If you would turn with me in your Bibles to the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, we are studying this great chapter on faith, this great chapter that points us to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ. And we look tonight at verse 7, which you can find on page 1007 in the pew Bibles.
There is a French phrase that is usually attributed to Louis XV. “Après moi, le déluge.” Translated into English, it’s, “After me, the deluge.” “After me, the flood.” It’s from the 18th century. It’s a phrase that actually still appears today in the headlines of French news articles. “After me, the flood.” And of course it’s an allusion to the Biblical flood that is recorded in Genesis 6-9, but it’s actually an expression of indifference or of apathy. “So what if we’re headed for disaster? I’m not going to be around to see it. Who cares what happens after I’m gone?” As the story goes, it was being described to Louis XV the centuries of success and opulence that had been enjoyed by the French aristocracy at the expense of the French people and the trouble that was sure to come in light of that. And yet for the king, it was, “Après moi, le déluge.” “After me, the flood.” So be it.
Well last week we talked about the way of the world. After the fall, the way of the world. After sin, Genesis 6:5, it was only evil all the time. But, as opposed to indifference, as opposed to apathy, what we find in this verse tonight in Hebrews 11:7 is that Noah lived by faith. And because he lived by faith, he took seriously the warning of God. He lived in reverent fear. And in so doing he condemned the world and “he became an heir of righteousness.” Last week, with Abel and Enoch, we saw a countercultural faith. Well tonight with Noah we’ll see a circumspect faith; it’s a faith that heeds the warnings of God. And to do that, we’ll notice two things that really lead to this type of life of reverence. Number one, the living God. and number two, a better possession. The living God and a better possession. Before we read this verse, let’s pray and ask God’s help.
Father, we come before Your Word this evening. We give You thanks for the ways in which we have already heard from You which we have been given the great privilege and blessing of bringing our prayers and praise before You. And as we hear Your Word again tonight, we ask that You would pierce through hard hearts. That we would not be indifferent or apathetic to Your Word, but that we would hear and heed the warning that we find even in this one verse. That we would hear and be moved to a reverent fear, not just because of what we find in the account of the flood but in what we find in Your salvation in Christ and Your love that knows no end. And so we pray that You would give us ears to hear, help us to see Jesus, and that we would be more like Him in everything we do. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Hebrews 11, verse 7:
“By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever.
First, the living God. And surely there is a gap, surely there is a gap between perception and reality when it comes to the story of Noah. Noah is family friendly, after all. Isn’t he? In 2024, Noah was the second most popular baby name for boys in the United States, just behind Liam and right ahead of Oliver in case you were wondering. And it’s been that way for years. In fact, Noah was the most popular boy name in the United States from 2013 to 2016. Why is that? Perhaps it’s because of what Noah’s name means in Hebrew. In Genesis 5:29 we’re told that his father “called his name Noah, saying, ‘Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.’” Noah’s name, you see, it means, “relief.” It means, “rest.” It is literally a comforting name. But Noah is family friendly in other ways as well. I can remember Noah’s floating zoo being in our book collection when our kids were toddlers. Then there’s a Melissa and Doug that makes a Noah’s ark wooden playset. And I’m sure somewhere around here it would not be all that hard to find a cute smocked dress or johnjohn with the animals and the ark and a rainbow on it. It just seems like, it seems like this has all the elements of a nice children’s story.
Except for the destruction. Except for the making an end of all flesh and the judgment of God that came upon the earth. You see, in reality, the story of Noah is terrifying. Verse 7 tells us that “Noah was warned by God concerning events as yet unseen.” Those events “as yet unseen” are described back in Genesis chapter 6 when the wickedness of man was great upon the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence.” And we know the story well. God told Noah to make an ark, to cover it with pitch. For He said, “Behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.” Now that is apocalyptic. It is catastrophic. It is basically a de-creation. And while Noah’s name might mean “comfort,” it was just for him. Because just as much as man’s depravity was intense and widespread and unthinkable, so also God’s judgment would be intense and widespread and unthinkable. And, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
This is not a children’s bedtime story. No, it may even need to come with an explicit content warning. Because think about what we know about floods, torrential thunderstorms, hurricanes or tornadoes, a raging storm surge, a tsunami, landslides and massive erosions, trees that are snapped in half and uprooted, homes washed away, people screaming for help, dead bodies bloated and decomposing in the water. And the smell. The stench of death is what people say is the worst thing about floods. We have seen the footage. We have heard the story. But here’s the thing. Not Noah. There’s no way, as Noah was warned by God, we’re told that he was warned by God “concerning events as yet unseen.” There’s no way that Noah could have fully grasped the prospect of a flood covering the earth to destroy all flesh. There’s no way that Noah could have understood how an ark of such massive proportions could hold two of every animal according to their kind in order to keep them alive. And then to think that he would fill it with enough food for the animals and for his family so that they would be spared the judgment of God. Surely it would have all seemed so unbelievable. And yet, Genesis 6:22 tells us Noah did this. “He did all that God commanded him.”
