I. Noah Built the Ark

Today I’m going to start off by telling you several stories. Listen to the topic I’ll be speaking of, and see if it has any connection to the themes we covered previously. These stories are not profound, you should probably all understand them. We have told these stories before, they are old stories. First up is the story of Noah. During the time of Noah, humankind was extremely corrupt: People worshiped idols, resisted God, and committed all manner of evil acts. Their evildoing was seen by God’s eyes, the words they spoke reached God’s ears, and God determined that He would destroy this human race with a flood, that He would obliterate this world. So were all people to be eradicated, not a single one to remain? No. One man was fortunate, he was favored by God, and would not be the target of God’s destruction: This man was Noah. Noah would remain after God had destroyed the world by flood. After determining that He would end this era and destroy this human race, God did something. What was it? One day, God called out to Noah from the sky. He said, “Noah, the evil of this human race has reached My ears, and I have determined to destroy this world by flood. You are to build an ark from gopher wood. I will give you the dimensions of the ark, and you must assemble every kind of living creature to place within the ark. When the ark is completed and a male and a female of every living creature created by God have been collected within, God’s day will come. At that time, I shall give you a signal.” After uttering these words, God departed. And after hearing God’s words, Noah began carrying out every single task that God had said, without omission. What did he do? He searched for the gopher wood of which God spoke, and the various materials necessary for building the ark. He also prepared for the gathering and nurturing of every kind of living creature. Both of these great undertakings were etched upon his heart. From when God entrusted the construction of the ark to Noah, at no point did Noah think to himself, “When is God going to destroy the world? When is He going to give me the signal that He will do so?” Rather than pondering such matters, Noah tried hard to commit each thing God had told him to memory, and then to carry each one out. After accepting what was entrusted to him by God, Noah set about carrying out and accomplishing the construction of the ark spoken of by God as if it was the most important thing in his life, without the slightest hint of carelessness. Days passed, years went by, day after day, year after year. God never put any pressure on Noah, but throughout all this time, Noah persevered in the important task entrusted to him by God. Every word and phrase that God had uttered was inscribed on Noah’s heart like words carved upon a stone tablet. Heedless of the changes in the outside world, of the ridicule of those around him, of the hardship involved, or of the difficulties he encountered, he persevered, throughout, in what had been entrusted to him by God, never despairing or thinking of giving up. God’s words were inscribed upon Noah’s heart, and they had become his everyday reality. Noah prepared each of the materials needed for building the ark, and the form and specifications for the ark commanded by God gradually took shape with each careful strike of Noah’s hammer and chisel. Throughout wind and rain, and regardless of how people mocked or slandered him, Noah’s life proceeded in this manner, year after year. God secretly watched Noah’s every action, without ever uttering another word to him, and His heart was touched by Noah. Noah, however, neither knew nor felt this; from start to finish, he simply built the ark, and assembled every kind of living creature, in unwavering fealty to God’s words. In Noah’s heart, there was no higher instruction that he ought to follow and carry out: God’s words were his lifelong direction and goal. So, no matter what God said to him, no matter what God asked him to do, commanded him to do, Noah completely accepted it, and committed it to memory; he regarded it as the most important thing in his life, and handled it accordingly. He not only did not forget, he not only fixed it in his mind, but also realized it in his daily life, using his life to accept and carry out God’s commission. And in this way, plank by plank, the ark was built. Noah’s every move, his every day, were dedicated to the words and commandments of God. It might not have seemed that Noah was performing a momentous undertaking, but in the eyes of God, everything Noah did, even every step he took to achieve something, every labor performed by his hand—they were all precious, and deserving of commemoration, and worthy of emulation by this mankind. Noah adhered to what had been entrusted to him by God. He was unwavering in his belief that every word uttered by God was true; of this, he had no doubt. And as a result, the ark came to completion, and every manner of living creature was able to live upon it. Before God destroyed the world, He gave Noah a signal, which told Noah the flood was imminent, and that he should board the ark without delay. Noah did exactly as God said. When Noah boarded the ark, when a great torrent poured from the skies, Noah saw that God’s words had come true, that His words had been fulfilled: God’s wrath had befallen the world, and no one could change all this.

