Noah is recognized as a faithful and effective preacher. He stood out in his generation by being convicted by a dream. His discovery of grace is the same stuff as Abraham’s justification (for believing the promise of chiidren like the stars in the sky in number). If anything else would have turned the tide of badness pouring out of humans it was not the law or the threat of death.
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents me that I have made them. (8) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:7-8
The source of badness is the human heart. The things we want are usually responsible for the attitudes we develop and the things we do.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5
Thousands of years later human hearts are in the same condition.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 15:19
Wbat was Noah looking for? Change. He bought the vision that showed him a deluge of water, a boat, and the adventure of a lifetime. Let us not turn Noah into a rebellious descendant of Abraham. He was not, being Abraham’s ancestor. Which means that Noah was not:
eating kosher
circumcised the eighth day
A Covenant-buster
An observer of festivals
A persecutor of prophets
Change, repentance, growth and discipline are the signs of God’s business. Grace does not help any be such a hypocrite, pretending not to change. Only God remains the same. Discovery is experience.
Life is Fun, But Not a Joke 