Why Noah?

If you were a kid in the '90s, you didn’t just watch sports, you witnessed greatness. We didn’t have to argue about who the GOAT was. We saw them with our own eyes: Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, Mike Tyson. Game-changers. Era-definers.

And maybe that’s why we ‘90s kids bring that same GOAT-hunting instinct into our reading of Scripture. We look for the standout. The spiritual powerhouse. And in Genesis 6, one man towers above the rest:

In a generation where everyone was wicked, and I mean every thought of every heart was only evil continually, one man found favor with God. One man walked in righteousness. One man built a boat before rain had ever fallen. That’s GOAT material.

So… Why Noah?

This word favor is rarely used of man before God, only a few ever get that designation. Moses did. Abraham implied it. But Noah? He wore it plainly.

Why? Genesis 6:9 tells us:
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

His obedience stood in stark contrast to the corruption around him. And when God saw Noah, He hit pause on judgment. Humanity got another chance because of one man’s walk with the Lord.

After 150 days of water, silence, and drifting, those words are some of the most comforting in Scripture. God remembered Noah.

That doesn’t mean God forgot him, like He lost track. It means God acted again on his behalf. The waters began to recede. The Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, which just happens to mean “holy ground.” And not just on any day, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the same date Jesus would rise from the dead thousands of years later. Coincidence? Not a chance.

“And God blessed Noah and his sons…” – Genesis 9:1

God didn’t just preserve Noah. He blessed him with provision, power, and presence.

That word "blessed" (baruk in Hebrew, makarios in Greek) was used of gods in Greek literature. And yet here, the Almighty blesses a man. God empowers Noah to rebuild civilization, to multiply, to rule wisely.

This is what the blessing of God looks like:

• Not dependent on the economy.
• Not shaken by storms.
• Not limited by human circumstances.

When God blesses, He provides. When God blesses, He empowers. When God blesses, He shows up.

The flood came just as God said it would. The ark was sealed by the hand of God Himself. And when the rain fell, it was too late to knock on the door.

Friend, another judgment is coming, not by water, but by fire. And there’s only one ark of safety: the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Noah, we’re warned of events not yet seen. Just like Noah, we must respond by faith.

There will come a day when the door is shut for the last time.

The question is: Are you on board?