Genesis Chapters 6-9 Noah, A Righteous Man Who Walked With God
(Deep Dive Book-By-Book Journey Through The Bible)
Up to this point in Genesis, God created everything and proclaimed it all good. Then, Eve was tempted in the garden, and Adam joined her in disobedience. Because sin cannot be excused or ignored, God had to step in.
By the time Genesis chapter 6 comes along (approximately 2,000 years later) men and women have turned away from God and chosen the path of unrighteousness. They thought they could go on acting in any way they pleased. This attitude didn’t escape God’s attention. He said that every inclination (a person’s tendency or urge to act or feel a particular way) of the thoughts of men’s hearts were evil all the time. (Did you catch that? It wasn’t just their actions but their thoughts!)
So God made the decision that enough was enough. He chose to wipe every living thing from the face of the earth. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9).
Noah: A Righteous Man
More Questions Than Answers
As I read and reread the account of Noah, a few questions kept surfacing in my mind:
Why Noah? What was so special about him that God allowed him to survive the flood?
Was God playing favorites by choosing Noah and his family?
Was Noah the only one with faith? If so, why did God allow his family to join him?
What does it really mean to live a righteous life? Is it perfection?
What does it mean to walk with God?
Those are a few of the issues we are going to look at today as we study Noah, righteousness, and what it means to walk with God.
Who Was Noah?
Scripture gives us lots of facts about the life of Noah.
He was the son of Lamech; the 9th generation from Adam; a son, husband, and father; a carpenter, preacher, and farmer; a righteous man who walked closely with God; the man God chose to bring into the new world to continue the population; and a man who lived 950 years before he died.
Who Does God Say Noah Was?
All those things are important, but God sees us differently than the world sees us. Let’s take a look at who God said Noah was.
Righteous (Genesis 6:9, 7:1)
Obedient (Genesis 6:22, 7:5, 7:16)
A preacher (2 Peter 2:5)
A farmer (Genesis 9:20)
Favored (Genesis 6:8)
A holder of God’s covenant (promise) (Genesis 6:18)
Worthy of remembering (Genesis 8:1)
Imperfect (Genesis Chapter 9)
Faithful (Hebrews 10:38, 11:7)
Why Noah?
What was so special about Noah that God allowed him (and his immediate family) to survive the flood while the rest of the world perished? I think it can be summed up in his love for God, which was reflected in his fruits.
What Is Righteousness?
The Bible says Noah was a righteous man. But what does that mean? Reading about Noah’s life confused me because, like most Christians, I thought being righteous was walking the walk and talking the spiritual talk while operating my ministry. I thought it meant surrounding myself with like-minded believers while staying away from unbelievers. I thought the fruit of my righteousness was the number of souls I won for the kingdom of God. I thought obedience to my church was a reflection of my obedience to God.
None of that is true based on Noah’s life. Noah didn’t have a church building to attend. As far as his sphere of influence, Noah talked the talk of righteousness, but none of his friends, extended family, or neighbors listened. They went about their sinful pleasures instead of repenting. Noah didn’t have a big following for the messages God gave him.
So what does being righteous or righteous living really mean? How do we know if we or someone else is righteous? For clarification, I first turned to Strong’s Concordance. Righteousness: H6662; just and lawful. Frankly, I didn’t find that super helpful.
Next, I looked up the English definition. It said righteousness is the quality of being morally right. That helped a bit but not enough. Today, people on both sides of the abortion argument believe they are morally right. Obviously, both sides can’t be right, so righteousness has to be more than feeling right.
Then I began talking with God and randomly reading through Scripture as I pondered righteousness. His Spirit led me to Psalm 112 in my NIV Bible. Here I found that a righteous man is:
Upright (v4)
Gracious (v4)
Compassionate (v4)
Generous and lends freely (v5)
Conducts his affairs with discretion (v5)
Not easily shaken (v6)
Does not fear potential bad news (v7)
Keeps his heart fixed on the Lord (v7)
Trust the Lord (v7)
Sets his heart on spiritual things instead of carnal things (v8)
Uses his gifts to bless (v9)
A helper of anyone in need (v9)
As often happens, these verses brought to mind two things; the description of the Proverbs 31 woman, and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23).
