“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:8–9; all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible).

One can grow discouraged contemplating God’s righteousness and justice if we have a wrong perspective. We see words like “righteous” and “blameless” and conclude we cannot measure up to those standards. After all, most of us cannot claim that our official slogan is “I’ve made it,” “I’ve got it all together,” or “I never make any mistakes.” For most of us, our slogan is probably the title of a Britney Spears song: “Oops, I Did It Again.”

I thank God that His Word does not hide the failures of His people. We read that Noah was “righteous” and “blameless.” We hear about how Abraham is the father of our faith. Moses is depicted as one of the greatest men of all time. Scripture honors the great heroes of the faith, but it also broadcasts their sins and shortcomings as loudly as their accomplishments.

The Bible introduces Noah shortly after summarizing the spiritual condition of mankind:

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

The world was filled with violence (Gen. 6:11), wickedness, selfishness, and greed. It was so bad that Jesus compared the apostasy of the end times with the days of Noah:

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37–39).

In a world that ignored God, where everybody sought pleasure, Noah “walked with God.” Therefore, he found favor (a few translations, including the King James Version, say he found “grace”) with God, Who called him to build an ark and preserve a remnant of living things while God judged the world’s sin.

However, Noah was not perfect. Genesis 9:20–27 tells us that he planted a vineyard after the flood and got drunk on some wine he made afterward. While drunk, he lay naked in his tent and was seen by his son Ham. In response, Ham’s brothers, Shem and Japheth, slipped in with their backs turned so they could cover their father without seeing him. It is not completely clear what the great shame and secret are here. It was not the wine: Shem and Japheth covered their father’s nakedness; they did not snatch his stash of home-brewed booze. Perhaps the Bible is politely not describing something that would have been obvious to ancient readers. Maybe Noah was doing something inappropriate in his drunken stupor. Maybe Ham did something with his father. Sometimes the Bible leaves out some details so that we can focus on our situation rather than critique the choices of the patriarchs. Noah was drunk, and whatever he did at that time would have humiliated the family if they still had any neighbors.

Whatever it was, Noah’s righteousness was not perfection. Great men of God often made big mistakes. Abraham “believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). However, Abraham would go on to lie about his wife, saying she was his sister, risking to have her taken in marriage by another man. Moses committed murder and later made excuses why he could not lead the Israelites. King David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and ancestor of Jesus, committed adultery, conspiracy to murder, and other sins and crimes. None were perfect, but all would come to repentance as they grew in faith toward God.

A righteous person is not perfect. It is someone who comes to faith in God through Jesus Christ and desires to walk with Him. We might stumble. We might struggle. We might lose our focus at times. But, we can always return to Him in faith and receive forgiveness and renewal. No matter how you have sinned, simply confess your mistakes to God, repent, receive His forgiveness, and continue to walk with Him. Do not give up.

“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

May we all grow in faith, love, hope, and knowledge of Christ Jesus.

How do you think God wants to reveal more of His righteousness through you? Share your thoughts by clicking the “Leave a comment” link below.

Copyright © 2020 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.