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They That Wait Upon The LORD: Part 1: Noah
"But they that wait upon the LORD
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall
run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint"
(Isaiah 40:31).
"That thou mayest walk in the way of good
men, and keep the paths of the righteous... He that walketh with wise men shall be
wise"
(Proverbs 2:20; 13:20).
by David Stewart
Preface
he days occurring
before the Second Coming of our LORD Jesus Christ are likened to the days of Noah. "And as it was in the days of
Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank,
they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into
the Ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26-27). The LORD Jesus Himself made this comparison.
"And here is the mind which hath wisdom" (Revelation 17:9). The Mind of Christ reveals circumstances
which we share with Brother Noah. The one circumstance that interests me at this
moment, is that of waiting "upon the LORD". "And it shall
be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save
us: this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His
Salvation" (Isaiah 25:9).
Noah's Long Wait
hen we read the Biblical account of "Noah and
the Ark", we have a tendency to glide over certain parts of the "story"
with too much familiarity. Our confidence level assures us that we know this one
"by heart". But in waiting for our LORD's call to "Come Up Hither"
(Revelation 4:1), the Holy Spirit guided me to the examples of Scripture's Mighty
Men of Renown, "these were the renowned
of the congregation" (Numbers 1:16), and
how the men of old demonstrated their great faith and love by works of waiting. Noah
is the first of these great men I am privileged to share with you.
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noe entered into the Ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away" (Matthew 24:37-39). The wicked "knew
not until the flood came". But how long
had Noah known? "And the LORD said, My
Spirit shall not always strive with man... yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty
years" (Genesis
6:3). "The longsuffering of God waited
in the days of Noah, while the Ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water" (1Peter 3:20). And
so, "by faith Noah, being warned of God
of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an Ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is by faith" (Hebrews 11:7).
So Noah knew he had 120 years to prepare his Ark. That's more than a lifetime to
most modern men. He had to wait for the LORD to fulfill His Word for more
than the length of time it takes us to be born and to die of old age! "Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt
thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. For evildoers
shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth" (Psalm 37:34,9).
That, by itself, shows what an amazing quality of perseverance this diligent man,
Noah, possessed! "Watching thereunto with
all perseverance" (Ephesians 6:18). "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule" (Proverbs 12:24). And did Noah "bear
rule"? He "prepared
an Ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world."
The Conditions of Noah's Wait
he length of time Noah had to wait for the LORD to
fulfill His Word could virtually, never be less time than what we would EVER have
to wait-- and yet, look at the conditions of Noah's waiting time.
Except for his immediate family:
And yet this man of God believed for 120 years
what God had told him, and "prepared an
Ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world"! I truly cannot imagine the strength of Godly character
that it must have taken-- in the face of both a ridiculing world and a never-before-or
again natural disaster of this magnitude-- for this man to say, "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told
me" (Acts 27:25). I stand in wonder of
what God is able to accomplish with a mere man who fully believes Him!
"But with thee will I establish My Covenant;
and thou shalt come into the Ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons'
wives with thee. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he" (Genesis 6:18,22). And so, the LORD "spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly" (2Peter 2:5).
Conclusion: "Walk in the Way of Good Men"
ow, I don't know about you, but I haven't really
WAITED for the LORD Jesus to come for me-- not compared to this example God has given
in the faithfully diligent servant and son, Noah. Wouldn't it be a credit to Noah's
testimony-- "They that be wise shall shine
as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness
as the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel
12:3)-- and our LORD's ability-- "But
we all... are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the LORD" (2Corinthians
3:18)-- if we would wait for the fulfillment of His Word to us, with even the very
tiniest measure of the faith it took to build an Ark and condemn the world? Wouldn't
Noah's reward be greater because of the help he was to us? Wouldn't there be praises
forevermore to the One we waited for?
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the Day Star arise in your hearts" (2Peter 1:19). "That
ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of
a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more
unto the Perfect Day. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your
souls" (Proverbs 4:18; 1Peter 1:9).
The Biblical Account of the "Watching and Waiting" Noah
Genesis 5
"28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat
a son: 29
And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work
and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30 And Lamech lived
after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
31 And
all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32 And Noah was five
hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth."
Genesis 6
"1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the
face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they
were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be
an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare
children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5 And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth,
and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the
fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the
eyes of the LORD. 9
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,
and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also
was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the
earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the
earth. 13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is
filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make
thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it
within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The
length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits,
and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt
thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof;
with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven;
and every thing that is in the earth shall die. 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt
come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19 And
of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,
to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of fowls after their kind,
and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind,
two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 21 And take thou unto thee
of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for
food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him,
so did he."
Genesis 7
"1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house
into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast
thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are
not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female;
to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the
earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will
I destroy from off the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded
him. 6
And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 7 And Noah went in,
and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of
the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls,
and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male
and the female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of
the flood were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second
month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the
earth forty days and forty nights. 13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and
Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with
them, into the ark; 14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their
kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every
fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh,
as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. 17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters
increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters
prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face
of the waters. 19
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that
were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains
were covered. 21
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils
was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance
was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the
creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth:
and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters
prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days."
Genesis 8
"1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all
the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth,
and the waters asswaged; 2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped,
and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually:
and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the ark rested
in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of
Ararat. 5
And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on
the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. 6 And it came to pass at the
end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: 7 And he sent forth
a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the
earth. 8
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the
face of the ground; 9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned
unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he
put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet
other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11 And the dove came in to
him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew
that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the
dove; which returned not again unto him any more. 13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year,
in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off
the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the
face of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day
of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou,
and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17 Bring forth with thee every
living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly
in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. 18 And Noah went forth, and
his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and
whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
20 And
Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every
clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the
imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any
more every thing living, as I have done. 22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold
and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Genesis 9
"1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon
the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every
moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given
you all things. 4
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your
blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it,
and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life
of man. 6
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God
made he man. 7
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply
therein. 8
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish
my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the
fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out
of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall
all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more
be a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I
make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual
generations: 13
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me
and the earth. 14
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall
be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to
destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that
I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of
all flesh that is upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant,
which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 18 And the sons of
Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the
father of Canaan. 19
These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20 And Noah began
to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent. 22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two
brethren without. 23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward,
and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger
son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be
his servant. 27
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall
be his servant. 28
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah
were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died."
.
Related Material:
Noah's Ark ---New Window
King James Version
by The Holy Spirit through Moses with notes by Katie Stewart
The Story of Noah's Ark, with illustrations.
The Earth was the highest "good" God could do for man in providing a
place for him to live. On this side of Heaven, the Earth shined as the most beautiful
"home" ever. It was absolute perfection-- until man sinned.
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