The fruit of the Spirit must be in evidence in the life of a man of righteousness. These godly fruits are how we respond to life’s trials and tribulations. They are:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control
As you can see, I was wrong. The things I thought were righteousness were works-based. I forgot that out of our faith our works should flow. It’s so easy to fall into this trap when we think our works increase our faith, thus making us righteous. Seeing how these passages intertwined, I felt I finally had a clearer picture of the character and mindset of Noah.
What Is Obedience?
Noah wasn’t just righteous, he was obedient. Obedience to God is not the same thing as obedience to our government or boss.
Obedience to God is discovering what He desires us to do (knowledge), submitting to His will (surrender), then taking steps to act on it (moving forward). Obedience is done in faith. In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Neither Noah nor his family members were forced to do as God asked. They willingly chose to build the ark or share about God’s righteousness. Any of them could have walked away at any time. But none of them are recorded as doing so. Like Noah’s family, we have a choice to obey God or wander off the path and go our own way.
Was God Playing Favorites?
God called Noah favored (Genesis 6:8 NIV). Was God playing favorites by allowing only Noah and his family to survive the catastrophic worldwide flood? Absolutely not. Being favored is not the same as favoritism.
For Additional Reading: Does God Play Favorites?
The King James Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Grace: H2580 from H2603; graciousness, kindness, precious, well-favored, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.
God has never been a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11-16). That means God doesn’t play games, not even to pick a favorite. Instead, He watches, listens, and discerns the hearts of all men. He looks for a heart turned toward Him, as evidence by a life of righteousness and obedience. And that was the kind of man that Noah was. That is why he found favor with the Lord.
What About Faith?
We know Noah had faith because he was obedient to what God was asking. But if Noah was the only one with faith, why did God allow his family to join him? Did that mean they had faith too?
These questions were a bit harder for me to answer because the Scripture doesn’t explicitly say. So I had to use discernment and think biblically.
There is no way Noah built the ark alone. If you’ve ever built anything, you know that many jobs need two or more hands. Since everyone around Noah was evil, I’m sure none of them pitched in to help him. However, his family (Mrs. Noah, 3 sons, and their wives) would have pitched in.
I would guess that talking about God was a natural part of Noah’s speech since we can’t help but talk about what (and who) we love. It makes sense that Noah would naturally flow into telling (preaching) about God’s righteousness whenever he had a conversation with someone in the community.
There is no way his family could not have heard him speak of God day after day, which would have grown their faith. After all, faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).
In addition, I do not believe God would allow unbelievers or the faithless to board the ark and be a part of the new creation. God says who we surround ourselves with matters. We are to choose our companions wisely (1 Corinthians 15:33, Proverbs 12:26). Because God doesn’t contradict himself, I believe that as He was working to grow Noah’s fruits, God’s Holy Spirit was moving and growing godly fruit in Noah’s family as well.
Did God Use Noah Because He Was Perfect?
Perfection is not something we can obtain on this side of heaven. Being righteous and obedient doesn’t make us perfect or sinless. Only Jesus is perfect. Not once in the entire Bible does God say that He seeks perfection.
After the flood (chapter 9), God blessed Noah and his sons giving them additional commands and a promise (the rainbow!). Noah began to farm and grew a vineyard. One day, Noah overindulged, becoming drunk. Noah’s self-indulgence opened the door, and his son committed sin. Neither was perfect, yet, God chose to use both to fulfill His plan for humanity.
What Does It Mean To Walk With God?
Walking with God is a culmination of all the above. It starts in the heart (as a man thinks so is he). It is a mindset and lifestyle. It is when our thoughts are turned toward God continually. It is seeking to please God and making him our top priority no matter what anyone else does or says.
We cannot walk with God if we do not know Him. We cannot know Him if we do not surrender our desires for his desires. As we get to know Him, we fall deeper and deeper in love with Him, and our faith grows. Because our faith mixes with our love, we strive to obey Him. As a result, our fruits are godly and righteous, which is evident in our actions.
In Conclusion
God desires to use each of us to impact the world around us. Like Noah, we may have a mighty small following. It might mean standing alone facing ridicule and jeers. It might mean that what we heard God ask doesn't make a lick of sense to our human mind.
But if we learn nothing else from the life of Noah, I pray that we fully grasp how deep God’s love for us is. and that He seeks righteousness and obedience. Not perfection.
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