NOAH’S FAULT
Isaiah 54:9: “To Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.”
Noah simply obeyed God and built a huge boat. No one had seen rain yet. God watered the earth with dew and underground springs.
God made rain fall that flooded the earth.
Why does God call the flood He caused the “waters of Noah?”
Genesis 6:9 says, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Compared to ALL the other people who were evil, Noah was the single exception.
How can God blame Noah for the flood?
Genesis 18:32 shows that Abraham was desperate to save people (Sodom) from destruction. He bargained with God down to as small a number as ten. For ten righteous people, God agreed not to destroy the city.
Let’s count Noah’s family: Noah is one. His three sons make four. Their wives make eight. God would generously have included Himself, bringing Noah’s total to nine. All Noah had to do is convince just one more person to believe in God, and the whole world would have been saved!
It took 120 years for Noah to complete the ark. God hoped for one more person to believe in Him. Noah built the ark in plain sight, using specific wood, cut to specific lengths. Didn’t one person wonder aloud, “Hey Noah, what the heck are you building?”
Did Noah ever feel love and compassion for others, like Abraham did? Why didn’t he satisfy the curious with answers to why he’s building this gigantic boat? “Let me tell you about God’s great love for you!” Can we believe that during those 120 years, Noah couldn’t have turned one heart to God?
We’re disciplined to remain focused until we complete a task. But was Noah’s focus selfish (smugness?) only for his family’s safety? How many opportunities did he miss answering people’s questions with God’s love for them?
Noah was righteous, but he wasn’t right.
Noah’s focus was only vertical—his relationship with God. He totally ignored the horizontal focus to demonstrate God’s love to the people around him. Believers’ job is to shine Christ’s light for all the world to see.
Apparently, the flood was Noah’s fault!
Take Home Nugget
Noah’s rationalization that he’s too shy won’t cut it.
Every person is responsible. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Believers are righteous through Christ, but we’re also salt and light to the world. Who is far from God that we can show His love?
Adapted from “The Waters of Noah” by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. November 4, 2016. www.HolyLandMoments.com
J.D. Griffith
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