Did Noah Warn People About the Coming Flood? | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

We know that Noah was described as a preacher (or herald) of righteousness (2 Peter:2:5), and that the act of preparing the ark was a witness in and of itself of coming judgment. Especially since Hebrews:11:7 states: “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.”

However, Scripture often indicates that even if no one repented, this would not have absolved Noah of warning people about the coming judgment. Think of Jeremiah who preached to Judah for 40 years and apparently only his scribe Baruch and a court eunuch Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (likely a title “the king’s eunuch” rather than a personal name, Jeremiah 38) listened to his call for repentance. Ebed-melech heard the Word of the Lord and repented and became a true believer/follower of God (Jeremiah:39:16–18). In this regard, Jeremiah and Noah are both alike—they were “preachers of righteousness” who ended up having a “ministry of condemnation.” Jeremiah even complained that he did not want to preach “disaster,” but God compelled him with anguish if he did not (Jeremiah:20:8–9).

Furthermore, even though we do not know whether God ever directly communicated a need to Noah to warn the people of his day about the coming flood, it would be consistent with other biblical examples. Think of Ezekiel who was told by God that he was required to warn people of divine judgment.

“So, you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel:33:7–9).

Therefore, the pattern in Scripture of someone blessed with divine forewarnings of judgment is that they felt burdened (or directly commanded) by the Lord to share that message and were told they would suffer (or suffer blame) if they did not. It is entirely consistent then to believe Noah was under the same burden to warn people of coming judgment. However, since we are not directly told one way or the other, we can only make biblically based hypotheses on this subject and not dogmatic proclamations. 

Hypothetically, if the whole world believed Noah and repented, God would not have needed to send the flood as a judgment against the world’s wickedness. We see similar instances of God relenting from promised punishment in that he would have spared Sodom for as few as 10 righteous men, and he did not destroy Nineveh when they repented. Additionally, the ark had plenty of extra room if only a few had repented. However, whenever we deal with hypotheticals, especially when we have limited data, we are on shaky ground. What we do know is that the ark had plenty of room for many who would have believed and all the animals Noah was commanded to bring on board.

It appears that there is a twofold answer to this question of others outside of Noah’s family boarding the ark. The size of the ark was such that it could have accommodated thousands more people.

However, we need to recall that based on the prophecy given in Genesis:6:13–22 (specifically verse 18) obviously given to Noah before the ark was built, God had said that Noah and his family only would be saved: “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” Since God is omniscient, he knew that mankind would continue in their wickedness and refuse to board (or even acknowledge) the ark. God also knew that the few righteous people (like Methuselah) would die before the flood came.

It appears from the size of the ark and its excess capacity that God may have wanted Noah to prepare for and see how many more could have been on the ark, but God knew that the space would not be used for that purpose. However, we cannot know this for sure based on Scripture alone….But in any event, Noah knew that it was not “lack of space” that kept people off the ark—it was their own love of sin and unbelief in God (and God’s holiness in judging his creatures). So, the answer to this question is that it appears that God did not directly invite anyone but Noah and his family aboard the ark. And as far as Noah knew, he and his immediate family members would be the only humans on board (per Genesis:6:18). Had someone repented and believed Noah though, God could have extended the invitation to them; however, God already knew this would not happen. I know this thought process seems antithetical, yet man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty and omniscience are not mutually exclusive. God is sovereign, and yet, man is responsible. Had there been someone who repented, God could have told Noah that his family and others would board the ark with Noah’s family.

Noah knew that it was not “lack of space” that kept people off the ark—it was their own love of sin and unbelief in God (and God’s holiness in judging his creatures).

Some have objected to this based on Genesis:6:13 and 17 where God promises to destroy all flesh on the earth. But it is possible that this also would have served a dual purpose; divine condemnation for those who ignored the warning but perhaps also repentance for those who may have been older and died before the flood came or for those who repented at the time of the flood. God can certainly relent from punishing repentant sinners, as seen with Nineveh in Jonah’s time.

But also consider Numbers:14:11–12 (recounted by Moses in Deuteronomy 9) where God tells Moses that he will destroy the Israelites because of their continued rebellion, yet Moses pleaded with God on this occasion (and several others), and God lessened his punishment only to immediately punish the 10 unbelieving spies and eventually all the Israelites over 40 years old (Numbers:14:20–38). God can and does change the parameters of his just punishments when he wishes to extend mercy. There is no greater example of this in Scripture than Christ’s death on the cross, the just for the unjust (Romans:5:6–10; Ephesians:2:12–13; 1 Peter:3:18).

https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/did-noah-warn-people-about-coming-flood/