THE long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a pre-
We get a wonderful view of God’s attitude towards man in this passage of Scripture. It was while the ark was a preparing. During that deeply important and solemn period, God’s long-suffering waited upon man, ―waited in wondrous patience, unwilling to strike the blow of judgment. Let us look at the condition of things in those days; for “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Solemn fact this, and which upsets the idle notion that the world is getting better. The “as” and the “so” of Luke 17:2626And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. (Luke 17:26), to faith, prove beyond question that things are going from bad to worse, and that judgment is the only remedy.
What was the condition of the world then? Genesis 6 will furnish the reply. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (vs. 5). Solemn testimony this, borne by God. But more: “The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth” (vss. 11, 12). Such was the state of things; such was the condition of man. Could the Creator, the God of holiness and truth, tolerate such a state of things? Could He wink at the open violation of every law of nature, and the disregarding of His claims and authority? No. God must be God, though it be in awful judgment. “The Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God, that is holy, shall be sanctified in righteousness” (Isa. 5:1616But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. (Isaiah 5:16)). Amid that scene of sin and corruption God speaks: “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:33And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6:3)). Again: “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them: and, behold, I will destroy them with (from) the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher-wood” (vs. 13).
Here God speaks of four things, ―First, The end of all flesh had come before Him; second, The destructive judgment with which He would visit the earth; third, The ark of gopher wood, ―His gracious provision for the saving of Noah and his house; fourth, The period of long-suffering―a hundred and twenty years―during which He waited in wondrous patience upon an apostate and corrupt world. Noah begins to build, and with that commences the period of divine long-suffering. “God’s long-suffering waited... while the ark was a preparing.” Could anything be more solemn?
The first year of the hundred and twenty begins, and continues; Noah builds, God waits; Noah preaches, but not a soul turns to God. The second year, and the third, run their course, but not one penitential cry is heard throughout the whole world;
but still God waits on (and His long-suffering is salvation); Noah builds and preaches, but all in vain. Fifty years have passed,—fifty years of divine patience, and fifty years of ark building and preaching; but God waits in vain for one returning prodigal. “They eat, they drink, they marry wives, and are given in marriage,” but not one turns to God. Time rolls on, Noah builds still, his faith is strong in God, the ark rises in its dimensions. See the old man of nearly five hundred summers; see how he builds His sons, too, moved with the same fear, their faith strong in the message of judgment, build on with him. Hearken! The woods echo with the sound of the ax, and all is life and activity about that strange ship, built in the middle of the land. Each sound of the ax is but a testimony of the coming judgment; every freshly added plank, and every stroke of the workman’s hammer, are but proofs of the gathering storm.
Noah works on. But he not only bears a silent testimony, he also publicly declares the mind of God in reference to what is coming. He is a preacher of righteousness. He lays down his ax and hammer, and preaches to the gathered crowds. See the old man; look into his noble, earnest face; listen to his words, now pathetic enough to melt a heart of stone, now loud enough to awake the dead. He beseeches, he entreats, he implores, he expostulates; he reasons, he warns, he thunders, he denounces; he enforces the claims of God, he magnifies the creature’s responsibility, he spreads before them the awfulness of their sin; he proves to them that the earth is corrupted by them, yea, groans beneath the weight of their guilt, and that the cry for judgment is ever rising to the ears of the Judge of the universe. But all in vain. Not one heart is melted, not one tear is dropped, not one cry is heard, not one knee is bowed in repentance. God’s heart is not refreshed by the return of one prodigal. The people return to their sins and folly, and Noah to his building again.
One hundred years have gone by, and nineteen more besides, and seven days only are left of that period of divine long-suffering. The ark is finished. “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark: for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.... For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him” (chapter 7:1, 4, 5). Only a week, seven days, and God’s word shall be verified. The thought is overwhelming! There stands that ark, and eight souls therein, and the vast crowds of unbelievers and mockers without, for unbelief but hardens the former, the objects of divine favor; the latter, by their own sin, have fitted themselves for divine judgment.
Monday is gone by, also Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday’s sun has risen and set, and Saturday morning has broken forth as brightly as ever; the sun shines, the people awake but to renew their sin and shame; the warning note has ceased; they dream of peace and safety; their wise men have declared the folly of Noah; they speak of future prosperity, and of a golden age; they are rocked in the cradle of Satan’s lie. But the moment has arrived, the awful moment of divine vengeance. God stretches forth His hand, and closes the door of the ark. “And the Lord shut him in.” Ah, blessed place! Wonderful figure of Christ risen, in whom all believers are seen. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are IN Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)).
The awful moment has come; the objects of divine favor are safe; God’s long-suffering is exhausted; He has risen up to judgment; the day of grace is past; the moment of judgment has arrived. “Weep, O earth, for thy desolation shall come in one day;” and God, by judgment, shall rid Him of the stench of human iniquity! God stretches forth His hand and speaks the word, and “the fountains of the great deep are broken up, and the windows of heaven are opened,” and the two mighty forces meeting, overwhelm and engulf forever the guilty inhabitants of the earth.
It is done! “The Lord of hosts is exalted in judgment, and God, that is holy, is sanctified in righteousness.” “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the clays of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26-3026And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:26‑30)). “When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:33For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)).
Beloved reader, I beseech you to make sure of Christ (the ark of safety) now, and escape the awful judgment that is impending. Delay not, for the storm will soon break forth.
E. A.