7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
7 By faith Noah,
Noah lived his life by faith because he took God at His word by building the ark in the desert with no indication of a flood (Ge 6–10). Noah walked with God (Ge 6:9).
being divinely warned of things not yet seen,
God spoke a warning to Noah about things unseen (He 11:1). The flood was not apparent to Noah yet or to anyone else.
moved with godly fear [reverence],
“Fear” here is not slavish fear but reverential awe. Noah moved on what God said with respect for His word.
prepared an ark for the saving of his household,
Noah took God at His word by building an ark. He had no other basis for his actions than what God said.
by which [faith] he condemned the world
Noah’s salvation by the ark condemned the skepticism of the world at that time.
and became heir of the righteousness
He was right in God’s eyes (Ge 6:9; 7:1; Ezek 14:14, 20). Noah’s deliverance showed that he was a just man who lived by faith. Noah inherited “righteousness.”
which is according to faith.
Heirship is a consequence of walking by faith.
PRINCIPLE:
Genuine faith always produces something.
APPLICATION:
It is important to note that work is a product of faith (Eph 2:10; James 2). Faith is not a product of work. No one had built such a massive ark as Noah’s before him. It was a great step of faith for him to undertake such a project, to build an ocean-going vessel in the desert. It took 100 years to construct this ship. We can imagine the number of skeptics who ridiculed him during this time. For a person with no shipbuilding experience, this was quite a step of faith. This vessel was 438 feet long, 73 feet wide, and 44 feet high. Noah believed God’s covenant with him (Ge 6:18).
Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pe 2:5). His building the ark by faith was a great sermon.
