Keep Me Safe in the Hollow of Your Hand
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7
The Lord’s return may very well be right at the door. Of course, no one knows the day or hour, but we do know that prophetically there is nothing that needs to be fulfilled prior to His coming for His own.
The above verse tells us a few things about Noah. Warned of the coming destruction by the Lord; Noah believed Him and, acting in fear (reverence), built an ark at the Lord’s instruction which saved him and his family. By this one act, Noah condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness (right with God) that comes by faith (faith in the coming Redeemer). Genesis says “Noah walked with God.” What an affirmation of a godly life! That the Lord would say that of us is all we could ask or hope for in this life.
What was the condition of the hearts of men at the time? Genesis 6:5,7 says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” As an aside, if God had not done this, because of the increasing evil man would have destroyed himself over time. But here’s the good news: “But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord.” This is grace freely given by the Lord looking forward to what Christ would accomplish at the Cross.
It’s incredible if you think about Noah and the building of the ark. He is called a “Preacher of Righteousness.” It took 100 years to build this enormous vessel and the whole time Noah preached to all those that would listen of the coming flood and destruction of all life on earth. Some Bible scholars believe that in the 1600 years from the time of Adam to the flood there may have been some 300 million people on the earth at this time. Of course, no one knows, but with their long life spans it certainly is a possibility. There would have been those that completely ignored the message and went about their lives, laborers helping to build the ark, and those coming to see what they perceived as his foolish venture, probably with some even mocking him. In the end, not one person believed him outside of his family and all were destroyed. No, Not one person believed! Incredible!
Some have questioned the very existence of Noah saying it is an allegory. Admittedly, It is quite an incredible event and if Noah had not believed the Lord, all life on earth would have been destroyed. Jesus left no room for doubt when He, in confirming the existence of Noah and the flood, said this in Matthew 24:37,38 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” The inference here is that they went about their daily lives with no regard for the Lord or what was about to take place.
Does this sound familiar? The world continues on without a care for the Lord or for the end time prophecies whose fulfillment may be right at the door. The final judgment will come. We also know that those that believe in the Lord are never in the majority at any time in history. Though we are in the minority, like Noah, we rest in the knowledge that the Lord has spoken and we have heard His Word to us and are safe in His love. We are told in God’s Word that the world will not get better over time, but will continue its downward spiral.
We know that righteousness comes by faith. Faith in the shed blood of Christ. Noah looked forward to the Lord’s great work on the cross. Jesus is our ark so to speak …… our place of safety. We can rest in the knowledge that the Lord protects His own. Noah and the ark are a picture of those of us that are alive when the Lord comes for His church. All believers, at that time, will be taken out, or raptured (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), prior to the destruction that is prophesied before the Lord’s coming at the end of the age.
So like Noah, God has warned us of the coming destruction. We in fear (taking God at His word), build an ark of safety (place our faith in Jesus and His work at Calvary), which saves us from the judgment of God about to be poured out on the world. It’s interesting to note that when it was time for Noah to enter the ark, the Lord told him to come into the ark. By this we see that the Lord was in the ark first (come, instead of go into the ark), calling Noah to join Him in the ark of safety.
So we see that as we walk with God as he has called us to the safety of His grace, we are in His presence and protected from the destruction that will come upon the world.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27). Just as the ark was in the care of the everlasting arms as it was lifted by the floodwaters, we are protected by these same everlasting arms and they will lift us to safety when He returns for His own, or when we are at the end of our lives. Praise His Name for the Lord is good and His mercy and grace will bring us safely through the storm in His presence.
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