The Significance of a Spectacle
And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:32 (KJV)
And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. Genesis 7:5-6 (KJV)
As we see from these verses, the account of Noah begins when he is 500 years old and the flood came when Noah was 600 years old. Therefore, many Bible scholars estimate that it took somewhere in the vicinity of 100 years for him to build the ark. It was a huge project, which was made even more difficult by the fact that no one had ever seen rain. Building an ark in such circumstances was indeed an oddity, and the people of Noah’s day no doubt thought he was off his rocker. The century-long work of constructing the ark was quite a spectacle.
Our God is a just and upright God in all His dealings with man. For Him to destroy mankind without giving them opportunity to repent would have gone against the Lord’s character. But, given all the people on the earth at that time, how did God give them all warning about the flood? There are various theories about the population on the earth in Noah’s day, ranging from millions up into the billions. However, whether there were billions or even just millions alive at that time, how could Noah get to everyone to warn them, all while building an ark? The simple truth is that he couldn’t.
To satisfy the justice of God, the human race had to be warned of an impending flood and the need to be saved from it. And although Noah could not do it himself, God could use something Noah was building to get men’s attention- the ark.
Imagine this- Noah begins to build this gigantic structure that he called an ark. The local people likely came to see it, and make fun of it, of course. And they told their relatives and friends, and soon word must have spread from town to town and in the course of 100 years, it eventually spread throughout the world’s population. Even those who lived far away likely heard about the crazy man building an ark because God was going to bring something to earth called rain. People scoffed at the idea, and no one but Noah and his family took the opportunity to be spared from death- but God was just in giving them ample warning.
On top of that, God also used Noah’s grandfather to announce the coming catastrophe. Most people have heard of Methuselah. He is the oldest man recorded in the Bible (Genesis 5). He was Noah’s grandfather and he lived so long because God is merciful and was giving mankind plenty of time to repent. You see, the name Methuselah means “When he is dead it shall be sent.” His very name was announcing that something terrible was coming. And if we do the math, we see that it happened as his name stated. In Genesis 5, it tells us that Methuselah lived 782 years after his son Lamech was born. And Lamech had Noah when he was 182, which would mean Methuselah lived 600 more years after the birth of Noah. And in Genesis 7, it tells us the flood came when Noah was 600 years old. That means the flood came when Methuselah died! God used a man’s name to warn people of the coming judgment.
What a scenario! A man called Methuselah lived 969 years, all the while his name declaring that judgment was on the way. And for the final 100 years of Methuselah’s life, his grandson, Noah, was building the most unusual structure that mankind had seen up to that time. And of course, the fact that animals began to show up at the ark of their own free will was a quite an attention-getter all by itself. God created a real spectacle to do everything possible to give mankind the opportunity to be saved.
God still uses spectacles to get people’s attention. He loves to do the spectacular, like healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising the dead, just to name a few. Our God is just and uses every possible way to get mankind’s attention so they can be drawn to Him. And He may even choose to use you and me as a part of His spectacle in order to win the lost. When He calls us to do the off-beat and unusual, will we be willing to be obedient like Noah? Will we be willing participants in some of God’s spectacles?
Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Genesis 6:22 (KJV)
