Noah: A Man of Faith

By C. Eldon McNabb

In his epistle to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul went to great length to show how the Old Testament shadows and allegories are being fulfilled in the New Testament era.

In chapter four, the seventh-day Sabbath is a shadow of the seventh millennium with Christ as King. In chapters five through seven, he showed how Melchisedec was an allegory of Christ Jesus. In chapter eight he showed that the Levitical Priesthood foreshadowed Christ and the new ministry which He ordained. In chapter nine Paul showed how the Tabernacle, the instruments of service and the rituals of that service were prophesying of the Church of God, and the redemption, sanctification and the glory of perfection shed forth by Jesus' first coming. And in Hebrews 12:18-24, he showed us how the natural Mount Sinai was a prophecy of the spiritual Mt. Sion: "The city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and church of the firstborn." In Hebrews 10:1, Paul explained, "The law had a shadow of good things to come." Jesus also said, in Matt 11:13, "All the prophets and the Law prophesied."

Hebrews chapter eleven stands out as a tribute to numerous men and women whose lives and labors testified to their unshakable faith in the surety of the promises and covenants which God made to them. It also shows that their faith would be perfected as we fulfill their prophecies. (Heb. 11:39,40.)

Special note is made of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sara. Of whom he said, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises." Abel's faith bore "witness that he was righteous." "Enoch was translated that he should see death," and his faith bore "testimony, that he pleased God." Abraham "believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, looking "for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." "Through faith Sara herself received strength to conceive seed." "And by faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

Peter called Noah a "preacher of righteousness." Of whom Jesus also spake saying, "As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man." Jesus fulfilled the allegory of Jonah as the sign to Israel in His day. In the same fashion, Jesus told us that the fulfillment of the allegories of Noah and Lot would be the signs to this generation of Christians, just preceding His second coming.

In the allegory of Noah, we are told that God sent a flood of water, and destroyed "all flesh wherein is the breath of life." God made a covenant with Noah and his sons that never again would all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. We can testify of the surety of that covenant unto this day, but what, then, is the promise which Noah did not receive? We needed the Apostle Paul to explain to us, in Rom. 4:13, that the intent of the promise to Abraham was that he would inherit the world. The same is true of the allegory of Noah. We need the input of a modern "Apostle to the Gentiles" to clarify this matter for us. It is he who shall be able to take all of the things which are mentioned concerning Noah, mix them together with the prophecies of the end of the world; and rightly divide them all.

In the days of Noah, God was so angry with the descendants of Seth, (the sons of God) who had intermarried with the descendants of Cain, that He sent the flood. Yet according to Peter, Noah and his family "were saved by water." "The Song of Moses," in Exodus 15, helps us with that point. "Pharaoh's chariots and his flood were cast into the sea." (verse 4.) And again in v.12, "The earth swallowed them." In so doing, God directly connected together the Exodus from Egypt, the Flood, and the Flood out of the Mouth of the Dragon of Rev. 12:13-17.

John told us in Revelation 12, "The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman." However, "To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place." "And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." God had prophesied this before in Exodus 19:3-6. "Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.'" What a clear prophecy of what Paul called, in 2 Thess. 2:1, "The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him."

The flood out of the mouth of the Dragon shall come upon all them who have the "Breath of Life" in Christ Jesus. Satan is preparing a great onslaught upon Christianity, and his preparation for it is well underway. For those who were with Noah in his ark, it was the saving of their lives. The same is true now. God has ordained a prophet to make the necessary preparations for our deliverance. Not all of God's people believed then, nor will all Christians believe now. When the five foolish virgins return to try to "board the ark," the door will already be shut. Jesus said plainly that He was describing, in that parable, the condition of Christianity at the end of the world, and He used that phrase so you would link His parable of the Virgins to the allegory of Noah.

Noah was warned of God of things which had never been seen before, yet he believed. As a result, Noah and His family were saved alive. Genesis 7:23 says it so well, "And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." (See also 1 Thess. 4:17.) This flood will not be about the destruction of mankind. It is about Christianity, and Noah and His family, and the birds and animals, clean and unclean, represent those Christians who believe, and follow the leadership of the man who Noah foreshadowed. The parable in of "The Marriage of the King's Son," in Matt. 22, makes it clear. "Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests."

When the cry is made "at midnight," and the Christians wake up and begin to study their Bibles in earnest, those who had some wisdom in God when they went to sleep a few years ago, will go "in to the wedding." Those believers who are not ready before God shuts the door will endure the wrath of the "Little Horn" as he "shall wear out the Saints of the Most High."

At least some of The Sons of God (the descendants of Seth) heard the preaching of Noah, but could not believe that God had spoken to Noah such a thing. They all died in that flood. As it is written, "And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

Are you among that number of God's Saints today who are able to believe the Man of God to whom God has given the revelation of what we must do to escape the flood which the Dragon shall spew out? Or will you just continue on with life as usual, and perish in this flood.

The prophecy of Jesus is sure. "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." AMEN.