This morning, we took a look at Genesis 6. We had a very sobering look at the antediluvian people (those who lived before the Flood). We saw how Satan is able to corrupt good people.

Because we are made of flesh, he is able to tempt us with our own natural desires. God gave them to us, but Satan corrupts us with them.

On top of that, Satan uses time to his advantage, eating away at us until we give in. Fortunately, God has shortened our lifespans significantly to ease this difficulty.

Then Satan gets to our hearts using the people we love, especially our family, to tempt us and draw us away from God.

These tactics worked for him then, and they work just as well now. Satan was able to corrupt the whole world, except for one man.

This man, Noah, stood out because he was different. His life was so distinct that God spared him from the Flood. But how? And why? What made Noah so different?

“These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among those in his generations; Noah walked with God. And Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

Then God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and you shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and complete it to one cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

As for Me, behold I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall breathe its last. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.’

Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.” (Gen 6:9–22)

Of course, most of this text includes the description of the ark and how to build it, but there’s a lot here about Noah, too.

Commit to righteousness.

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among those in his generations.” (Gen 6:9)

God tells him something very similar in the next chapter:

“Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation.” (Gen 7:1)

Noah’s blameless righteousness resulted from his commitment to live right. He could have lived any way in the world, just like the people who surrounded him. Instead he chose to be different.

God doesn’t pick people to be righteous. He picks people who *are.

If you aren’t living right, God won’t make you—you have to make the decision yourself. For Noah, this had to be an insanely hard commitment. Imagine literally everyone in the world rejecting God. We struggle to stay faithful, and we have a room full of people we visit every week all of whom love God like we do! But Noah was flying solo.

What’s interesting to me is that God never praises Noah’s family. They don’t seem to be exceptional at all. Maybe they were and God just uses Noah to represent the whole family, but I still find it interesting.

Noah didn’t really care what anyone else thought. If he had, we wouldn’t know him. Instead, Noah by his righteousness condemned the world (Heb 11:7).

Commit to righteousness if you want to be like Noah.

Walk with God.

“Noah walked with God.” (Gen 6:9)

This phrase is only used of two people in the entire Bible. The other person was Noah’s great-grandfather, Enoch, whom he never got to meet.

“Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Gen 5:24)

Noah’s lifestyle could not be compared to anyone who lived during his lifetime, but only a man who had lived before him—a man whose legacy of holiness was practically legend.

Instead of trying to look like the celebrities or role models of the current time, we should try to look like the Man who lived before us. Jesus set the ultimate standard of holiness, goodness, and righteousness for us.

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1–2 CSB)

The Hebrews writer basically tells his audience (and us) to stop making excuses. If we can just focus on Jesus and what His life looked like, we’ll be able to make it through.

Noah walked with God because he knew that’s the kind of life he wanted to have and the kind of legacy he wanted to leave.

Walk with God if you want to be like Noah.

Listen to God.

“Then God said to Noah…” (Gen 6:13)

Notice then that God speaks to Noah. This is a simple observation, but Noah listened. How can Noah build the ark if he never hears the instructions God gives him?

God has given us all the knowledge we need. The more we consume it and fill our minds with it, the more we can accomplish.

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” (2 Pet 1:3–4 CSB)

Peter tells us God has given us all the relevant knowledge required for “life and godliness”. If we want to be different like Noah, God has already given us all the tools and information we need. Notice also what Peter says— “escaping the corruption that is in the world” —God has specifically given us the tools to avoid the corruption Satan wreaks upon us. We can make it through this life, if we listen.

The tools that God has provided for us, which allow us to escape from Satan’s tactics, are found in the knowledge of God. As we come to know God better, we can become more and more like Him, even “sharing in the divine nature” as Peter says.

All of this means we have to study the Scriptures and take them to heart. Listen to God if you want to be like Noah.

Trust God’s promises.

“But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.” (Gen 6:18)

Amid the details of God’s plans, He tells Noah that He intends to make a covenant with him after the Flood is over. This is the first time a covenant is mentioned, but it’s not really explained until chapter nine, so we’ll leave that discussion for later.

The point here is that God made promises to Noah and he trusted in them. The first is the promise of not-dying-in-the-Flood. The second is this promise of a covenant or a special relationship with God.

This is part of what the Hebrews writer later brings up from Noah’s story:

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Heb 11:6–7)

Noah is warned and he obeys, but also he trusts in the promises God made to him.

Do we? Do we trust God’s promises? Here’s one of those promises:

“For this corruptible must put on the incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the word that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.'” (1 Cor 15:53–54)

God has promised to deliver us not only from the corruption of sin, but also the corruption of our bodies through the resurrection. He has promised to exchange the corruptible, temptable bodies we have for ones which cannot be tempted nor give in to sin.

Do we remember those “exceeding great and precious promises” when we are struggling? God did not make us promises as a “carrot” or a motivation; He made them because He means them in love.

Trust God’s promises if you want to be like Noah.

Obey God.

“Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.” (Gen 6:22)

Here at the end of the chapter, Moses tells us that Noah obeyed God. He even goes so far as to say it twice, emphasizing that Noah’s obedience went toward everything God had said.

Noah took God’s entire message to heart. None of it seemed burdensome or outrageous to Noah—rather, all that God commanded him, “so he did.”

This is a separate point from listening to God because listening to God is far easier than the follow-through. We listen to God’s word at least when we come to the assembly and listen to the sermon, but when do we obey it?

Noah has a limited window in which he can obey, and he knows exactly how long it’s going to be. This task God gives him isn’t a weekend project. It will take tremendous time, especially if he’s working alone for much of it.

Yet Noah takes it all to heart and obeys every detail, even the ones he might not ‘get’.

What do we do when we don’t understand? Usually, we wait around to figure it out first before deciding to obey it. Maybe God didn’t really mean that? Maybe there’s a better explanation than I’ve heard before!