Only Eight
© Erick Emert 2001
Now that we are past the year 2000 how many times has the shout been raised, "He is coming!"
How many more times will it be raised in the near future? Modern
prophets will speak of nations rising against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms. They'll
point to famines and earthquakes in various parts of the Earth as proof in support of their
predictions. They'll take great pains to explain how they see the "abomination that causes
desolation" standing in the holy place.
We've heard it all before and we'll hear it again. We'll be told that the time we live in
is like that of Noah's. People are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. The
people are wicked. Their thoughts are evil. All this as if apathy and evil has not been a
mark of every century since the birth of Christ. We are told we'd better get with the
program or we'll miss the boat.
Of course this time there isn't going to be a boat. Peter writes in one of his
letters, "The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and
the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." He points out, "That day will bring about
the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat." Then he
adds, "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new
earth, the home of righteousness."
That brings us to God's selection process.... the program. If we look back to Noah's time, we
see that only eight were chosen. Noah, his wife, their three sons and the son's wives. That's
it. There is little in the Word to explain why these eight were selected.
Concerning Noah we are told, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God." Not much else is know about him. He is later
called, "A man of the soil." From the only personal information given from his 950 year
life, we learn he enjoyed wine, over did it occasionally, and did not take his son's
discipline lightly. The book of Hebrews makes note of his faith saying it was the enabler,
which caused him to build the ark out of "holy fear." Peter refers to him as
a "preacher of righteousness" which tells me that Noah discussed God with his
contemporaries. Perhaps he even had a following.
There is no information at all as to why the other seven were saved. One must assume, since they
were all related, they came in on Noah's coat tails.
Beyond vague generalities, very few specifics are given concerning the times in which Noah
lived. These include:
| The population of the earth had increased substantially. |
| The people were corrupt, wicked, and violent. |
| People's thoughts were utterly filled with evil. |
| Good looks were prized. |
| Angels married the daughters of men. |
| The Nephilim, sons of God and daughters of men, heroes of old, men
of renown, were part of the population. |
Since a comparison is made between the end times and Noah's times, we can assume
that what the Bible says about the people living in the end times holds true about the
people of Noah's day. Therefore his friends, neighbors, and co-workers would have been:
| Self indulgent and lacking self control. Conceited. |
| Able to enjoy wealth but ungrateful to those who helped them
acquire it. |
| Proud, abusive, slanderous, rash and unforgiving. |
| Parents of disobedient children. |
| Brutal and treacherous in their ways. |
| Seemingly incapable of loving anything but pleasure. |
| Religious, but without responsibility to God. Certainly not holy. |
Enoch and Noah are both said to have walked with God. Enoch prophesied and Noah preached. Since
the times were similar, one can picture various religious beliefs taught with emotion and logic
producing throngs of followers all claming to have the truth, the way, the power and glory. It
must be concluded that God's message, preached through Noah, had the same results on people
as it does today.
Yet only eight were saved. Even Noah's own brothers and sisters were drowned. The sons and
daughters of Enoch were drowned. The religious leaders of his day, who probably claimed
righteousness and magnificent intellectual truths, were drowned. Their believers were
drowned. The atheists were drowned. Liberals and conservatives were drowned. Nobody got it
right except one guy and God allowed him to bring his family along. One small group of seemingly
less than perfect, less than holy people made it.
If it was Noah's righteousness that saved him, what kind of righteousness was it? How
did it differ from others of his day who claimed righteousness for themselves? How did God measure it?
Certainly Christ is referred to as righteous but then so is Lot and Abraham. John tells
us, "
He who does right is righteous." Yet we are warned by Solomon, "
Do not be over righteous." He
says, "
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes." This sounds more like the Noah, Lot, and
Abraham of the Bible who were called righteous and yet were shown to be sinners.
Perhaps Noah's salvation was due to being, "blameless among the people of his
time." Whether considered so by God, or by his peers, Noah must have had considerable
love for his fellow man. Considering Christ's emphasis on love your neighbor, love each other, love
your enemies, this could very well have been the measure for selection. One wonders if Noah's
contemporaries were taught, "You must love yourself before you can love others," as we are today.
At any rate, we are told the day of the Lord will come like a thief. In other words, we won't
know when. So all those who think they have inside information should think again. As for the
rest of us, it's not a bad idea to keep an eye out. It might also be a good idea to seriously
consider what it means to be righteous and blameless in God's eyes.
If the Lord came tomorrow, would there be only eight chosen again? Would you be one of
the eight? I certainly doubt that I would.
