Lessons on The Will of God as Revealed to Noah
A reflection on the Will of God as revealed in Genesis 6:5-22.
"And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times, It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart, He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noe found grace before the Lord. These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God. And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity. And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth,) He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without. And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: nd the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it. Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed. And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee. And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female. Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind; two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.
Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them. And Noe did all things which God commanded him."
God was "sorry" that He had made Man, and felt sheer pain within His Heart. The Hebrew for "touched inwardly with sorrow of heart" is way yiṯ ‘aṣ ṣêḇ, and literally means excruciating pain and intense profound grief. In Hebrew, there are six different ways to describe inner pain. The first is very mild, the second is a little more severe, and on and on until you reach the sixth, which is the most intense type. In this passage, God is saying his pain and grief over the wickedness of man is the most intense and excruciating pain possible in His Heart. This type of pain is usually associated with a spouse who abandons their family or a parent who loses a child. This is how God felt at seeing the sin of mankind.
God takes sin very seriously. We see here, in Noah's day, that the wickedness of man was so great that God decides to flood the entire Earth. However, there is one man out of the whole Earth who pleases God. Noah is said to be just and perfect, and he walked with God. He "found grace" before the Lord, because God looked into his heart and saw he truly feared Him, loved Him, and desired truth and justice for His glory. So God decides to preserve Noah and his family so that they can teach and propagate both truth and righteousness after the Earth is cleansed.
Noah is commanded to build an ark to preserve him from the impending global flood which will purify the world. The ark serves as a prefigurement of the Church. The flood prefigures the great Sacrament of Baptism. We learn that Noah did all the things that God commanded him to do. He responded faithfully, and he responded fully. Everything God asked him to do, he did with exactness and promptness, without faltering for a moment. This is a trait which God seeks to find in us, as well.
What do we gain from this account as it pertains to the Will of God? First, He takes sin very seriously, and sin truly wounds the heart of God in agony. We all experience the full spectrum of human emotions ourselves, and this because we are made in the Image of God. We are truly like Him in many ways, but on a much smaller scale, and our emotions are disordered towards vice due to our fallen nature. Hence, the reason we are dependant solely and entirely on God's grace.
Second, God looks into the very heart of man, to seek out those who truly care about Him, His glory, His honor, His pain and sorrow over sin, His desire for virtue and holiness. He seeks for those who see His vision, His goals, His wishes, and seek to make them as their own, as well. When God finds such a person, He sees that person through the eyes of grace, and a relationship is forged in a very unique way. So much so that God communicates with us. He gives us direction and even specific directives.
Third, He asks us to trust Him, to respond faithfully, and to do the work He has entrusted us with. He knows that Man, left to his own devices and inclinations, is ruled by the self-will which tends towards pride and selfishness. When we align ourselves to God's Will, therein we find the true source of all goodness, genuine happiness, peace, sanctification, and salvation.
There are many wonderful, profound, and deep lessons to learn about God's Will from this story of Noah and the Ark. These lessons give us an insight into the very nature of God, as well as an insight into ourselves and our purpose in this world. The Holy Ghost inspired Moses to write this story down for time immemorial as a way to show us who God truly is and who we truly are. He wants us to know Him for who He is, and He wants us to see through His eyes and Heart. May we reflect often on this historical story and its implications for our life.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.
