Acts for the Righteous

"Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.'" -Genesis 7.1

In this verse I find something that I have to wonder about. When I was a freshman in college my Old Testament professor made the comment about how God saved Noah's family for his sake. As a kid I used to get these Hannah-Barbara movies from the library about two archaeologists and their nomad friend who get sucked into a whirling pool of sand and find the door of time (that's pretty much the introduction to each movie) and they find themselves in various Bible stories. In one they stumble upon Noah building the ark. In the movie, Noah's sons are shown to be faithful and righteous people who fear God and seek to obey Him. The issue is, this isn't the idea given in the Biblical text.

Genesis 6.8 says that Noah found favor with God, and here in Genesis 7 it says you alone. Noah's sons may not have been righteous people, but because of their father's righteousness, they were spared from the destruction of the flood, and given a chance following the flood to live righteously. God is just, and He must deal with sin in order to be just. But God is merciful, and patient, and He extends mercy on behalf of the righteous. In Deuteronomy God says, "but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."

God acts for the righteous. He extends mercy on behalf of the righteous. He does not grant salvation on behalf of the righteous, the sinful, unrepentant, children of godly parents will not enter eternal paradise on their parent's faith. But God's blessing of protection, I believe, is extended to those children on behalf of their righteous parents. God saved Noah's sons from the flood, and from one of them came the line that lead to Christ and the salvation of the world.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Peace be with you

With You

"The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire," Deuteronomy 5.2-4

Moses is about to recount the Ten commandments to the nation of Israel, reminding them of the covenant God made with them at Mount Horeb. And he quickly reminds the people that this covenant was not made with their forefathers, but with them personally. God spoke with them, face to face, and made this covenant with them.

In Wild at Heart John Eldredge points out how even the best earthly father can only take his children so far in their journey with God. There comes a point where they must leave the father and pursue God on their own. They must develop their own relationship with Him and begin to hear Him speaking to them personally.

Here Moses is telling the people that they no longer depend on stories of Abraham's day that have been passed down for centuries. They have seen the power of God first hand as He brought them out of Egypt and guided them through the wilderness. But they have also heard directly from Him. They have been invited into something bigger by God Himself. God has spoken with them personally.

Men, God wants you to have a relationship with Him. Regardless of what your parents believe or taught you, God wants to speak with you and teach you. God wants you to be in a personal relationship with Him and learn to communicate with Him. There are things that He wants to teach you about Himself that you can learn no where else except from Him. Do you want a personal relationship with Him?

God desires for each of us to know Him personally. He seeks each of us directly and wants to take us deeper. Our faith must be more than our parent's faith.

Let us learn to hear from God and speak with Him. Let us realize that God wants something personal with each of us.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor