What if Noah had Not Built the Ark?

“When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the LORD said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 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. Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” Genesis 6:1-8, 11-14

What if Noah had not built the ark? Well, that is a great question. From the story of Noah, we get the impression that if any ark was ever going to be built, then it had to be by Noah. He had a ringing endorsement from God. He’s described as a “Godly man”…“blameless among his contemporaries.” (Genesis 6:9)

Things on the planet had really gone off the rails by the time of Noah. G-d took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting — life itself was corrupt to the core. With the marriage of humans and “the sons of G-d” something terrible seemed to have been birthed. Humanity had gone beyond G-d’s intention for humans, but Noah and his family had maintained their faith and faithfulness in this new culture and new world order. In the scheme of things there was only one person God could relate to or confide in. And so “God said to Noah, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” And that was how instruction about building the famous ark came about.

So what would have happened if Noah hadn’t built that ark? Humanity would either continue to follow their wickedness, or they would have been wiped out completely. The world might have imploded under debauchery and Anarchy. The earth would know no good future. (myilluminare.com, What if Noah had not built the Ark?, Leke Alder, July 9, 2017)

G-d has the ability to see people for the gifts they have, not for the weaknesses that remain hidden or dormant until the call for action comes. We have seen the power of destruction that water can wreak this past week from the images in Houston and the surrounding area from Hurricane Harvey. The storm that Noah was facing was going to be one thousand times more destructive. But G-d did not select someone based on their sea-worthiness and sailing experience. He selects people based on their willingness to listen, to pray, to contemplate, and to remain open to G-d’s voice.

Pastor Dave