Finding Favor

 “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As we look at our world, it’s quite distressing. We see the evils that were committed in the past, along with the ongoing fallout that’s resulted. We see the evils committed all around us today. And these evils, it seems, only grow worse with time.

The same, however, is true as we look at ourselves. As we honestly search our heart and our lives, we find nothing other than sin. And our guilt is abundantly clear.

Considering this, I’m always amazed at the way humanity is described in the sixth chapter of Genesis. We’re told, in verse 5, that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. This tells us that man had nothing good left in him, and the only thing that remained was sin.

It was so bad that God regretted making man on the earth. He was sorry that he’d made man. And he was grieved in his heart.

Yet, although this is true, we’re told that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He found acceptance in the eyes of the Lord.

He’s described in verse 9 as a righteous man. He’s described to us as a just man. He’s described to us as blameless in his generation. And we’re told that he walked with God. 

That’s quite the description, and it’s quite the contrast with the rest of mankind.  But Noah was not perfect, of course. He was descended from Adam and Eve and, for this reason, shared the same sinful nature that we now bear.

His sin, his imperfection, is made clear to us after the flood, after he and his family came off of the ark. We see in Genesis 9 that he became drunk and immodest, lying naked in his tent. And we see that, as his nakedness was seen and made known, he cursed his son for doing so.

Why, then, did he find favor in the eyes of the Lord? How is he described to us as righteous and blameless? And why did he escape the Lord’s judgment?

We find the answer to this in Hebrews 11. In verse 7, of that chapter, we read: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” 

Noah found favor with God because of his faith. He found favor as he believed the Word that God had spoken to him. And, in this way, he became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

His righteousness, you see, is not something that he possessed in himself. It was given to him. It was a gift of God received by faith.

And the same is true of us. We find favor with God and we are declared righteous not by what we do. We find favor with God, and we receive his grace, by faith.

When Wronged

 “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Each of us has, at one time or another, been wronged. We’ve been violated or treated poorly. And, in those moments, we desire justice.

We want the wrong made right. We want the guilty to receive their due. And we want to be released from any resulting fallout of their actions.

Recognizing this desire, recognizing this tendency, the passage above stands out. It stands out as the description of Joseph’s character is brought before us. And it stands out because two of these aspects don’t seem to fit together.

We read in the first chapter of Matthew that, when Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, and before they had come together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. The natural assumption, on Joseph’s part, is that Mary had been unfaithful to him. As she was pregnant, and they’d had no relations, the only natural explanation is that she’d been impregnated by another man.

Although we’re told that this pregnancy had occurred in a supernatural way, this would be difficult for anyone to believe. It would be difficult for anyone to accept. In our experience, after all, there is only one way that a woman becomes pregnant.

After hearing this, we’re told that Joseph was a just man. We’re told that he was a righteous man. And we take this to mean that he was a man who was observant of the Word of God and whose faith was expressed in his life.

Our assumption, as we read this, is that he would want the law of God to be upheld. Our assumption is that he would want this apparent wrong to be righted. Our assumption is that he would want to be free of the consequences of Mary’s presumed actions.

However, in addition to being a just man, he was unwilling to put her to shame. He was unwilling to disgrace her. And, for this reason, he resolved to divorce her quietly. 

Although he was going to divorce her due to her apparent unfaithfulness, he wasn’t going to make a big stink of it. He wasn’t going to drag Mary through the mud. He wasn’t going to see that she received the consequences prescribed by the law.

The law of God, you see, said that the adulterer was to be put to death. It said that the adulterer was to be stoned. And by handling this quietly, Joseph sought to protect Mary from this fate.

This is very much in line with the nature and the character of God. It’s in line with his dealings with us. Although we’re sinners and deserve his judgment, he doesn’t want us to suffer this fate. And he’s done everything necessary to spare us from it.

What, then, does this mean for us? What does it mean for us as we seek to be just in the face of wrongdoing? What does it mean for us as we seek to live righteously in a world of sin?

It means loving those who have wronged us. It means being gracious and merciful toward them. Instead of receiving what they deserve, it means desiring that they’d receive the blessing they do not deserve.