Noah

Many Christians are getting wound up about the movie Noah. I have not seen it yet, so I will not comment on the movie. However, I presume that part of the problem is that most Christians are only familiar with Noah as a sweet children’s story about boats and rainbows. Very few Christians understand that Noah was a key player in God’s strategy to recapture the authority that had been stolen by the spiritual powers of evil. Noah’s life was a messy one, because he was caught up in massive spiritual struggle, at a time when the Holy Spirit was not able to come and live in those who were called by God. The rainbow covenant was a huge step forward in God’s strategy, and still is, but few of his people understand it.

Gods OT Strategy (10) - Noah

Noah was born just a few years after Enoch had prophesied. He was the first step in the fulfilment of Enoch’s prophecy. Enoch’s grandson Lamech was Noah’s father. He carried on the influence of Enoch and prophesied at Noah’s birth.

He named him Noah and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed” (Gen 5:29).

This prophecy seems trivial, but it released Noah into a prophetic ministry. It set Noah on track to fulfil the role that God had for him.

By the time of Noah was an adult, the situation on earth had become abysmal.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways (Gen 6:11-12).

The Hebrew word translated “corrupt” is “shachath”. This word is used through the record of Noah’s covenant. It means “destroy” or “ruin”. God looked upon the earth and saw that it was being ruined by the evil in human hearts.

Noah was also a prophet. Peter called him a preacher of righteousness, which is the same thing (2 Pet 2:5). His actions to build a boat were a prophecy of the flood, even when he did not speak. He had a family to protect him. Because he was building a crazy boat miles from the water, people did not harm him.