How many years did it take Noah to build the ark? (120 years.) What does 120 years represent for the people of today? It is longer than a normal person’s lifetime. Longer, perhaps, than even two people’s lifetimes. And yet for these 120 years, Noah did one thing, and he did the same thing every day. In that pre-industrial time, in that era before information communication, in that age where everything relied on people’s two hands and physical labors, Noah did the same thing every day. For 120 years, he did not give up or stop. One hundred twenty years: how can we conceptualize this? Could anyone else in the human race have remained committed to doing one thing for 120 years? (No.) That no one could remain committed to doing one thing for 120 years is no surprise. And yet there was one man who, for 120 years, persevered, without alteration, in what God had entrusted to him, never complaining or giving up, impervious to any external environment, and ultimately completing it exactly as God had said. What kind of matter was this? In the human race, this was rare, uncommon—unique, even. In the long tide of human history, among all the human races that had followed God, this was entirely without analog. In terms of the immensity and difficulty of the engineering involved, the level of physicality and exertion it required, and the duration it entailed, this was no easy venture, which is why, when Noah did this thing, it was unique among mankind, and he is a model and exemplar to all who follow God. Noah had heard but a few messages, and at that time God had not expressed many words, and so there is no question that Noah did not understand many truths. He did not comprehend modern science or modern knowledge. He was an exceedingly ordinary man, an unremarkable member of the human race. Yet in one respect, he was unlike anyone else: He knew to obey God’s words, he knew how to follow and abide by God’s words, he knew what man’s station was, and he was able to truly believe and submit to God’s words—nothing more. These few simple tenets were sufficient to allow Noah to accomplish all that God had entrusted to him, and he persevered in this for not just a few months, nor several years, nor several decades, but for over a century. Isn’t this number astonishing? Who could have done this but Noah? (No one.) And why not? Some people say it is due to not understanding the truth—but that is not in accordance with fact. How many truths did Noah understand? Why was Noah capable of all this? The believers of today have read many of God’s words, they understand some truth—so why is it that they are incapable of this? Others say it is because of people’s corrupt dispositions—but did Noah not have a corrupt disposition? Why was Noah able to achieve this, but the people of today are not? (Because the people of today do not believe God’s words, they neither treat nor abide by them as the truth.) And why are they unable to treat God’s words as the truth? Why are they incapable of abiding by God’s words? (They do not have a God-fearing heart.) So when people have no understanding of the truth, and have not heard many truths, how does a God-fearing heart arise in them? (They must have humanity and conscience.) That’s right. In people’s humanity, two most precious things of all must be present: The first is conscience, and the second is reason of normal humanity. The possession of conscience and reason of normal humanity is the minimum standard for being a person; it is the minimum, most basic standard for measuring a person. But this is absent from the people of today, and so no matter how many truths they hear and understand, possessing a God-fearing heart is beyond them. So what is the essential difference between people today and Noah? (They have no humanity.) And what is the essence of this lack of humanity? (They are beasts and demons.) “Beasts and demons” doesn’t sound very nice, but this is in line with the facts; a more polite way to put it would be that they have no humanity. People without humanity and reason are not humans, they are beneath even beasts. That Noah was able to complete God’s commission was because when Noah heard God’s words, he was able to commit them to memory; for him, God’s commission was a lifelong undertaking, his faith was unwavering, his will unaltered for a hundred years. It was because he had a God-fearing heart, he was a real person, and he had the utmost reason that God entrusted the building of the ark to him. People with as much humanity and reason as Noah are very rare, it would be very hard to find another.

Noah was actually only able to do one thing. It was very simple: After hearing God’s words, he carried them out, and did so without compromise. He never had any doubts, nor did he ever give up. He kept doing whatever God asked him to do, he executed and implemented it in the way God told him to do it without compromise, without any consideration of why, or of his own profit or loss. He remembered God’s words: “God is going to destroy the world. You must build an ark without delay, and when it is completed and the floodwaters come, you shall all board the ark, and those who have not boarded the ark shall all perish.” He did not know when what God had spoken of would come to fruition, just that what is spoken of by God must be fulfilled, that all of God’s words are true, without a single false word among them, and that as to when they shall come to fruition, at what time they will materialize, that is up to God. He knew that his only task at that time was to firmly remember everything God had said, and then waste no time carrying it out. Such were Noah’s thoughts. This is what he thought, and this is what he did, and these are the facts. So, what is the essential difference between you and Noah? (When we hear the word of God, we do not go on to practice it.) This is behavior, what is the essential difference? (We lack humanity.) It is that Noah possessed the two things that are the very minimum that man should possess—the conscience and reason of normal humanity. You do not possess these things. Is it fair to say that Noah can be called a human being, and that you do not deserve to be called one? (Yes.) Why do I say this? The facts are right there: In terms of what Noah did, forget half, you couldn’t even do one tiny portion of it. Noah was able to persist for 120 years. How many years could you persist for? 100? 50? 10? Five? Two? Half a year? Who of you could persist for half a year? Going out and looking for the wood God spoke of, cutting it down, stripping the bark off, drying the wood, then cutting it into various shapes and sizes—could you keep that up for half a year? Most of you are shaking your heads—you couldn’t even manage half a year. So, what about three months? Some people say, “I think three months would be hard, too. I’m small and delicate. There are mosquitoes and other bugs in the woods, ants and fleas too. I couldn’t bear it if they all bit me. What’s more, chopping down wood every day, doing that dirty, tiring work, outside with the sun beating down and the wind whipping round, it wouldn’t take two days before I got sunburned. That’s not the kind of work I want to do—is there something easier I can be commanded to do?” Can you choose what God commands you to do? (No.) If you can’t keep it up for three months, do you have true submission? Do you possess the reality of submission? (No.) You couldn’t last three months. So, are there any who could last half a month? Some people say, “I can’t recognize gopher wood or chop down trees. I don’t even know which way the tree will fall when I cut it down—what if it falls on me? Besides, after cutting down the trees, at most I could carry one or two tree trunks. Any more and that would be the end of my back and shoulders, right?” You can’t even manage half a month. So, what can you do? What can you achieve when you are asked to obey God’s words, to submit to God’s words, to implement His words? Apart from using computers and giving orders, what are you capable of doing? If this were the time of Noah, would you be the one God called upon? Absolutely not! You would not be the one that God called upon; you would not be the one that God favored. Why? Because you are not someone who is able to submit after hearing God’s words. And if that’s not the kind of person you are, do you deserve to live? When the flood comes, do you deserve to survive? (No.) If you do not, then you will be destroyed. What kind of person are you, if you can’t even manage to implement God’s words for half a month? Are you someone who truly believes in God? If, after hearing God’s words, you are incapable of carrying them out, if you can’t last half a month, can’t even stand two weeks of hardship, what effect is that little bit of truth you understand having on you? If it doesn’t even have a bit of an effect of holding you in check, then for you, the truth is just some words, and it is of absolutely no use. What kind of person are you if you understand all those truths, yet when you are asked to implement God’s words and to suffer 15 days of hardship, you can’t stand it? In God’s eyes, are you a qualified created being? (No.) Considering Noah’s suffering and 120 years of perseverance, there’s more than just a small distance between you—there is no comparison. The reason God called upon Noah and entrusted all that He wished done to him was because, in God’s view, Noah was able to obey His words, he was a man who could be entrusted with a great undertaking, he was trustworthy, and someone who could make what God wished done a reality; in God’s eyes, this was a true person. And you? You cannot achieve any of these things. It is not hard to imagine what all of you are in God’s eyes. Are you human beings? Are you fit to be called human beings? The answer is clear: You are not! I shortened the time as much as possible, to 15 days, just two weeks, and not one of you said you could do it. What does this show? That your faith, loyalty, and submission all amount to nothing. What you believe to be faith, loyalty, and submission I see as nothing! You boast that you’re quite good, but in My view you are utterly lacking!

One of the things in the story of Noah that is most incredible, most admirable, most worthy of emulation, is his 120 years of perseverance, his 120 years of submission and loyalty. See, was God mistaken in His choice of person? (No.) God is the God who observes man’s innermost being. Amidst that vast sea of people, He chose Noah, He called upon Noah, and God was not mistaken in His choice: Noah lived up to His expectations, he successfully completed that which God had entrusted to him. This is testimony. This is what God wanted, this is testimony! But in you, is there any hint or suggestion of this? There is not. Clearly, such testimony is absent in you. What is revealed in you, what God sees, is the mark of shame; there is not one thing there that, when spoken of, can move people to tears. In regard to Noah’s various manifestations, especially his firm belief in God’s words that was without doubt or change for a century, and his perseverance to build the ark that did not waver for a century, and in regard to this faith and willpower of his, no one in modern times can compare, no one is a match for him. And yet, nobody gives two hoots about Noah’s loyalty and submission, no one believes that there is anything in this that is worthy of people’s cherishment and emulation. What, instead, is more important to people now? Repeating slogans and speaking of doctrines. They appear to understand many truths, and to have gained the truth—but compared to Noah, they have not achieved one hundredth, one thousandth, of what he did. How lacking they are! There’s a world of difference. From Noah’s building of the ark, have you discovered what kind of people are beloved by God? Just what kind of quality, heart, and integrity is found in those beloved by God? Do you possess all the things Noah did? If you feel that you have Noah’s faith and character, then it would be somewhat pardonable for you to lay down conditions with God, and to try and bargain with Him. If you feel that they are totally absent in you, then I’ll tell you the truth: Don’t flatter yourself—you’re nothing. In God’s eyes, you’re less than a maggot. And yet you still have the nerve to try to lay down conditions and bargain with God? Some people say, “If I’m less than a maggot, how about I serve as a dog in the house of God?” No, you are not fit for this. Why? You couldn’t even keep a good watch over the door of God’s house, so in My eyes, you are not even the equal of a guard dog. Are these words hurtful to you? Is hearing this unpleasant for you? This is not intended to hurt your self-esteem; it is a fact-based statement, an evidence-based assertion, and not in the least bit false. This is exactly how you act, exactly what is exhibited in you; this is exactly how you treat God, and it is also how you treat all that God entrusts to you. Everything I have said is true and comes from the heart. We’ll finish discussing the story of Noah here.