"If He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness..." (II Peter 2:5)
It's really quite presumptuous to try and interest a modern audience by talking about someone out of the ark, and him a preacher. Preachers are not commonly interesting. Having been a preacher, I learned that people believe there are three classes of people...men, women and preachers. When a man becomes more preacher than man he ought to quit the ministry. Noah is more often thought of more as a shipbuilder than preacher. By the way, a New York Shipbuilding Corporation notes that ships today share Noah's proportionate dimensions.
If Noah was, in that distant day, a preacher what did he have to work with? There's no mention of eloquence, education or personal magnetism. But, it does say he walked with God and listened when God spoke to him. When God was broadcasting, Noah was tuned in.
Noah was not perfect. Frankly, we don't like perfect people. We don't believe any exists. What did Noah do wrong? He planted a vineyard, made some home brew and got drunk. That wasn't it. But, in Noah's drunkenness, Ham "sinned" against his father. Note the time of Noah's sin. Not during during stressful years of shipbuilding. Not during one year and 10 days of depression of a submerged world but during time of luxury and ease. Luxury is always a sharper test then poverty. Did you know that during the great depression of the 1930's that the death rate in US dropped?
It's striking to note that the people of Noah's day were similar to our generation. They were materialistic and valued physical force. There were giants and men of "renown." Today, a good athlete is held in greater honor and, for sure, will make more money than Chancellor of a University. .
Like preachers today, Noah did not experience great success. The flood came and no one responded. He saved only those of his own house. But, if those who know us best believe in us...that's success.
Charles Jackson
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