Noah challenges me. He went through a long and busy time of getting ready for the world’s destruction. To him, it was the end of the world, and there is no question that the world he knew was about to be altered beyond recognition.
Noah grew up in a near-perfect world, he had never seen drought or storms. Vegetation was lush, fresh water was always there, food was plentiful, and animals were probably still friendly to man. Oceans were not the dominant feature of the world they are today, the scenery was magnificent, and humanity was of incredible health and strength.
Noah faced two distinct trends of belief handed down through Cain and Abel, and they exist to our present day.
The first is belief is dependence on a God-given Sacrifice for eternal life; and God took the skins of innocent animals to make covering for the nakedness of Adam and Eve (See Genesis 3:21). It foreshadows Revelation 13:8 where John writes of “the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.”
The other distinct trend of belief is self-righteousness, commonly known as righteousness by works, and was demonstrated by Cain. He believed he was, in today’s vernacular, “a good bloke”, and I have no doubt he was. He worshipped and gave his offerings to the Lord (See Genesis 4). Tragically, by his own efforts, he believed he secured the Lord’s favour.
On the other hand, Abel knew he was a sinner and believed a Saviour would offer to die in his place and accept the blame for his, Abel’s, sin-infected nature. He offered the Lord a sacrifice as evidence of his belief that he was dependent on a life that would be offered in place of his own infected life.
Paul confirms Abel’s belief and said, “he [Jesus] was made sin for us…” (2nd Corinthians 5:21).
There are only two roads that matter and the first two brothers demonstrate a fork in the road. They made their offerings to God and their offerings demonstrated their beliefs. Cain offered the work of his own labour and Abel offered a sacrifice of a creature created by God. Cain’s offering was not accepted by God but Abel’s was.
Cain was angry about it and God asked him why. God said to him, “Why art thou wrath? … If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” (Genesis 4:4-7).
Cain remained furious, and he was so infuriated that when he and his brother were out in the field, he rose up and killed his brother, Abel.
So the first religious war was fought.
Abel’s belief was taken up by his younger brother, Seth, and for centuries, the world was carved into two camps of two distinctly opposing beliefs.
Eventually the two ideals began to meld, described as “the Sons of God marrying the daughters of men…” (See Genesis 6:2). In other words, true belief was compromised. Perhaps the descendants of Seth thought that if they could soften their beliefs a little, the two beliefs could integrate and they could all become one family again.
Perhaps the Sons of God began to believe that “being a good bloke” earned them the right to eternal life and they could earn the Lord’s favour by their good works.
Matthew 7:22-23 takes on reality when Jesus said many will come to him and claim they have done this and that, and many wonderful works, in his name.
The brothers demonstrate there is a fork in the road and the world is divided into two separate roads.
One is self-righteousness and it eventually leads to total destruction.
The other is that if anyone is to live through a time of total destruction, it is because he believes in the Lord’s sacrifice for him. If the Lord had not intervened, self-righteousness would have completely destroyed the belief that we need a Saviour.
In the time of Noah there were obviously two roads. One was a boat that you could choose to board. The other was to swim in your own strength.
The same question is asked of every person in every age, “Will you come on board?” There was no other way man could survive then, and there is no other way man can survive now. The alternative is total wipe-out.
God promised Noah, “with thee I will establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife, and thy son’s wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh…” (Genesis 6:18,19).
Will you come on board to come home?
Elizabeth Price
(To access the other parts of the “Homeward Bound” mini-series, please click here.)