[Darris McNeely] We're continuing our series in the book of Hebrew chapter 11, the faith chapter. We've come to verse 7 where it talks about Noah. Everyone knows about Noah: built the ark with the saving of 8 people, his family, and the world that God destroyed at that time by a flood because of its wickedness. Chapter 11:7 covers Noah in one verse and it says this: "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."

Noah, his ark, a well-known story. It doesn't take a lot of explanation to get back into at least the background of this, but what it tells us here is that he did this as he was warned of things not yet seen. You have to understand that when God said to Noah, build this ark because I'm going to destroy the world by a flood, Noah was being confronted with something that he had never done. He wasn't a big boat builder likely, and he didn't live on a big sea port. And the world had never been destroyed by a flood. And to his knowledge probably a warning like that had never, ever gone out.

And so there were a number of improbabilities. And what do you do with this? And that's what faith is at times. It is acting upon thing that aren't seen or living in a certain way to avoid things that perhaps might come that haven't happened because you believe that actions have consequences. All of this had to factor into what Noah did. Plus he had to endure for many, many years the building of this boat, the work of doing it, probably the ridicule. He is called in other places a preacher of righteousness. No doubt Noah worked a very long time at not only building that ark, but preaching a warning of what was to come and offering through that ark a way of salvation, a way of escape from what God said was going to come. And that was destruction because of sin. All of this factored into the faith that Noah had by his actions that we are told are being warned of things that had not yet been seen. But he became an heir of righteousness.

We live in times today and Jesus Himself even said that the times prior to His second coming would be like the days of the time of Noah. People would be drinking and marrying and giving in marriage and going about their business of life.

And so even Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 24 referred to the example of Noah to sound a warning for our own day as well (Matthew 24:36-39). So as we go back to Hebrews 11:7 and we look at what Noah says to us, he says certainly through a life of faith to heed what God says and to act upon it in righteousness to avoid not only unpleasant circumstances and consequences in our own personal life, but also what God says is going to come upon the world at the end of the age. Noah and his life and his example definitely speaks to us today.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.