“And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.”
-Genesis 7:5
Then it says again in verse 16, “And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.” This picture of Noah building the ark, following God’s instructions, we see this phrase repeatedly, “Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.” As I read Genesis 7:5, I’m just struck, because again, kind of like Enoch in Genesis chapter five, I want this phrase to be true of my life. Don’t you want it to be true of your life?
God knows what is best for us. In light of this, we must obey all that He has commanded.
I don’t want it to be said, “Yeah, and he did some of what I commanded him. David did part of the things I commanded him to do.” Like no, I want God to say of me, “He did all that I commanded him to do. Everything I told him to do, he did.” Now obviously I know I’m not perfect, and I would not presume that any one of us can be perfect, but isn’t this what we want to be true in our lives? When we think about the commands of God, and what God calls us to do in our lives, we want to do it all, right? Not just so we can check off boxes, because we know that’s good for us. It was good for Noah to do exactly what God said to do.
This Verse Reminds Us To Listen To God’s Commands
When a massive flood is coming that’s going to destroy the whole earth, you want to follow with pretty precise details, exactly what God, who’s bringing the flood, is telling you to do in order to be saved from the flood. This was good for him, it was wise for him to do all that God commanded him to do. He was thankful that he did all that God commanded him to do.
There will never be a time when you or I are not thankful for doing all that God commanded us to do. We won’t ever regret it, will never think, “Ah, I wish I hadn’t done what God told me to do there.” That will never, ever happen. Ultimately, in eternity we will know, we will know with 100% certainty that everything God called, commanded us to do, we should have done. It was good for us to do, it was right for us to do, it was helpful for us, for us to do that, and ultimately glorifying to him, and good for others. We don’t ever have to question what God is calling, commanding us to do in his word, by his spirit.
Genesis 7:5 Asks God To Lead Us Through The Gospel
Let’s pray today, God help us, help us to walk in obedience to you. Lord, help us to turn from the foolishness of thinking that we know better than you what is best for our lives. That’d be like Noah saying to you God like, “I know how to build a boat better than you.” Or, “I can take this on my own,” like how foolish would that have been?
God help us not to be that foolish in our lives today. Help us as we read your word to obey it. Help us as you lead us by your spirit all throughout today. Then help us to do all that you put on our hearts to do, as you give us opportunities to share the gospel.
And help us to speak the gospel as you call us to love our wives, or our husbands, or our kids, our friends, our family members, or our coworkers in this way, or that way. Help us to do it God, as you’ve called us to be holy. And to honor and glorify you through obedience in so many different ways to your commands. God help us to do it. Help us to do all that you command us to do today. Help us not to doubt your commands, your leadership in our lives. Finally, help us to obey. May it be said of us, that we did all that you put on our hearts to do, all that you told us in your word to do today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
