In the year 601 [of Noah’s life], on the first day of the first month, the waters were drying up from the land. And Noah [a]removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was drying.
And on the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was entirely dry.
And God spoke to Noah, saying,
Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you.
Genesis 8:13-16 AMPCE
Noah was one of the first great heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, where the Holy Spirit describes his strong faith and action, 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. See, Noah became “heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” through believing God to a point of action. Notice that Abraham, the “father of faith,” was a premium example of this also.
But today, I want to point out something that will come right into where you are living right now! I’m talking about how Noah was not moved by what he saw with his eyes or felt with his thoughts, but he was only moved to action by the Word of God. Are you ready to learn something brand new from the Bible today?
In Genesis 6-8, we have a vivid account of the great flood that forever changed the world during Noah’s time. After much drama, we come to Genesis 8, where we are told that the ark finally came to rest “in the seventh month [of Noah’s 600th year], the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.” Notice that it says the mountains, not mountain of Ararat. The ark has been discovered among the mountains of Ararat, just as the Bible says–not on the mountain of Ararat, as many of us have been led to believe through storytelling.
Side note: if you haven’t already, check out the story of how Ron Wyatt, an ordinary anesthesiologist, came to discover Noah’s ark in Turkey (and a great many other Biblical archeological sites and artifacts).
But I want you to notice something amazing: after another four and a half months, Noah removed the covering (see footnote (a) below) from the ark and personally witnessed that the ground around the ark was dry.
Here’s the crazy part. After he removed the covering (it was no longer raining, and they could probably use all the ventilation they could get), and after he personally saw the dry ground all around the ark, Noah did not step one foot outside the ark. He waited until God spoke to him nearly eight weeks later before he and his family vacated the ark.
Noah was only moved by God’s Word!
Think about it! Noah himself personally saw that the ground around the ark was dry. At this point, he and his family (along with all the stinky, noisy animals) had been in the ark for over one entire year! Noah had every indication in the natural (that is, in the natural realm–the realm of seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling) to turn to his family and say, “That’s it, everyone! The ground is officially dry! Let’s get out of here and check it out!”
But Noah didn’t budge. He didn’t allow what his eyes or his feelings were telling him. He had utmost obedience to God.
And God spoke to Noah, saying,
Go forth from the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you.
I absolutely love this about Noah. He didn’t allow himself to be moved by what he saw. He didn’t allow himself to be moved by what he felt. He was only moved by the Word of God.
Today, friends, we can take Noah’s obedience and steadfast trust in God’s Word as an example of how to relate to God. What have you been promised by God? What is promised to you in His Word? When you are standing in faith, what are you allowing to move you? Are you moved to action by something other than God’s Word? If so, you will find (if you haven’t already–I surely have in the past) that your faith will seem weak and the outcome will not turn out the way God promised.
More than marching orders!
God has given us the ability to believe and trust in Him. It is a wonderful thing to be a partner of God, where He initiates the conversation (as He did with Noah), provides the blueprint, and then walks with us and works with us to see the outcome He desires come to pass in our lives.
God never just gives marching orders; He gives us direction and wisdom, and His desire is to walk with us as we trust and obey Him!
Whether it’s the healing of your body or mind, the prosperity of your finances, joyfulness of your heart, or whatever it is that you are growing in, know this: when we are not moved by what we see, taste, hear, smell, or feel–when we are ONLY moved by the Word of God–we will surely see God’s promises come to pass in our lives.
My encouragement today, friend, is to be like Noah: don’t allow your feelings to move you out of obedience to God. Don’t let what you see or hear move you from your place of absolute trust and confidence in God. He is faithful to His Word, and if you dare to take Him up on His Word, you will see the miraculous come to pass, even as Noah and his family did!
Footnotes from the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
a. Genesis 8:13 Possibly overhanging eaves which prevented the rain from coming through the perforated window space had also prevented Noah from seeing the mountaintops. It is well to remember that the Architect of Noah’s ark was the omniscient Scientist Whose “ways are past finding out,” though men have learned much from them through the centuries. Nothing was lacking in Noah’s ark to keep it from being suited for all that was required of it. The comfortable, light, well-ventilated, watertight, perfectly planned boat, large enough to accommodate all the original land animals intelligently and to permit the four human couples to live separately and in peace, needs no apology today. “In 1609 at Hoorn, in Holland, the Netherlandish Mennonite, P. Jansen, produced a vessel after the pattern of the ark, only smaller, whereby he proved it was well adapted for floating, and would carry a cargo greater by one-third than any other form of like cubical content” (J.P. Lange, A Commentary). It revolutionized shipbuilding. By 1900 every large vessel on the high seas was definitely inclined toward the proportions of Noah’s ark (as verified by “Lloyd’s Register of Shipping,” The World Almanac). Later, ships were built longer for speed, a matter of no concern to Noah.