Why? Because of faith. Because for Noah, faith in the Word of God about the judgment of God produced a reverent fear and an obedience to God. “In reverent fear,” the writer of Hebrews says in this verse, “In reverent fear, Noah constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” And we’re told, like Enoch that we saw last week, like Enoch, Noah also “walked with God.” Like Enoch, he knew God. He drew near to God in faith. Like Enoch, he believed that God is and that He rewards those who seek Him. And he took seriously the prospect of God’s judgment and he was moved with fear. He was moved with fear. And rightly so.
I think of the quote from Samuel Johnson in 1777 when William Dodd was sentenced to death for a loan scam. And Dodd, he sent in a written plea to the court that it seemed too well-written, it seemed too eloquent. Some people thought that Samuel Johnson had actually written the plea or the letter for William Dodd. And in fact, he had, except that he insisted that Dodd wrote it for a little while. And when someone expressed their doubts, when someone said to Johnson that Dodd could not have written this letter, Johnson said, “Why should you think so? Depend upon it, sir. When a man knows that he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
I think about the thief on the cross, one of the criminals crucified with Jesus. One of those criminals railed against Jesus and said, “If you are the Christ, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But what did the other man do? The other man rebuked him and the prospect of God’s judgment concentrated his mind you could say. And he said to his fellow criminal, “Do you not fear God?” And by faith, in reverent fear, he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” and Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” That was his salvation just as much as the ark was salvation for Noah.
And if we’re guilty of sometimes taming the story of Noah, the surely we’re also guilty of taming the cross as well. Dr. Thomas, who will be here in a few weeks for our Reformation service, he would say that jewelry and artwork of the cross, it might as well be jewelry and artwork of an electric chair or a lethal injection syringe because the cross is an instrument of execution. It is shocking and offensive in its method of torture and death. And more than that, more than just being an instrument of execution, the cross is the instrument of God’s judgment on Jesus.
And how did that prospect sit with Jesus? The prospect of God’s judgment for Jesus was terrifying. And in agony, He prayed. In agony, He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My will but Yours be done.” And in agony, with His sweat, it became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. But for Jesus, you see, there was no way out. Jesus took the judgment of God to the full. Jesus endured the flood of God’s wrath for sin on the cross. And you see, this is so much of what Hebrews is about. “So great a salvation” – that same word that we find here in verse 7 – salvation comes by faith in Jesus. Jesus is salvation from the judgment of God for all those who trust in Him. Don’t think that deliverance, don’t think that salvation is going to come any other way. Don’t think that if you go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth that you will be spared the judgment of God the writer of Hebrew says.
And Peter, in one of Peter’s letters, he makes this connection between the flood in Noah’s day and the fire on the last day. He says that the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished, but then he says, “But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” What’s Peter saying to us? What’s the writer of Hebrews saying to us? He’s saying to us that there is still a prospect of judgment. There is still a warning of events as yet unseen. “Hold fast the confession of our hope.” “Stir up one another to love and good deeds.” “Do not neglect to meet together and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” In other words, reverent fear, because “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Do you not fear God?
Two sermons. One is probably the most famous sermon in American history. It’s Jonathan Edwards’, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was that sermon, that at least on one occasion in 1741 when Edwards was preaching it, he was not able to finish because the crying and the weeping became so loud among the congregation. Here’s a sample of what Edwards said in that sermon. He says, “The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present. They increase more and more and rise higher and higher till an outlet is given. And the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course when once it is let loose. It is true that judgment against your evil works has not been executed. The floods of God’s vengeance has been withheld, but your guilt in the meantime is constantly increasing and you are, every day, treasuring up more wrath. The waters are constantly rising and waxing more and more mighty and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back that are unwilling to be stopped and press hard to go forward. If,” he says, “If God would only withdraw His hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open and the floods of the fierceness of the wrath of God would rush forth with inconceivable fury and come upon you this omnipotent power. And if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, it would do nothing to withstand or endure it.”
We can’t endure it. We can’t endure the judgment and wrath of God. But Christ did. Christ did in His death and in His resurrection, rising from the dead, rising through judgment so that in Him, and in Him alone is salvation. In Him alone is a better possession. That’s the second thing to see from this verse is a better possession. And Edwards preached another sermon. He preached another sermon that is not as famous as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” but it’s been called a worthy comparison. It’s been called a complimentary sermon to that sermon, and it’s called, “Heaven – A World of Charity or Love.” And I don’t know what the response was to that sermon when it was preached, but listen to a sample of what Edwards preached that day. He says, “Heaven is a world of love, for God is the fountain of love as the sun is the fountain of light. The glorious presence of God in heaven fills heaven with love as the sun placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day fills the world with light. God is love, and as He is an infinite being, He is an infinite fountain of love. As He is an all-sufficient being, He is an all-sufficient and full and overflowing and inexhaustible fountain of love. As He is an unchangeable and eternal being, He is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love. And His love flows out to His whole church there and to every individual member of it and they all, with one heart and one soul, unite in love to their common Redeemer.”
