2108AFC021921 – Noah Was a Carpenter
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Genesis 6:8 – 8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.
1 Peter 3:20b-21a – God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Now why would I write, “Noah was a carpenter” when everyone knows that?
I don’t know why that popped into my head. I was looking for an older post I had made, and I typed in the word Noah to see if it would highlight it as a misspelled word. It didn’t. As I looked at it, the rest of the sentence just flowed as I typed.
Noah was a carpenter.
I wonder if he knew that when he was growing up? More precisely he was a shipbuilder. Of course he couldn’t have known that because his was probably the first ship built. Based on the information we have from Genesis, it must have been a rough ride. Here’s some suggested reading from Ritchie’s Sermon Topics.
Coming Judgment Announced Genesis 6:12-13 – 12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
Noah believed the warning ~~ Hebrews 11:7 – 7 By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith.
Noah built the Ark according to God’s plan ~~ Genesis 6:14-16 – 14 Make yourself an ark of cypress [gopher] wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.
Noah and his family obeyed God’s Invitation to enter the Ark ~~ Genesis 7:1 – 1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.
Noah and his family were in God’s hand ~~ Genesis 6:17-18 – 17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
Despite what you saw in the movies, God shut the door BUT no one else could open it; yet, the Ark stayed afloat ~~ Genesis 7:16-18 – 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
God caused the floodwaters to retreat, and all who were Just reentered the World to worship him ~~ Genesis 8:18-22 – 18 So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 And every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out of the ark by families.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. 22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
To these I would add the following:
Jonah 3:9 – 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish. WE know, Belovéd, because we have the Words of everlasting Life.
The floods will never come again, but the next full-World destruction will come by fire ~~ See 2 Peter 3:5-10 – 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
Matthew 18:14 – 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. Every evil shall be destroyed. Every righteousness shall be preserved. (See John 10:28 below↓)
John 1:14 – 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. That is True Righteousness!
John 10:9 – 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the covenants God has made with his earthlings. The Ark carried the Just. The Gate opens the Way.
John 10:28 – 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. The World will be destroyed, but the Just shall not perish. Sound familiar? The Just were in the Ark, and only the Just were saved.
Romans 3:4 – 4 By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” (See Psalm51:4) Remember, we got into this mess because of a series of lies from that old liar and murderer, Satan.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 – 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. “All the faithful departed and those whose faith is known to you alone.”
Where he leads me, I will follow (↔ Music Link), because I know he’s coming back for us. Will I, will you, will we be ready, or will Christ find the World is as bad, or worse than, in Noah’s time? You and I know that we will joyfully, willingly, obediently wait for him because Every Day with Jesus is Sweeter than the day before (↔ Music Link). And you know what? When I’m that happy, I just can’t help but sing, because In My Heart There Rings a Melody. (↔ Music Link) And Why do I Sing About Jesus? (↔ Music Link) “S/he who sings gladly prays twice.” Just think how that Worship Service with Noah his family must have been! And it’s all because Noah did what God asked. He even made sure he had the plan right.
Noah did a little talking with the Lord when he first got the request. He seems to have felt he was not cut out for that kind of job. However, God knows better (of course!) and so God insists. Noah wisely obeys. A door is closed. A remnant is saved. The rest is amazing.
It makes me wonder: What does God want me to be if I grow up? How about you? Do you ever wonder about that? I hope so. It’s one of the gazillion ways God tries to get our attention, to get us thinking about things above instead of things here and elsewhere. As He did with Noah, when God really wants you to do something, God just won’t let it rest. I think that may be why we have the saying, “We are restless until we find our rest in God.” (Written by St. Augustine) Noah was a carpenter. Jesus was a Carpenter. Both of them cooperated with God and changed the world. “If I was a carpenter…” To tell you the truth, I’m terrible with carpentry tools. God gave me a way different toolbox. He won’t let me rest until I start using it. If I look at the tools He gave me, it’s pretty clear I’m not going to be building any arks. I’m going to be building something, though, that’s almost as big and complicated as an ark – at least that’s the way Noah and I both feel about it! And I’d best get on with it else I might find myself standing on the wrong side of the door with God patiently waiting for me to become favorable in his sight.
Please remember to pray for –
- Truth ~~ Almighty Everliving God, Lord of Hosts, We humbly ask you to grant us the Grace to seek Truth, to recognize it when we find it, the courage to embrace it wherever it is found, and the wisdom to exclude all else that is not Truth.
- In Jesus’ Precious Name. AMEN.
- Peace ~~ real and lasting peace – in our hearts and minds, in our homes, in our nation, in our world
- The Called ~~ like Noah – who can barely believe what God has chosen for them by gifting them with what it takes to do it
- Everyone ~~ who prays for you and everyone who asks for your prayers
- And – this is important – pray for and about YOU. You might be surprised by how attentive God can be. And when he calls, answer and rejoice. Maybe we might even sing a tune or two!
Thanks for everything! I love you. Make it a great day: Give it to God and see what He can do with it. You know, of course, God Will Take Care of You (↔ Music Link).
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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