How to find favor with God in a corrupt Culture

 Read Genesis 6.

 "If there is a God in heaven why doesn't He do something about the evil in this world?"  The answer is He has, He is, and He will.  Such interventions by God may come immediately or may be implemented later at the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).  The absolute truth is that no sin goes unnoticed by the Omniscient God of heaven.  There is abundant evidence of this in the Bible.

 God does not overlook the evil behavior in the world.  In Genesis 6, the sinful condition of the world reached a point of being ripe for God's intervening judgment.  For an unspecified period of time, the LORD endured the corrupt condition of the culture (v.3) but no more.  "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (v.5)  "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence." (v.11)

The creation had become a grief to the Creator.  People refused to acknowledge, let alone, worship Him.  They had rejected any semblance of His moral code of behavior.  Such cultures have only one alternative and that is to become a law unto themselves, acting to please themselves, with no regard for the immediate or eternal consequences.  In addition, without spiritual understanding, such people unknowingly fall prey to the schemes of Satan.

 "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."  In a world that was totally corrupt, one man stood out from all the rest of the world's population.  

 What were those transferable characteristics that set Noah apart?  The text in verse 6 does not leave us in doubt.

1. He was "a righteous a man."  He lived according to what was right in God's sight, not the world around him.

2. He was "blameless in his generation."  This is how he behaved toward others.  No one had anything bad to say about him.

3. He "walked with God."  Like his great-grandfather, Enoch, he maintained a continual awareness of God's presence.  This guided everything he did.

 4. He "did all that God commanded him" (v.22).  Noah had respect for God's word and obeyed it completely.

Insights for believers.

1. God protects His own.  His wrath is not for those who put their trust in Him, but, rather, is reserved for those who reject His loving offer of grace.  (John 3:36)

2. God prepares for His own.  He gave Noah the plans for an Ark.  In John 14, Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)

3. God promises to take care of His own.  In verse 18, He made a covenant with Noah about the future.  Jesus said, "I will come again and receive you to Myself." (John 14:3)

4. God provides His own with all that is needed to carry out His will.  He made sure that Noah had skill, wood, food, and even brought all the creatures to him at just the right time to enter the Ark.  "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)