Ark Building: A New Kind of Faith

Guest Post by Lori Slaughter, Pastor of Living Well, Wausau, Wisconsin

 

Noah’s ark is one of the most repeated stories in the Bible. It meant little to me, though. For over 30 years, I have placed my faith in the Lord Jesus. Raised Catholic, my parents taught me to honor God and respect His Word. All of my life, I have heard and read the Bible many times without a significant impact on my personal life. Stories of Abraham, David, and even Paul seemed distant from me, being alive at the turn of the millennium, though I tried to put myself in their shoes. As I did, the Lord would speak to me through the Word and shape my behavior and attitudes, giving me guidance and direction daily.

I am a pastor, and a few years back, I preached a series called “Faith Like…”. This revolutionized me! One patriarch, in particular, has been resonating within my core ever since. His story has changed my perspective and become my everyday life. Who is this man? Noah.

Before diving into the message, I want to give you a few disclaimers. First, I am not a scholar. Neither Hebrew nor Greek was taught in my ministry training. Second, this comes from my imagination in agreement with the scriptures. I have not had a vision or direct revelation from Jesus. Third, I desire to be a great leader, but I genuinely hope to be an even better follower.

Faith Like Noah:

Gen 6:14, “Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.”

Gen 6:17, “ I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. ”

Gen 7:4, “ In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”

These scriptures show how the Lord God had a conversation with Noah and told him to build an ark. He gave instructions on what materials to use and how big it was supposed to be. Excellent. But I wonder, did Noah know what an ark was? Was there one built before or during his life? Using the Law of First Mention, this verse, Gen 6:14, was the first time the word ark was used. That must have been a foreign concept, this whole ark thing. Did Noah even understand this word? Or was it jumbled jargon?

Faith for an Ark

What about the word flood? In order to look at that, let’s discover what it says about rain. Gen 7:4 is the second time the Bible uses the word rain. The first time is found in Gen 2:5-6, “No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.” It had not rained yet. The mist came up from the ground, like the dew or a modern day sprinkler system. In verse 11 of Gen 7, the Word states, “… all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the sky’s windows opened.” Until the days of Noah, God did not cause rain to come down, and therefore it is safe to say that there had never been a flood.

The words ark, flood, and rain were not in Noah’s vocabulary. It would be like saying in 1983 that the email I received on my cell phone did not contain the link to the website. That would not make sense.

Faith for Understanding

As I was preparing this sermon, I read Heb 11:7, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” It was as though I was an observant fly on the wall, and I understood. These things were not yet seen! In my mind’s eye, I heard: “Noah, I need you to build me a dilwam because the windows of heaven will open and filankensteen will come down and mix with the waters from the deep and cause a zimph.”

“Excuse me? What did you say?” Noah responded.

“A dilwam, I need you to build a dilwam of gopher wood with 3 decks. Then put pitch on it and fill it with animals. It will filankensteen for forty days and nights and combine with the waters from the deep. This will cause a tremendous zimph that will kill every breathing thing on the earth. Trust me, Noah. The zimph will come. I need you to warn the people and build the dilwam.”

Silly. I know.

Perhaps the Lord God gave Noah a more detailed picture than what is written in the scriptures. Maybe not. Either way, Noah had to walk by faith, trusting that what he heard was true. And then, as James says, he had to show the people his faith through his works; he actually had to build the dilwam, I mean ark.

Trusting for the Ark of Revival

This is what I believe is happening now. The global church is on the cusp of a revival, an international awakening. And what is the Lord God asking us to do? PREPARE! How do we prepare? What are we to focus on? Where are we to go? Who do we share the vision with? Oh Lord, we pray; teach us! Show us! Help us! And what do we hear? Build a dilwam. I will cause filankensteen to come and it will cause a massive zimph, the magnitude of which the world has never seen. Be ready. Build the dilwam. Do not be afraid. I am with you.

So my friends, whatever foreign concept is rolling around in your spirit, you are in good company! Myself and many other ministers with whom I have spoken are sensing the same thing. A global move of God is happening, and He has given us all glimpses of what it will look like… But we really don’t have words for it yet. Something so big and so beautiful is just around the corner, and we can’t really describe it. Our vocabulary is vastly limited.  We are all positioned, ready to be included, choosing to walk by faith, like Noah, believing but not yet seeing, and building our dilwam!

Lord, help us walk in faith like Noah. Even when we don’t understand or see the big picture, help us trust in You alone and be obedient to your Spirit. Amen

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