Our Common Ancestor

by David Gibson

Ark-aeological?

From time to time, we hear that Noah’s ark has been sighted. Whether it has or hasn’t, we should have no doubts about the historicity of the biblical account. Jesus accepted the biblical account of the Flood (Matthew 24:37-39). Three times Peter referred to the Flood as historical (I Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:5; 3:3-7). The eleventh chapter of Hebrews cites Noah, along with other examples of faith such as Abraham, Moses, and David. The point is, you don’t mix legendary, fictional characters with historical individuals and treat them all the same. Noah is treated as historical in Isaiah 54:9 and Ezekiel 14:14, 20. Noah is included in the genealogies recorded in I Chronicles 1:4 and Luke 3:36.

Father of us all

God told Noah, “You alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time” (Genesis 7:1 NASB). Because of the exceeding wickedness of that age, Noah’s righteous character stands out as all the more exemplary.

His assigned task

What a monumental undertaking God gave Noah--to build a ship 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. Surely he must have grown weary at times.

What kept him on task? At least two factors: 1) his faith in God and 2) his love for his family. “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household” (Hebrews 11:7).

History repeated

There is a dramatic parallel to Noah’s Flood, and that is the future destruction of all things by fire (II Peter 3:3-14). Like Noah, we have been “warned by God about things not yet seen.” Either we will respond in obedient faith, as Noah did (I Peter 3:20-21), or we will be like his unworthy contemporaries.