Who is willing to go for me, who can I send?
Writer: Sophia
In Noah’s times, God had waited for 120 years for the people to repent; ultimately, only several people who followed Noah were saved. Now – our age, from the time of prophet Isa, God has patiently waited for us for more than two thousand years; how many people will be saved? Now, if due to mankind’s heinous sin, God wants to carry out judgement again, will you be one of the few people who were being saved as in Noah’s times? Will the Lord choose you to be the Noah of this age to build the ark?
Why did the Lord give Noah the mission of building the ark?
Please look at these few verses in the Quran:
Surah 11:25-27 25 We sent Noah to his people (with a mission): “I have come to you with a Clear Warning: 26“That ye serve none but Allah: Verily I do fear for you the penalty of a grievous day.” 27 But the chiefs of the Unbelievers among his people said: “We see (in) thee nothing but a man like ourselves: Nor do we see that any follow thee but the meanest among us, in judgment immature: Nor do we see in you (all) any merit above us: in fact we thing ye are liars!”
- The Scripture tells us that Noah had several characteristics: frank, honest and fear God.
Those people around him also had a few characteristics:
-They did not regard him as a prophet, but they considered him as a very ordinary mortal.
-The people who ridiculed him put him in the same category as the lowly people, and even said he was a liar.
However, regardless of how his own relatives and neighbour commented about him, hostile towards him, Noah would still honestly proclaim the revelation received from the Lord. Precisely because of fearing the Lord, he dared to tell the truth in whatever circumstance. Are you a daring person in speaking the truth?
In the Quran, there is a surah named after Prophet Noah – Surah 71
Surah 71: 5-9 5 He said: “O my Lord! I have called to my People night and day: 6 “But my call only increases (their) flight (from the Right). 7 “And every time I have called to them, that Thou mightest forgive them, they have (only) thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance. 8 “So I have called to them aloud; 9 “Further I have spoken to them in public and secretly in private,
2. Noah’s calling
This is how Noah treated his people who were hostile and ridiculed, insulted and slandered him:
Noah kept calling– my calling – every time I called – called to them aloud – publicly gave teaching guidance – admonished in private.
3. The truth from Nabi Isa
<Injil> Matthew 5: 38-44 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
How would you treat those people who oppose you, insult you? What would be your attitude? How do you respond to others’ careless words that mock you? These are the scriptural words from Nabi Isa; it has been used by many modern people as a tool to attack, but this is precisely the tool that God is happy about, it is also what Noah had practised.
How long is Noah’s persistence in doing this?
<Torah> Genesis 6: 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
It is not only holding on for one or two days, one or two years, Noah had experienced 120 years of rejection. We may face many setbacks and attacks in our daily lives, we have to ask: we experience these failures and defeats because of holding fast to the truth, or it is due to depravity of our own life? People who guard the truth will encounter a lot of difficulties and danger, because the present age is evil and adulterous, we are fighting an invisible war, and the victory of this war is not won by using weapons nor the power of flesh, but it is the willpower to accomplish by the same nature as Allah SWT of being most gracious and most merciful and by holding fast to the truth till the end. If there is no mercy in your life, if you do not understand what it means to love your enemy, if you are not a person who loves and practises the truth, then you will certainly be the same as Noah’s people, become someone that goes against the truth and hostile towards those who practise truth.
Why Noah could hold fast to the mission?
During that generation, the world was corrupted before God, the earth was filled with violence. When men were committing sins and doing evil everywhere at that time, Noah was able to keep his hands clean and kept a pure heart, not contaminated. He had to bear a lot of mockery, cynicism and got no understanding from others, and even lost a lot of benefits. Many of us cannot bear when others fail to understand us and mock us, cannot stand to lose benefits, may as well just compromise since everyone is like this. In this generation where everyone does evil, a righteous man, a man who pursues God is a lonely man. No one understands him, no one agrees with him because everybody is committing sins, everybody walks on the same path except him who follows the way of life that is pleasing to God, to live a holy life.
No one likes to be lonely, we like to have friends, accompanied by people who understand us, otherwise it is very tormenting. During the period of Warring States in ancient China, there was a well-known figure named Qu Yuan. He was a scholar of the state of Chu. When he saw the corruption of court officials, the ruin of the Chu people, he repeatedly advised King Huai of Chu to rectify and tidy up the laws and discipline of the imperial court, to uphold good governance, or else the whole nation will be subjugated. Good advice is always hurting the ears. Not only did King Huai refuse to listen to him, he hated him. All the others laughed at him, pushed him aside. Under the state of extreme loneliness, he said: “Everyone is drunk but I am awake”, and then he drowned himself in a river. He did not want to follow the crowd and was not willing to endure this kind of loneliness, so he chose to commit suicide. Until now, every fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar – the Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate Qu Yuan, the distinctive and righteous man.
The common problem with men is not able to be faithful till the end. We are always very intense in everything we do initially, but after a while, it will cool down. We cannot persevere even for just a few decades, but Noah had persevered for 500 years. (See Torah – Genesis 5:32) After 500 years, God intervened. Therefore, we are different from Qu Yuan, we have hope because we have God.
Noah endured a very long and lonely 500 years. It was 500 years of holiness and faithfulness; he faithfully lived the life that was pleasing to God, not following the people around him in committing sins. Because of this, God remembered him, used him, and gave him the mission of building the ark – a fairly large project. There has always been the scriptural principle: only those who are faithful in little things, the Lord will give them big things.
<Injil> Luke 16: 10-13 10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
A thousand miles begins with a short step. Do not think that it is fine to take things easy in normal days, and we can shine for God at significant moments. This is not possible. In our daily lives, when dealing with trivial things, if we don’t follow the way of the Lord and live a life that is pleasing to Him, then don’t even think we will do great things and shine brightly for God. In fact, why are we not used by God? Is it because we are simply not faithful even in little things? Is it because in our daily lives, we don’t faithfully live a holy life, a life that is pleasing to the Lord?
What is your choice?
The meaning of Noah’s name is: rest in peace and be comforted. There are two kinds of rest that mankind can get from the Lord:
The first type is Noah’s rest: due to guarding holiness and truth, one gets to rest – salvation.
The second type is the rest of evil people: one commits sins thus not pleasing the Lord and suffers judgement – perish.
In other words, you are either like Noah who lived daily by walking with God while you live holding fast to holiness, facing things with courage, breaking traditions; or like Noah’s people who followed the crowd blindly, in future will face judgement and perish. When you do not choose to walk with God, you will certainly have the same ending as Noah’s people, because this is the fact that He told us via the Scripture.
<Injil>Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
You may often attend worship, fast and go to lessons, but the Scripture tells us it is useless even if you say ‘Allah hu akbar, Allah hu akbar’ all day long. Here, nabi Isa emphasized, you are willing to acknowledge Allah SWT, willing to enter into the kingdom of Allah, willing to be saved, very good! However, these are not enough. How can we be saved? To obey God’s will – free from sin, not to follow the crowd blindly, hold fast to the life of holiness and reverence.
Conclusion: the calling continues: who is willing to go for me, who can I send?
God is looking for those people whom He can entrust with the mission of building the ark, to save this evil and adulterous generation. We have to remember that in the days of Noah, those who were saved were those who participated in building the ark. If you are willing to answer God’s call, then starting from now onwards, you must prepare yourself to become like Noah; faithful till the end to accomplish the mission that God has entrusted to you! May the Lord bless all His servants that hold fast to the truth!
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Note:
- All Al-Quran verses are sourced from English Translation of Al-Quran by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, with thanks.
- All Injil and Torah verses are sourced from New American Standard Bible with Codes (1995), with thanks.