Noah: A Covenant With HumanitySample

Righteous in His Time

While many Christians consider God’s promises to Adam as the first covenant (Genesis 3:15), Jews believe God’s promises to Noah is the first covenant because it is the first time the word brit (“covenant”) appears in the Bible. This raises the question: Why Noah? Why was he spared from the flood that destroyed all humanity and nearly every other living creature? Did you ever consider that every person alive today owes his or her life to Noah? It’s true! He is the second father of us all.

What was so special about Noah that he was given this tremendous privilege and significant position?

The Bible gives us the answer. In Genesis 6, we learn the human race had become utterly corrupt and evil. We further learn of God’s plans to destroy humanity—except for Noah: "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (v.8). The Bible tells us, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (v.9).

Noah was different from the rest of his generation. In a world of depravity, Noah was a beacon of righteousness. He resisted the culture of his time and remained steadfast to what was right and moral. No wonder God chose Noah to “establish my covenant with you...” (v.18).

Despite appearances, Noah might not have been so righteous himself. Based on the words “among the people of his time,” it’s argued that had Noah lived in a different time, such as Abraham’s generation, he would not have been considered particularly righteous. Yet, relative to the society in which Noah lived, he was the most righteous man alive.

Yet, despite these shortcomings, we find some remarkable behavior on Noah’s part. Noah was completely obedient to all God told him to do—an obedience that spanned decades. When Noah is first mentioned in the Bible, he was 500 years old (Genesis 5:32); he was 600 years old when the rains began (Genesis 7:6; 11). During those years, Noah built the ark exactly as God instructed, gathered all the animals and birds, and took his whole family into the ark, just as “the Lord commanded him” (Genesis 7:5).

Noah is commended for his faithfulness and righteousness elsewhere in the Bible. In the book of Ezekiel, as God was telling the prophet Ezekiel of the certainty of His judgment against Jerusalem, God said, “even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 14:14).

In the Christian Bible, Noah takes his place among the great heroes of faith in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith” (v. 7).

Noah had an unbreakable bond with God and an unwavering faith in Him. For that, Noah was chosen—chosen to enter into covenant with God, chosen to create a world founded upon righteousness, justice, and morality.