Lesson 4: Noah's Wife - God is Faithful

Hello Everyone,

I pray that everyone is well and is having a blessed week.  I hope that you all have gleaned something from the study of Noah's wife thus far.  Many women expressed that they benefited from writing in their journals this week.  I have maintained the habit of writing in a journal for over 20 years.  Writing in a journal helps me to constantly evaluate myself.  I sometimes read old journals and I thank God for how He brought me out.  It also allows me to see how faithful God has been to me; in all my personal craziness, He is still faithful.

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday and this week is resurrection week.  I wonder what this truly means to all of us.  Is it more than a new dress, shoes, an Easter basket and egg hunts?  My family and I decided to study the meaning of lent for the 40 days from Ash Wednesday leading up to Resurrection Sunday.  There is a scripture text and a devotional application attached to each day of the study.  Many people practice religious rituals of fasting to honor and acknowledge the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2).  However, this study of the Lent season revealed that the main purpose of lent is to assess and consecrate ourselves for Christ.  It should be a time of reflection, sacrifice, and consecration.  So if we are fasting from food and we are filling that craving with anything other than God, then the sacrifice is in vain (Mark 7:7-10).

As we move toward the end of this study about Noah's wife and resurrection Sunday, I hope that you all are consecrating yourselves and truly reflecting how faithful God is, despite ourselves.

Resource

Genesis 8: 15-18, 9:1-3

15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth".  18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.  I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

Lesson

Noah's wife was by his side, every step of the way.  God designed her to be his perfect match.  She was designed to support Noah through his journey of his life (Genesis 2:18).  The fact that God made man and woman is a mere implication that Noah would not have been able to complete this journey without his wife.  He would not have had his son's.  He needed a helper to bare his sons and help him along the way.  Noah and his wife honors God divine design of order (Genesis 1:27).

Through Noah's wife practicing obedience, she gained the favor of God.  She was one of the only women to board the ark and survive the flood.  God chose her offspring to repopulate the earth (Genesis 1:28, 9:1-3).  Noah's blessing was her blessing.

God is faithful.  He gave Noah the knowledge, ingenuity and strength to build an ark that kept every being safe in order to repopulate the earth.  He also gave Noah a submissive and obedient wife with a heart to obey God and an honor her husband.

We are quick to lose sight of the point of our purpose.  We were created for His purpose (Ephesians 2:10).  Noah's wife submitted to the plan God had for her life (Jeremiah 29:11).

As Easter Sunday rapidly approaches, I pray that we all are truly consecrating ourselves to be more like Christ.  I hope that we are surrendering to God's will for our lives.  I pray that we are practicing submission and obedience to the will of the Lord.  Our connection to Him requires us to live in the full faith of God (PKJ 2014).  God is truly faithful and capable of doing exceedingly and abundantly above all (Ephesians 3:20).  We must trust His will for our lives.


Application

This week we should truly consecrate ourselves to Christ.  The Pastor of our church has asked us to fast at least one day this week in order to acknowledge the sacrifice that was made for us by Christ.  In this time, he has requested that we read God's word, pray, and praise the Lord for His power.  If we hold His precepts, practice obedience to His word and live in His principles, we will definitely see the glory of God.

I am going to make that same request of you this week.  Pick one day and fast for the Lord.  Spend extra time reading His word, sitting quietly to hear from Him, and praise Him.   We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37).

Have a blessed week!

Be blessed,

T. Carter

All bible verses are extracted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible. YouVersion 2014.

James, Pastor Kevin (2014). No Longer a Prisoner to the Past. New Community Bible Fellowship. Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible.  Thomas Nelson Publishing.  Nashville, Tennessee