Noah

It’s here. The big-screen release of Noah. Complete with a high-profile cast, lots of special effects, and a $130 million budget. If you plan to see this movie, remember that it is a fictitious adaptation by Hollywood and not God’s holy and inerrant Word.

For the real events surrounding the worldwide flood in Noah’s day, dust off your Bible, open it up, and read Genesis 6:5—9:17. Here you will find the accurate, authentic, historical account of Noah and the flood. It’s worth your time and attention.

As an added bonus, here are a few additional things God’s Word teaches about Noah’s righteousness and the flood, things you won’t learn from the movie.

True Righteousness: Always a Gift from God

God’s Word describes Noah as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9). This righteousness is not Noah’s own doing, but a gift from God through Jesus Christ.

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. [Hebrews 11:7]

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]

The Flood: Preview of the Last Day

Jesus teaches that the coming of the flood in Noah’s day is a preview of His own coming on the Last Day. It will be sudden, unexpected. Most people will be unprepared, lacking faith in Him as the Savior of sinners and the only One who justifies.

“Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 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, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matthew 24:36-39; cf. Luke 17:26-27]

The Flood: Baptism Saves

Peter teaches that just as God brought eight persons safely through water in the days of Noah, so He uses the water of Holy Baptism to save His people from their sins.

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 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. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him. [1 Peter 3:18-22]

Go ahead and see the fictitious adaptation if it interests you. But don’t forget to read the real thing, the historical account in Genesis 6:5—9:17 and take to heart the aforementioned references.

Like Noah, you, too, are righteous in Jesus Christ. For He has saved you—a sinner—through Holy Baptism. And He delights in preparing you for His return on the Last Day through His holy Word and blessed Supper.

When it comes down to it, 138 minutes of Hollywood eye candy is nothing compared to an eternity with Jesus Christ and all His saints, including Noah, in the Church Triumphant!