A Righteous Man
Scripture Reading — Genesis 6:5-22
“To me this is like the days of Noah . . . yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken . . .” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Many people have heard the story of Noah and the ark. It’s an exciting drama from beginning to end. The Bible tells us that all the wickedness and evil on the earth grieved God, and he was sorry he had made human beings. Human sin was so devastating that it had infected all of God’s good creation.
But there was one person who “found favor” with the Lord. Noah was “a righteous man”; he “walked faithfully with God.” Can you imagine Noah’s patience as he worked for many years, possibly several decades, to build the ark while other people probably mocked him? (See Genesis 5:32; 6:10; 7:6; 11:10; 2 Peter 2:5.)
Of course, the lead actor in this drama is God. God is the one who told Noah to build an ark. God is the one who saved Noah and his family and all the animals on the ark from the flood. Noah was called “righteous,” but he was still infected by sin (Genesis 9). God’s restoration work wasn’t finished.
Many years later, God sent Isaiah to call his people to repent. The situation reminded him of the days of Noah, but God would never stop loving his people. A little earlier, in Isaiah 53, God also promised that his righteous servant would come and take on himself all the people’s sins—and that servant was Jesus. By his love, God has made a way to rescue us and remove our sins forever.
Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to save us. Thank you for forgiving our sins and promising to restore the world. Amen.
About the author — John Van Schepen
Dr. John Van Schepen is a retired pastor who served churches in Washington, Wisconsin, Indiana, Oregon and California. He and his wife, Willie, have been blessed with five children and several grandchildren.
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