood, and to pitch this box both on the inside and the outside, for He was going to send a flood of water upon the earth. In those days the earth was mainly land and had very limited seas compared to the present day earth, and up to that time the indication of Scripture is that it had never rained upon the earth, but that a mist came up from the earth to water the earth. But Noah hearing the word of God believed, even though what was told him was way beyond his ability to understand according to his life's experiences. For picture it, Noah was told that he would need a boat to escape the destruction of a flood, when there were very few seas upon the earth, and it had never rained before this time. (Genesis 2:6) But God spoke and Noah believed.

Noah and his family went to work. They built this huge wooden box, (the Ark as it would come to be called) they provisioned it with food for the animals that were to be brought on board. Their labor in building the Ark served as a continuing testimony to the world around them that they believed God's word that judgment was coming. A judgment so severe and so complete that all flesh that did not enter into the safety of the Ark would be destroyed. I can not help but think that the manner of the lives of Noah and his family brought constant amusement to the the people of that day, in that Noah and His family feared God and were not carried away with the evil imaginations that the people around them were infested with. For the abiding attitude of Noah's day was every similar to the abiding attitude of many in this generation, and can be summed up in the phrase, “eat, drink and be merry”. For the men of that generation had no respect for the God of creation, that He owned the world, and that their sinful ways displeased Him.

In due time when the ark was completed Yahweh according to His unfathomable abilities instructed a sampling of every kind of animal life on the earth to go to Noah and enter the ark. The animals obeyed and then Yahweh told Noah that he and his family, (Noah's wife, their three sons, and and their three wives) were to enter into the ark. God closed the door. Then the fountains of the deep were opened and water came up from beneath the surface of the earth and the heavens were opened and it began to rain. (Genesis 7:11-12) It continued to rain for forty days and forty nights until ever living creature that breathed the breath of life was destroyed from off the face of the earth. But Noah and his family, and a sampling of the animals of the earth were safe. For they had obeyed the voice of Yahweh and had entered the ark. They, while in the Ark, road over the destruction that was the doom of all others who did not heed God's word and come into the Ark.

After nearly a year's time the water was abated sufficiently from the earth's surface that Yahweh spoke to Noah His servant and told him that He, his family and the animals could then leave the Ark, and that both he and his sons were to be fruitful and multiply to replenish the population of the earth, and that the animals were to do the same. It was at this time that Yahweh placed the rainbow in the sky as a continuing sign that there would never again be a flood upon the earth that would destroy everything.

As Noah was found to be righteous in his generation, a man of truth and integrity, in these last days Jesus of Nazareth has been found to be the man of ultimate righteousness, truth and integrity. A man that although living in the midst of a dark and vile world never once succumbed to sin, but was continually found sinless before the Father. (Hebrews 4:15) Therefore the grace of the Father was 100% completely upon Christ our Lord, thus He was given the Holy Spirit without measure, and thus He was given the task of being the builder of the means to escape the judgment of sin. This salvation is made available for all who believe His word and trust and follow Him. (Romans 10:13) Noah's Ark serves as a picture of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church is not a physical structure, but rather the co-op of all who have been called out of the world and into the faith of Jesus Christ. Yahweh had given Noah certain expressed directions on the size and style of the box he was to build. It was necessary for it to have adequate ability to house both the people being saved and a sampling of the animal life that was to be kept alive. How big is the “Ark” that Christ is preparing for the transporting of all that will be saved from the judgment to come? It is big enough. For the Lord knows every soul of man who will come into the fold and has made room for each one. There is room at the foot of the Cross for every soul of man who will humble himself and express his need for a Savior and place his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Noah's Ark floated until the waters were abated sufficiently, then Yahweh instructed him to leave the Ark. Christ's Ark (the Church) as been in existence now for something like 2,000 years, and it will continue to carry every soul of man who has made his abode in Christ Jesus until such time as we are deposited into a whole new area, where Christ Himself will bodily reign on the earth. It will be a time when the devil is held in captivity and is not free to tempt and deceive man. It will be a time when a child will die at a hundred years of age.(Isaiah 65:20) A time when the animals of the earth will not be corrupted by the sin of men and are themselves at peace so that the lion will lie down with the lamb, and a young child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6-7) It will be a time when men will no longer make make war on one another. (Isaiah 2:4)

But the fearful, the unbelieving, the vile, murders,sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall not have a part in this paradise, for they will ultimately be assigned an eternal place in the Lake Of Fire that was originally prepared for the Devil and his angels. (Revelations 21:8& Matthew 25:41)

I ask you reader, is your residency found in the Ark of Christ, the Church. Is the Lord Jesus and the people of faith your place of fellowship, or is your friendship with the world and its ways? Are you truly born again? Are you a Christian? Have you sold out everything, leaving the world and it's enticements behind you to place all your life and it's ambitions and treasures in the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you like unto the men of the generation of Noah who forsook the word of Yahweh to hold unto the world and its enticements that was then before them? I tell you, that this world and all its enticements will fade away, and only those that do the will of God will abide forever. Why is this so? Because the world and all of us belong to the Creator, and since He owns it, and us, He will rule everything at His pleasure, and His pleasure is to only include those that have been washed from their sin by Jesus Christ's atoning blood. There will be no wickedness in the world that is to come. So let each man turn from every form of wickedness. Let us turn from the enticement of allowing self to rule supreme in our lives, rather then the Lord. Let us say yes to the grace of God that would teach us to obey God's laws, abiding in Christ, in a pure and holy manner.


An American Watchman
Greg DeHart

About the author:
Gregory DeHart is a Bible teacher who sometimes writes under the pen name of Watchman. Gregory is the sponsor of http://AnAmericanWatchman.blogspot.com, a site dedicated to examining social issues and the preaching of righteousness, also of http://MarriageRevelations.blogspot.com, a site dedicated to the practical unfolding of the mystery revealed from the Bible of how marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church. For a Bible based perspective please feel welcome to visit our sites.


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