“This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).
You might think he was the biggest failure of all evangelists who ever lived. Noah preached for 120 years and didn’t have even one convert (1 Peter 3:20). But the Bible lists him as one of the great characters of faith in history. This imperfect man was called “just” and “perfect” because he, like Enoch, “walked with God.”
Noah was the son of Lamech of the line of Seth. He was an ancestor of Jesus and a hero of faith who built the ark, which saved mankind from total destruction. His name means “rest” or “relief,” which stood in contrast to the violent and corrupt world in which he lived. As the righteous patriarchs began to die off, Noah stood alone as a man who believed God’s words.
The antediluvians had abundant evidence of God’s goodness in a world still mostly untouched by sin. These pre-flood giants had heard stories directly from Adam and his kin, but they turned away from their knowledge of God and toward their own pleasures.
The Lord chose Noah from among all others as the one to accomplish the great work of preparing the world for the coming destruction by water. A single verse captures his most admirable quality: “Thus Noah did; ac- cording to all that God commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:22). We measure a favourable outcome by facts, but God estimates success by faith.
The reason Noah was “perfect in his generations” is that he had un- swerving confidence in God’s word in an age of scepticism. His righteous- ness did not come by his own works, but through faith in the Lord’s word. If the entire world scoffed at your beliefs, would you follow the word of human beings or the Word of God?
Dear Lord, I believe in Your Word and will live by Your truth, no matter what the world may say.
