Noah, a Preacher of Righteousness
By L. D. Van Horn
This good man lived in an eventful period of the world's history. God made known to him his determination to destroy the ungodly inhabitants of the earth by a flood. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and he walked with God. Gen. 6:8, 9. The prophet Ezekiel mentions him with Daniel and Job as the three men that might deliver their own souls by reason of their righteousness, when God should bring his sore judgments upon the house of Israel because of their many sins. Eze. 14. Paul gives him a place in his list of the faithful of past ages. Heb. 11. And Peter gives us the record of his employment, “a preacher of righteousness.” 2 Peter. 2:5. Did God determine to destroy the inhabitants of the old world because they were righteous and holy? Did he do it because they were his faithful servants, doing that which was pure, just, and good? Every one at all acquainted with the facts in the case, must answer, No! It was their sins (transgressions of the law of God), their ungodly deeds, and the evils of their corrupt hearts, that brought this terrible calamity upon them. Gen. 6. But Noah stood among them “a preacher of righteousness.” The inspired definition of righteousness is given by David in these words: “My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy commandments are righteousness.” Ps. 119:172. And the Lord by Isaiah says: “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Chap. 51:7. Righteousness consists in keeping the moral law of God. Noah and his family kept this law, and were saved in the ark. And as Noah was a preacher of righteousness, we must conclude that in his preaching he advocated, and kept constantly before that ungodly generation, the claims of God's moral law. This furnishes clear evidence that the principles of the ten commandments were known and observed by the righteous previous to the flood. These facts forever do away the idea that this divine law was not known nor binding upon the human family before the days of Moses. In our Lord's prophetic discourse relating to the signs of his second advent, Matt. 24, he refers to the time of the flood, and says: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” In this, the Saviour draws a parallel, and would have us know that the character and actions of the people of the old world at the time of the deluge would be acted over again in the generation that should live to witness his second advent. The gross and corrupt things of earth will take their attention, while their reverence for God and his holy law will become less and less. But there will be men of God standing here, as Noah stood among the people in his day, “giving meat in due season,” faithfully warning the people of their great danger in the coming crisis, and, at the same time, holding up before them the claims of the moral law. The prophetic word and the signs of the times show unmistakably that we are in the last days, the closing moments of this world's history. The proclamation of the coming of the Lord has been sounding in the earth for more than thirty years. Closely connected with this three-fold warning is the “commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” May the work speed on, and may we, like faithful Noah, act our part nobly and share in the final triumph. L. D. VAN HORN.