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"First, notice that in Noah's case FAITH WAS THE FIRST PRINCIPLE. The text begins, "By faith Noah." We shall have to speak about his fear—being "moved by fear"; we shall also remember his obedience, for he "prepared an ark to the saving of his house." But you must take distinct note that at the back of everything was his faith in God. His faith begat his fear: his faith and his fear produced his obedience. Nothing in Noah is held up before us as an example, but that which grew out of his faith" ~C.H. Spurgeon
The story of Noah's Ark is for many children, one of their first exposures to the Bible. When we were getting ready for the birth of my son, I do not think I can count on my fingers alone how many gifts we received with an image of Noah and his happy creatures sitting in that lovely large wooden boat.But in reality this story is not at all g-rated and the picture I posted in the top right corner is a very understated version of what this tragedy would have looked like.
"On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the Earth for forty days and forty nights." (Genesis 7:11) Scripture then continues to say, "Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark." (Genesis 7:23) All I could think of when I read this passage was how terrifying this would be. I had heard that water fell from the sky for forty days and forty nights but I had never realized that it was also coming from the ground. Everything is wiped out. All life on Earth is extinguished except for that of Noah, his family, and the creatures on the ark. This story describes a catastrophe beyond which we can even imagine.
Since I began reading the Bible a few weeks ago, I have thought back to all the times I was told that the God of the Old Testament was jealous and vengeful. But even after reading about the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden, the punishments endured by Cain, and the tragedy of The Great Flood...
I simply don't agree.
In the portions of Scripture that I have read so far, it is humanity that turns away from God, not God that turns away from humanity. In essence, we are choosing our fate. Our free will determines how our lives will change. Since Noah was righteous, God saved him, but when we veer off of that path, it is no longer up to God to save us. It is OUR choice.
God did not want Adam and Eve to suffer, they chose that when they took a bite of the Forbidden Fruit and did not take responsibility for their actions.
God did not want Cain to wander the world without Him, but Cain made that choice when he struck his own brother.
God was proud of his Creation until humanity turned away from Him completely, and by Him I do not just mean God in the personal sense, but God in the sense of all that is love and peace. "The Lords saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil at the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." (Genesis 6:5-6) Since according to the story, ALL humanity except for Noah was evil, it is much easier for us to understand why God takes such drastic measure. But again, it is important to note that it is humanity that guides God's decision through their actions. After all, Noah's goodness saved him. :)
After reading through Noah's epic tale several times, I began to search for sermons about these passages in order to draw the deeper meaning out of the story. My favorite sermon is by C.H. Spurgeon. (I have included a link below) I chose the quote at the top of the page because I agree that Faith is indeed the essence of this story. All that Noah did, he did out of Faith. IMMENSE Faith.
God tells Noah the exact specifications on how to build the ark. When the measurements are converted we find that the boat would have been truly massive. Anywhere from 450-515 ft long. Keep in mind that during Noah's time, men in Mesopotamia were still using wedges to split wood in two. This would have taken an incredibly long time, especially since the only help he had was from his family. Not to mention that everyone (including his family at first) must have thought he was completely insane.
Spurgeon brought up how people would have snickered behind his back and jeered at him. Despite all these obstacles Scripture says, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him." (Genesis 6:22) Once The Great Flood begins, Noah's family is shut up inside the boat with all of the strange and beautiful creatures inside for 150 days before settling upon a mountain top. It is another 40 days before Noah even dares to open a window to let out the raven to see if the waters have receded enough to reveal dry land and leave the ark. More weeks go by until he sends out a dove from the ark a second time and it returns with an olive leaf. (Aha! The symbol for peace..I get it now! :) )Even then he waits, sends it out a 3rd time, and the dove does not return for it has presumably found a home. Guess what he does then? He waits some more!
One can only imagine how terrified Noah and his family were after witnessing such a catastrophe. I don't blame him for waiting so long before stepping out of that boat. The inhabitants of the ark stayed on the boat for the better part of a year. It would have been an unimaginably dark and treacherous voyage, but when Noah steps out of the ark, a New Day begins. :)God makes a covenant with Noah saying, "Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the Earth." (Genesis 9:11) God places a rainbow in the sky as a beautiful sign of this promise.
But what is the significance of this flood? There are several stories dating from this same period in Mesopotamia which speak of a terrible flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh is but one of them. Scholars believe that there was indeed a great flood in this region at 9400 b.c. When the Earth's temperature rose the water from the Mediterranean flooded into the Dead Sea, forcing many to abandon their towns and homes. Perhaps this helped to develop the story of Noah, though it would have been told orally for thousands of years before finally being written down.
I think the deeper message is God baptizing the Earth. He is literally washing away the sins of humanity. Once he does this Noah and his family can begin a new life with God. In addition, Noah is held out to us as an example of Faith.
*I have included the links to a History channel documentary on Noah's ark and a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixga38W-_4k
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons36.ii.html
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