You see, two sermons and two sides to God’s salvation. And see, salvation from God’s judgment is salvation to God’s love and blessing forever. And we see something of that in the story of Noah. By faith, Noah, in reverent fear, constructed the ark. By faith, Noah became an heir of righteousness. Look at that last sentence in verse 7 again. It says, “By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” Now if we were to take that in a more literal translation it would be something like this – “And this, according to faith, of righteousness he became an heir.” Heir is the last word of the sentence. It’s there for emphasis. Heir is the last word on Noah in this brief summary on his life in Hebrews chapter 11. He became an heir.
What does that mean? It means that Noah is commended in the Scripture for his faith. Noah found favor or grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah believed and did what God commanded him and he and his family were saved, delivered from the flood, and God blessed Noah. God established His covenant with Noah in Genesis chapter 9. God is not ashamed to be called Noah’s God, and that means that Noah has a better possession. Hebrews 10:34 says to those who are going through reproach and affliction, those who were tempted to give up, it says, “You have a better possession and an abiding one. Do not throw away your confidence which has great reward.” You see, Noah is an example of someone who did just that. Who had faith. Who lived with reverent fear and obedience. And yes, he did that because he was warned about the judgment of God, but also because he had a better possession. By faith, he had the love of God. He had the blessing of God, the righteousness of God. He had God Himself as his eternal reward. He was an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith, “an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ,” we could say with Paul. He was brought in as the member of the household of God.
I don’t know about you, but I need this reminder because we can get so numbed to the way of the world around us, can’t we? It becomes easy to adjust our standards to that which is acceptable around us. We can all too often sink to the lowest common denominator. We mimic what we see and hear in others. And we can start to live like there’s nobody watching, nobody’s really paying attention. “Is obedience to God in this part of my life, is it really all that important? Isn’t it good enough to just be good enough, to just sort of coast along and to try to avoid any kind of major disaster?” And how easily are we influenced by the group that we spend time with – with how we walk, with what we watch, with what we wear, with how we spend our money?
But here’s another question – Do you not fear God? Do you not know that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? Do you not know that you have a better possession and an abiding one? And what our faith calls for, what our faith calls for is a reverent fear, to be circumspect, to be careful and diligent and steadfast in how we live our lives every day of our lives. Ephesians 5:15, “Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of your time because the days are evil.” First Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded, be watchful; your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him.” And Hebrews 12:28, this same word that we find, the same root word that we find to describe Noah says this to us, “Let us offer to God acceptable worship with” – what? “With reverence and awe.”
Which, by the way, is the same thing that we find with Jesus. The writer of Hebrews says that “in the days of iIs flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard” – and here’s the word again – “He was heard because of His reverence.” That’s what we’re called to. We’re called to a life of reverence, a life of devotion, a life of growing and nurturing the fruits of righteousness in our lives. That we are putting sin to death and living unto righteousness every day. That we do not become indifferent. That we don’t say like Louis XV, “After me, the flood. What happens is what happens.” No, we are examining ourselves, living circumspectly, and seeking to please and to honor God with a reverent fear and an obedience to His Word. And we can trust that God will preserve us to the end because this is the way that Jesus lived – with a reverent fear and an obedience to God, no matter the cost and the expense to Himself.
I recently read a book by one of my favorite writers. He’s an adventure and outdoor writer. And he was a climber for many years. In fact, he went around to each of the seven continents and he climbed the highest peak on each continent. And one of his last books was actually a book on a crime that happened in the mountains of Utah, but really it was a book about faith, an examination of faith. And he concluded it with some remarks about his own beliefs. He’s an agnostic. He says, “I don’t know if God exists. Although I confess that I sometimes pray in times of great fear or despair or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty.” And then these are the last words of the book. He says, “If I remain in the dark about our purpose here and the meaning of eternity I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths. Most of us fear death, most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here and why, which is to say most of us ache to know the love of our Creator, and we will no doubt fill that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive.” It’s an honest assessment, and yet heartbreaking at the same time.
And the writer of Hebrews would say, would say to us, “Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus who overcame the judgment of God. Look to Jesus who overcame the power and fear of death with His death and resurrection. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus because it is in Him that nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God our Creator. And hold onto your faith. Hold onto your faith like Noah, and like Noah, live in reverent fear and obedience to God.” May He help us do so.
Let’s pray.
Our Father, we come before You and we remember the words of Luther who says that we should not read and approach the story of Noah without trembling and tears in our eyes. And so we pray that You would give us, as we become perhaps casual with our own sin, with the decline in our own lifestyle of service to You, we ask that You would prick our hearts, prick our hearts, Father, that You would convict us again, that we would be aware of events as yet unseen, that we would live in reverent fear. But that we would do so knowing that we have a better possession, that we have Your love, Your infinite and unbounding love forever and ever. Would You help us to serve You and to live our lives for Your glory and by Your grace. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.