5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:5-7 English Standard Version

For regular readers of these notes let me say that it wasn't careful planning on my part that we've come to today's section in the same week we looked at Genesis 5, the chapter which told of Enoch and lead to the events of the life of Noah. The writer of Hebrews quotes from a Greek translation of the Old Testament (known as the Septuagint) where Genesis 5:22 says Enoch 'pleased' God. The Hebrew version had said Enoch 'walked' with God. The apostle Paul puts these two together in one of his letters and says: “We've not stopped praying for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9-10)

But what does the writer say is required in seeking to live a life that is pleasing to God. (vs 6)

It takes faith. Like us, Enoch had not seen God, but he believed God existed, and he believed that God's character was such that He would reward those who seek to live in the way He would approve of. So too today, a Christian is someone who really believes that God exists, and that our faith in Christ will not be in vain. We believe that Christ lived a life fully pleasing to the Father, and that God applies that perfect righteousness to all who trust in Christ. But this isn't something we just talk about, we must walk the talk! True faith so believes the gospel that the believer turns from sin and, as Paul wrote, seeks to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.

Which brings us to Noah. What was it about Noah's faith that makes it so significant? (vs7)

It was surely that when God's word came to him, it spoke of events as yet unseen!

We don't know how God brought His word to Noah, but it was in a clear and unmistakable manner. That sounds like faith should've been easy. The difficulty, however, was that God spoke of things that Noah had never experienced, and the task was one that was going to take perhaps 100 years! We don't know when rain was first seen on the earth, but rain that would cover the whole world was something that had never been seen and would've been hard to imagine! So it took faith to take God at His word. Faith, and a reverent fear of the Lord. And what did that faith result in? (vs 7)

Noah and his family were saved through the judgment that fell upon all mankind. Genesis 6:9 says “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, Noah walked with God.” Like Enoch, Noah sought to be pleasing to God. But the words blameless 'in his generation', imply he wasn't perfectly sinless. Yet he inherited the same righteousness Christians have received because Christ died for Noah's sins as well.

The New Testament applies the events of Noah's life to encourage Christians to persevere in living righteously in a sinful world, and not to fear the opposition we will face. It says: “If God didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly - then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.” (2 Peter 2:5&9) Faith believes there is a coming day of worldwide judgment, and clings to Christ.