How m
uch ridicule have you put up with because you=re a believer? If we were to ask that question of people throughout history, we’d get many different answers. No doubt the Egyptians ridiculed God’s people as the Israelites were making mud bricks. Daniel and his friends were likely taunted because of their unwavering faith. Jesus was mocked by the Roman soldiers and the thief on the cross. Peter was accused of drunkenness on Pentecost. Since Bible times God=s people have endured insults and ridicule.
Times are not much different today. Just ask a young Christian man or woman attending a state university. Ask a Little Leaguer who refuses to listen to dirty jokes. Ask a businessman who refuses to lie to close a big deal. Ask a teen who gets ridiculed for wearing a Christian T-shirt.
Taunting God’s people will never go away. Jesus assured us of that when he said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).
Once again God provides us with a faithful example in his Word. It is Noah, the man who stood alone in his wicked world.
Noah was five hundred years old when he fathered his first son. Then he was given the order to build a boat, but not just any boat. This one would be over 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 3 stories high, something that had never been attempted before. Providing the lumber alone was an unbelievable project. Who of us could ever have stood up to the task?
Was it any wonder that Noah was a target of ridicule when the neighbors saw his project? “Noah! Where are you going to float that thing, . . . there’s no water here?” “Hey, you up there, gonna clear another forest today?” “Hey, Noah, it’s gonna sink!” Surely the laughs continued year after year.
Yet faithful Noah, the man who was asked to do the impossible, persevered. Despite it all, he kept measuring, sawing, and hammering late into the nights. Perhaps he felt the loneliness of the psalm writer who said, “I have become like a bird alone on a roof” (Psalm 102:7).
What do you think went through Noah’s mind as he heard the mocking and scoffing? Did he ever want to give up? Did he ever wonder if it was all worth it?
Perhaps we can find those answers in the Genesis account of the flood. Three times we find similar statements, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (6:8). “Noah was a righteous man . . . and he walked with God” (6:9). “I have found you righteous in this generation” (7:1). We find a similar comment in the New Testament: “By his faith [Noah] condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).
It took faith. God saw the righteousness of Noah in his belief of the gospel promise that his Lord and Savior would one day forgive his sins and take him to heaven. This was the lesson that Noah preached to those who mocked him. “[God] protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Noah accepted the ridicule and loneliness because of his great faith. That faith told Noah that there was more to life than one’s acquaintance with this sinful world. There is a brighter hope in store for us beyond our worldly suffering. Peter said it well, “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:16).
Lord God, grant us the strength to withstand the assaults of the unbelieving world. Teach us how to clothe ourselves with your armor. Amen.
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