Constructive Faith

Hebrews 11:7 English Standard Version

Hebrews 11:7 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.

By faith Noah…constructed and ark.

Tonight: Constructive Faith.

Constructive Faith:

1. Believes what God Says – By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear

a. The word underlying warned(chrēmatizō) is a technical term for the reception of divine oracles. It appears in Hebrews also in 8:5 and 12:25.[1]

i. to be given an oracle (state) v.— to be or become subject to the communication of a divine message or command.

ii. Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

1. Warned - to make known a divine revelation—‘to make known God’s message, to reveal a message from God.’[2]

2. to give an oracle v. — to communicate or deliver a divine message or command.

b. Noah received an oracle concerning things “not yet seen,” a reference back to 11:1. A lexical inclusiomarks off this paragraph unit.232 What was not yet seen was the flood. [3]

i. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

ii. Hebrews 11:7 being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen,

c. Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

d. Genesis 6:10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

e. Genesis 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

f. Genesis 6:12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

g. Genesis 6:13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

h. Genesis 6:14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

i. Genesis 6:17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

j. in reverent fear

1. to revere properly v.— to show fitting and proper respect or reverence to (a deity or other deserving figure).

2. with reverent regard for (God), he built an ark’ He 11:7.[4]

2. Builds on What God Says – constructed an ark for the saving of his household

a. So he “built” (kateskeuasen) an ark. Though the verb may be used of preparing or building in a variety of senses, it is a “favorite word for construction of ships” (BAG, p. 419) and so is relevant to this reference to the ark.[5]

b. Reference to Gen 7:1 is confirmed by the fact that this is the only place in the account of Noah that refers, as does Heb 11:7, to Noah’s “household.”[6]

i. Genesis 7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

3. Becomes what God Says– By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

a. By this

i. The next phrase, “through which,” is crucial. The word for “which” is feminine, and thus probably refers to the closest feminine antecedent—“salvation,” or possibly to the feminine noun for “ark” a bit earlier in the Greek sentence.[7]

ii. `“Ark” and “salvation” are so closely related that the decision between them is not crucial. It is through the “salvation” from the flood provided by the “ark” that Noah both “condemned the world” and “became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.”[8]

b. he condemned the world

i. to judge someone as definitely guilty and thus subject to punishment—‘to condemn, to render a verdict of guilt, condemnation.’[9]

ii. The conduct of one person, since it sets a standard, can result in the condemnation before God of another person whose conduct is inferior (Wsd 4:16; cp. Ro 2:27) Mt 12:41f(JJeremias, Jesus’ Promise to the Nations, ’58, 50 n. 3); Lk 11:31f; Hb 11:7.[10]

1. Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

2. Romans 2:27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.

iii. He condemned the world. Noah did not condemn the world as its judge, but as an advocate and a witness, through a plea and testimony. He condemned the world by his teaching, through his obedience, by his example, and through the faith he exercised.[11]

1. 1 Peter 3:20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

2. 2 Peter 2:5 if he did not 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;

c. and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

i. Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

ii. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

1. Favor – grace

2. Hebrews 10:38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,

Work It Out:

1. Believe – By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear

a. Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

b. Matthew 24:37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

c. Matthew 24:38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,

d. Matthew 24:39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

e. Matthew 24:40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

f. Matthew 24:41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

g. Matthew 24:42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

h. 2 Peter 3:3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

i. 2 Peter 3:4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

j. 2 Peter 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

k. 2 Peter 3:6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

l. 2 Peter 3:7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2. Build – constructed an ark for the saving of his household

a. Who is impacted by your faith?

i. Abel – self

ii. Enoch – self

iii. Noah – household

iv. Abraham – Twelve tribes

v. Moses – Nation

b. Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

4. Become - became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

c. Hebrews 10:38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,

d. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

e. Ephesians 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

f. Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

g. Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

h. Titus 3:6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

i. Titus 3:7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

[1]Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 187. [2]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 338. 232 Eisenbaum, Jewish Heroes, 152. [3]David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 548. [4]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 531. BAG Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament [5]Leon Morris, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 12 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 116. [6]Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 534. [7]Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 533. [8]Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 533. [9]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 555. cp. cp. = compare, freq. in ref. to citation fr. ancient texts [10]William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 519. [11]John Owen, Hebrews, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 222.