As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Luke 17:26–30
Because most of us learned the story of Noah and his fateful voyage before we could read it, we may think that we have learned all the lessons it has to teach us. Let’s just see.
From the days of Noah we learn that God is always faithful to keep His word. Even at this early point in the Biblical record, we see a trend emerging: man is seldom faithful to God for long. When God said that He would destroy man and beast and fowl with a flood (Genesis 6:7, 17), He was true to His word (7:23), and when God said that He would save Noah, He was faithful (6:18; 7:23). Peter says that this teaches us that God knows how to deliver the godly in the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:5–9). When God makes a promise, He always keeps it. His promise never again to destroy the earth with a flood has been honored for more than 4,000 years in spite of all the atrocities that man has wrought, and the bow in the clouds still testifies to the fact that God is still keeping His promises. When we see the colorful arches with which our Creator paints the sky, we should also be reminded that there is another promise He is just as sure to keep––namely, that He will judge the world in righteousness (2 Peter 3:4–10).
From the days of Noah we learn about God’s deliverance of the faithful. No matter how moral or upright we may be, our salvation still requires the God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8–9), grace which Noah found in the only place we can find it––“in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Noah could be faithful and obedient and provide labor for building the ark, but most of the things required for his salvation had to come from God, including everything from revelation of His plan to the water that lifted the ark “above the earth” (Genesis 7:17; cf. 1 Peter 3:21). Deliverance also requires a working faith, the faith by which Noah built and stocked the ark for its long journey (Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 6:21). The ark itself stands as a symbol of sanctification, for it was God’s designated place for the saved. There were no saved people anywhere on earth outside the ark, and it was not because of the craftsmanship put into it, but the fact that it was built by God’s instructions (Genesis 6:22).
From the days of Noah we learn that even the faithful will stumble. The Bible tells us that Noah was “a just man and perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9), and yet we read of the incident in which he drank himself out of coherency and lay shamefully exposed in his tent. This ought to be a reminder that we too can fall (1 Corinthians 10:11–13) and need to keep our bodies in subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27).
God is longsuffering and merciful, but He will keep His word and will not restrain His wrath forever. We must be faithful and prepare for the Judgment that is coming. Are you ready?