By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

Eight Sinners In A Boat

The flood was God’s wrath against the unrighteousness of a world seeded in iniquity and wickedness. Sin had so enveloped the world into spiritual darkness, the Creator regretted He had made man. In all the darkness of sin, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. By grace, the Lord told Noah that the world would be destroyed and to build an ark for the saving of his household. Noah, moved by godly fear, prepared the ark according to the pattern given to him by God. When the flood came upon the earth, only Noah and his family were saved. The water that destroyed everything with the breath of life saved those in the ark.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, God opened up the fountains of the great deep and unleashed the windows of heaven in a torrential fury of water. It rained for forty days and forty nights, and the water rose to more than twenty feet above the tallest mountain. All flesh died that moved on the earth: birds, cattle, beasts, every creeping thing, and every human perished in the flood. Noah and his family spent over a year in the ark before the ground dried, and they were able to leave.

God brought His wrath upon a wicked and depraved world. The cause of God’s wrath was sin, and His solution was global. However, the flood did not answer the problem of sin. The world had become so wicked that the longsuffering of God came to an end, and the Lord God killed every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth except Noah and his family. While the flood ravaged the earth, sin still ruled in the world. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but he still needed salvation. The eight souls on the ark needed the eternal grace of God to save them from their sins. They did not spend their time on the ark in a sinless state of perfection. Nothing is known about what happened during that time spent on the ark, but all men sin.

Noah built an altar when he got out of the ark, which was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord. He became a farmer and planted a vineyard. Then he made an intoxicating drink, and the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord lay drunk in his tent. Sin was still in the world. Ham sinned when he made sport of his father’s nakedness. Noah lived 950 years, and he sinned. Mrs. Noah lived many years and battled sin. Ham, Shem, Japheth, and their wives lived many years, and they sinned. Abraham came from the lineage of Shem – and he sinned.

The flood did not solve the problem with sin. It served as a means for history not to repeat itself. The eight souls in the ark were saved by the grace of God, who still needed the grace of God as they lived in the ark. Jesus Christ would come to be the answer to the works of the devil. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, salvation is found in the waters of baptism that serve as the antitype of God’s grace to Noah and his family. The waters of baptism will save those who obey the word of the Lord and, by virtue of the righteousness of God, condemn those who refuse. Those in the ark of safety (the church) are saved by grace but still need God’s grace to save them.

Noah and his family were saved through obedience, faith, works, grace, love, mercy, and a host of blessings from a loving God. The eight in the ark were sinners who were saved because they were found in the ark. Everyone needs to come to the grace of God and find salvation in the spiritual ark of the covenant of Christ. On the day of Pentecost, the Lord added to the church those who were saved. The church is the ark of safety, and there is only one ark. Those in the ark still need the grace of God. Thank God for His abundant mercy to save those who do not deserve it. Are you in the ark? When the door is closed, there is no hope.