Noah – Ministry of Grace Church

2 Peter 2:5

if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

Truth to Learn

The people of Noah’s day refused to listen to the truth and they paid the ultimate price for their sinfulness.

Behind the Words

The word translated “spare” is pheidomai, meaning “to treat with tenderness” or “to forbear.” In other words, God did not hold back His judgment.

“Flood” is translated from the Greek word kataklusmos, from which we get our English word cataclysm. This is a compound word made up of kata, an intensifier and kludzo which refers to the surging, washing effect of an ocean wave.

Meaning Explained

Peter now gives us a second example of those who have not escaped the judgment of God in spite of His longsuffering. God, Peter says, did not spare the old world, that is the world of people that existed before the flood. He did, however save Noah. The Greek text says,

And He did not treat the old world leniently but preserved Noah the eighth, a righteous preacher …

The expression, “Noah the eighth” is an idiom that was used by many of the Greek writers of that era. It means that Noah was one of eight people who were saved, Noah, his wife, and his three sons with their wives. No one outside his immediate family believed the message he preached.

Noah is an excellent example of a patient preacher of righteousness. For 120 years he labored, building the ark. And although we are not told specifically, he was probably ridiculed by all those around him. He labored obediently while they lived wantonly. He believed that God was going to bring a flood while they believed that things would simply continue on as they always had. Peter declared him to be a preacher of righteousness, which implies that he was not a silent builder. It appears he warned the people of his time that God was going to judge their sinfulness. But they, like the false teachers of Peter’s day and the false teachers today, did not believe that God was going to judge them.

Why does God let such people continue on in their sinful ways? It seems like the wicked continue to prosper and the righteous continue to suffer, doesn’t it? Peter will address this in the next chapter, but let’s take a quick peek there right now:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

God delays His judgment for two reasons. First, to give the unsaved every opportunity to hear the salvation message and, second, so they will have no excuse when they are finally judged.

Application

Our commission, like Noah’s, is not to brow beat people into believing. Our job is to proclaim the message both in word and in deed. We must proclaim the message and we must live the message, because He is risen and He is coming back soon!

It could even be today! Get the word out!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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1 Peter 3:20

who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Truth to Learn

Salvation comes through believing the message we proclaim, that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins.

Behind the Words

The word translated “disobedient” is apeitheō, which is made up of a (called a privative), meaning “not” or “without” and a form of peithō, meaning “to persuade.” Hence, apeitheō means “not persuaded” or “not believing.” This word is expressed as an aorist participle, indicating continuous action occurring at a time before the main verb (“preached” in the previous verse). Hence, Peter is saying that these who were preached to had been previously disbelieving.

The word “ark” comes from the Greek word kibōtos, which means “a box” or “a wooden chest.”

The word translated “saved” near the end of this verse is the Greek word diasōdzō, which is a compound of dia, used here as an intensifier and sōdzō, which means “to save.” Hence, it means “to thoroughly save.”

Meaning Explained

Continuing on from the previous verse, you will recall that it said Christ preached to the spirits in prison. These spirits are identified in today’s verse. They are the people who were disbelieving in the days that Noah was building the ark.

There are those who contend that there was no word for boat at the time of Noah so “box” was a reasonable word to describe it. I find that argument lacking in that there were rivers before the flood and likely were boats of some kind. Also, since this book was written by Peter (a fisherman), if he had intended that the vessel was a boat, he would have used the word for boat. Instead, he used the word for a box. A further reason that I believe the ark was a box not a boat, is that marine architects have demonstrated that a boat with curved sides and hull as we see in depictions of Noah’s Ark would not have held together under the stress of the turbulent flood waters. They have also demonstrated that the most stable craft in a turbulent ocean is a box of the approximate proportions of Noah’s Ark.

Not only did Noah accomplish physical salvation for himself and his family by building the ark, but his faith (his belief that God really was going to bring a flood), which was demonstrated by his construction project, was a saving faith. And, it appears that all the time that he was building the ark, Noah was proclaiming that God was about to bring a flood, but no one believed.

Therefore, Peter is saying, the spirit of Christ in Noah was proclaiming a message to unbelieving people all the time he was building the ark to the saving of his soul and those of his family. The spirits who were preached to are now in the prison of Hades awaiting the Great White Throne Judgment of the unsaved, which we read about in Revelation 20:11-15.

Application

Things are not much different today than they were in the days of Noah. Many in the world do not believe the message that we proclaim. But, like Noah, we must not give up proclaiming the truth, for Christ is coming back soon!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: Noah

2 Peter 2:5 – Pre-Flood Stubbornness

1 Peter 3:20 – The Message Proclaimed