Tonight we continued our Law & Order: Old Testament Unit study and we looked at the story of Noah, not the really cool part about the boat or the flood, but the end. Genesis 9:18-29. We looked at the poor decision Noah made, the ramifications for his family, the ramifications in his own life, and finally his death.
This part of the history of Noah is rarely taught, I believe the reason is that we want to preserve the image of the patriarchs of our faith. But we need to keep in perspective that every man falls. Christ was the only exception and will be the only exception until He returns.
The background for Noah…he was commissioned to build a massive boat that took well over 100 years to build and he probably was made fun of on a daily basis since it had not rained ever before. Noah finished the ark, the flood came, the slate was wiped clean. Noah’s family of 8 were the only humans left. They leave the great ship and receive the promise from God that the Earth would not be destroyed with a flood again. We are all familiar with the rainbow as proof of this promise. But then we go to the passage we looked at tonight. Chapter 9 vs. 20 shows Noah’s actions imdeitaly after God’s promise. He picks up farming and cultivates himself a vineyard. Quickly following in vs. 21 we see him becoming drunk on his wine and falling asleep naked in his tent. This is not the Noah that we hear about in Sunday School, but it is the same man.
This story has impact on Canaan’s family as well, but what we focused on tonight was the impact it had on Noah’s life. Noah, this great man of God, witness to the world-wide flood, builder of a scientifically advanced boat, got drunk and passed out naked. Yes it was a small mistake, but look what it did to the rest of his life. The Bible tells us that Noah was 600 when the flood started, so he was well into his 500’s working on this ship, and he wakes up from his wine, he is benched. God puts him on the shelf. He has lost his ministry. His salvation is secure, we are positive of that, but his effectiveness for the kingdom has been compromised.
How do you get that you might ask? It’s right there in vs. 28-29. We have just finished the great narrative of Noah and the flood, and the last 350 years of his life are summed up in one verse. No spiritual depth to them, no historical rememberance. Simply, he lived for 350 more years and died at the age of 950. His ministry had been put back in the pantry by God.
We all have a minsitry, not just us ordained types. Your service in church, your relationships at work, your attitude towards the neighbor down the street. Those are your ministries. And just like Noah, if we allow the devil to take our focus off God for just one second, we too can be benched. God will put us on the shelf just like the mighty Noah.
My prayer is that we all remain deeply focused on our ministry to God. Let us be mindful of the small decisions that can hurt that ministry and Lord please pull us back in line before we make those fatal decisions.
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