Enoch or Noah? Part II

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:9

Just a few verses after reading about Enoch's walk with God, we read the aforementioned verse.

The story of Noah has become Sunday-schooled. We all conjure up pictures of felt boards, children's books, and even toys. The story has become about a faithful old man who seemingly has the giftings of Ace Ventura and Thomas Andrews (but with a much better outcome than the Titanic).

But there are a couple other verses that tell another story.

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:5-6

and

"if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others." II Peter 2:5

Please note the words "every inclination" and "was only evil all the time" in Genesis 6:5 above. Now things here on earth aren't exactly peachy keen, but that verse is harrowing! And though people were this way, Noah was blameless among them, and yet was a preacher to them. This reminds me a lot of Jesus in John 1:14:

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The thing that never makes the felt board is this. While Noah is hammering nails and building a giant sea-faring vessel (maybe the first one ever, which must have looked like a U.F.O. if it were) and warning people of rain (also the first mention ever which must have sounded like "the sky is falling!") he was also a preacher of righteousness to them. Yet, no one killed him! How? He must have been full of the truth of God's heart towards them, yet inviting and gracious to them. Begging them to come into the boat with him.

And when the rain starts falling and the springs of earth open up, and the door to the ark is shut, Noah hears his friends' gurgling last words. And certainly weeps.

This, though gruesome, should hint to us something. Though so much might be perishing all around us, are we full of both grace and truth towards all of those around us?

And there's another hint here too. Not much at all is written about Enoch's walk with God but so much is written about "righteous" Noah. Maybe that's a warning to us! Should we be much more concerned with living Noah-ly than Enoch-ly? Is the story of Noah the prescription to how to have the walk of Enoch?

The main point here is this. Of course we all want to have the kind of walk with God where we are "walking with Him" and He hates to see us taste death. But i believe God gives us the prescription to how that is walked out.

And it's not on the felt board.