One Who Comforts
And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. Genesis 5:29
Read Genesis 5:25-32
The birth of Noah brings us again into the pre-flood era of which we have so little knowledge. Yet when we listen to the prophecy spoken by Lamech at his son Noah’s birth, we hear many familiar notes. Lamech speaks of the curse that lay over the earth on account of man’s fall into sin. In doing this, he directs our attention to the toil and difficult labour that eradicated everything reminiscent of Paradise. He reminds us how mothers bear their children in pain and sorrow. We are still well aware of this today, in spite of our medical advances.
Still people turn their backs on God more and more. In this regard, let us not forget that when Noah entered the ark, he did so only with his own family; the other family members of Lamech all perished. Lamech clearly saw that this was going to happen to his family. Moreover, especially during his lifetime, graves were dug for Adam and many of his children.
Was Noah able to bring comfort during the dark days in which he lived? It is true that he became a preacher of righteousness. He would also be called to build the ark. Yet the following saying was true of him and his posterity, “The wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5) This did not improve after the Flood. The human race needed Someone else to come ─ The Comforter. He would testify of the one and only true Saviour, the Lord Jesus, the eternal Ark, Who alone can save sinners.
Thought: Only those who are in Christ can experience true, lasting comfort. Is this also your experience?
Psalter 330:2, 3 (based on Psalm 119) Thou, Lord, art just in all Thy ways, And faithful Thou chasteneth me; I pray Thee, let Thy promised grace Thy servant’s help and comfort be. Show mercy, Lord, that I may live, For in Thy law is all my joy; While those who wrong me are rebuked, Thy precepts shall my thought employ.