Rest and comfort
The name Noah means "Sabbath, "rest," and "comfort" and demonstrates how the man of God Noah is someone who appears in the end times in which the godly descendants who lives in a world abounding with iniquity earnestly longs for God’s comfort and provides rest.
Finding "favor" and "walking" with God
During the days of Noah, there was not one godly person except for Noah and his family. Likewise, God will seek out the godly during the ungodly times of the end. Like Noah, we must also find “favor” in God’s eyes so that we may stand before the son of Man. “Favor” in Hebrew is מצה (matzah) which usually pairs with a word that means “to seek.” For the Bible states that those who “seek” the Lord God with all their hearts will find Him (Deut 4:29; Jer 29:13). Having found “favor” in the eyes of God implies that Noah had actively sought after God and it is in the eyes of God where favor is found. God specifies that He puts His eyes, ears and name in the sanctuary. Therefore, Noah had actively sought for the favor of God in His house. Likewise as we come to the house of God and worship Him, we are seeking favor in His eyes (2 Chron 7:16). Secondly, Noah walked with God. The word “walked” is written in the imperfect tense implying it was ongoing. Therefore Noah who lived during times of great darkness actively yearned for God’s grace and sought God’s favor and delved into the Word of God to get to know Him. Likewise we need to actively seek God’s grace especially in the times in which we live.
The world just before the flood
According to the Word of God, during the days of Noah, God looked upon the earth and saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen 6:5). There were thoughts of the flesh, corruption, sin, violence and the heart of God was grieved (Gen 6:1-13). Finally, God had enough and said He would bring judgment upon the earth (Gen 6:7). Noah received God’s Word and was the only who knew the end was coming with the flood and the only one whom God found blameless in his time (Gen 6:9). There was not one person who received Noah’s message of warning as the truth. Only he along with his family was saved (2 Pet 2:5). Likewise, we who are living in the end times must prepare and keep sober in spirit and fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ and overcome (1 Pet 1:13).
How was Noah able to overcome in the end?
Noah out of reverence built the Ark of God after being warned about the corruption of his time (Gen 6:1-8). Secondly, Noah did not envy the prosperity of the wicked. God directed him to build the ark and God Himself supplied Noah with the precise instructions and design for the ark (Gen 6:14-16). And Noah out of reverence built the ark according to the plan that God had given him (Gen 6:22; 7:5). The word “reverence” describes a heart which, with fear and trembling, strives to obey God’s Word – God spoke this to Noah only once and he built and prepared the ark until the very end. Noah believed that it was man’s duty to revere God only and not sinners (Prov 23:17). The more Noah revered God, the more God poured His wisdom upon Noah so that he could complete the ark. Therefore, the more we revere God, the more we will increase in understanding. The Word of God says; “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psa 111:10). So in reality, the ark was the perfect manifestation of Noah’s faith and reverence for God. The greater one’s faith, the better the preparation.
Conclusion: After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons and commanded them to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth (Gen 9:1, 7). To be fruitful and multiply is called the blessing of the beginning. This is the same blessing that God blessed Adam with (Gen 1:28). God blessed Noah with the blessing of the beginning; thus the command and blessing to be fruitful and multiply was renewed in Noah’s time and remained effective in the new world after the flood. From the time of Noah, the world entered into the period of rest from God’s wrath. Now, true rest will be given through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:8). Therefore, like Noah, may we find the favor of God in these wicked times by seeking HIm through the Word of God, the History of Redemption and through prayer so that our Father will call us “righteous” and “blameless” in this time so that like Noah we may walk with God. Amen!
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