Every parent knows the word. It’s usually the very first question a child asks after being told to do something.
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
Now imagine God telling you to build a boat. Not a little fishing boat. A boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and three stories tall. On dry land. Nowhere near the water.
Your neighbors would have a few questions too.
That was Noah’s assignment. God told him a great flood was coming, and gave him detailed instructions for an ark: what kind of wood, how to seal it, how big to make it, where to put the door.
And here is what the Bible says about Noah’s response: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
Not some things. Not the parts that made sense. Everything.
He didn’t form a committee. He didn’t ask for an environmental impact study. He just picked up his tools and started building.
So, what is obedience? Obedience is doing what God asks before it makes sense.
For Noah, it didn’t make sense until the day the rain started. Then it made perfect sense.
Noah, his family, and a boatload of animals rode out the flood safe and dry. And when it was all over, God put a rainbow in the sky as a promise that He would never flood the whole earth again.
Is God asking you to build something in your life that doesn’t make sense right now? Grab your hammer. One day, you’ll understand why.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for Your instructions, even when I don’t understand them. Thank-you for giving me the obedience of Noah, so that I will do everything just as You command. Thank-you for the rainbow and every promise You keep. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Noah, Noah’s Ark, Genesis flood narrative
Look-It Up:
Noah’s story is told in Genesis 6–9.
Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
Free Bonus:
The Bible gives the ark’s dimensions as 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. A cubit is roughly the length of a man’s forearm, about 18 inches, which works out to about 450 by 75 by 45 feet.
Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (Genesis 7:6). So much for retirement.
Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch, who walked with God (see Pray 4 Daily Walks). Walking with God evidently ran in the family.
In 2016, a full-size replica of Noah’s Ark, the Ark Encounter, opened in Williamstown, Kentucky.