At the last gathering, we fellowshipped on the tenth item of the various manifestations of antichrists, “They despise the truth, brazenly flout principles, and ignore the arrangements of God’s house.” What details did we fellowship on specifically? (God has mainly fellowshipped how to approach God’s word.) Is this related to item ten? (Yes. Because, in the item “They despise the truth, brazenly flout principles, and ignore the arrangements of God’s house,” one of antichrists’ behaviors is they merely listen to that which Christ says, but neither obey nor submit to it. They don’t obey God’s words, and they don’t practice according to God’s words either. In the last gathering, God fellowshipped on how to approach God’s word, how to obey God’s word, and then how to implement and execute God’s word.) All of this is understood, right? During our previous gathering I told two stories: One was the story of Noah, and one was that of Abraham. These are two classic stories from the Bible. Many people know about and understand these stories, but after having understood them, very few people know how to approach the words and requirements of God. So, what was the main objective of our fellowshipping on these two stories? It was to make people know how, as a person and as a created being, they should approach God’s words and requirements—and know the position that a created being should take, and the attitude they should have, when faced with God’s requirements, and when listening to God’s words. These are the main things. This is the truth that people are intended to come to know and understand when we fellowshipped on these two stories last time. So, after we fellowshipped on these two stories, are you now clear about how to submit to Christ and obey His words, about what attitude people should have, and what their perspective and position should be, toward Christ, and toward the words spoken by Christ, as well as about how people should approach the words and requirements that come from God, and what truths should be understood within this? (Number one is being sincere with Christ, number two is learning to respect Christ, and number three is obeying His words, listening to the words of God with our hearts.) You remember the rules. If I hadn’t spoken of these rules, would you have been able to distill them from the two stories I told? (The only thing we can conclude is that we must obey whatever God says.) All you can distill are simple, dogmatic, and theoretical ways of acting; you are still incapable of understanding or knowing the truths within this that people should seek and understand. So let us fellowship, in detail, on the stories of Noah and Abraham.

I. Noah’s Attitude Toward God’s Words

Let us first talk about the story of Noah. Last gathering, we broadly covered the causes and outcomes of the story of Noah. Why were we not more specific? Because most people already know the causes, outcomes, and specific details of this story. If there are any details you aren’t very clear on, you can find them in the Bible. What we are fellowshipping on are not the particular details of this story, but about how Noah, the protagonist of the story, treated the words of God, what aspects of the truth people should understand from this, and what God’s attitude was, what He thought, and what His assessment of Noah was after He saw every move that Noah had made. These are the details we should fellowship on. God’s attitude toward Noah and His assessment of what Noah did are sufficient to tell us just what standards God requires of mankind, of those who follow Him, of those He saves. Is there truth to be sought in this? Where there is truth to be sought, it is worth dissecting, pondering, and fellowshipping in detail. We won’t go over the specific details of Noah’s story. What we will fellowship on today is the truth to be sought in Noah’s various attitudes toward God, as well as the requirements and intentions of God that people should understand from God’s assessment of Noah.

Noah was an ordinary member of humankind who worshiped and followed God. When God’s words came upon him, his attitude was not to move slowly, delay, or take his time. Instead, he listened to God’s words with great seriousness, he listened to God’s every utterance with great care and attention, diligently listening to and trying to remember everything that God commanded of him, not daring to be inattentive in the slightest. In his attitude toward God, and God’s words, was a God-fearing heart, which showed that God had a place in his heart, and that he was submissive to God. He listened closely to what God said, to the content of God’s words, to what God asked him to do. He listened attentively—not analyzing, but accepting. There was no refusal, antipathy, or impatience in his heart; instead, he calmly, carefully, and attentively noted, in his heart, every word and thing pertaining to God’s requirements. After God gave him each instruction, Noah recorded, in detail and by his own means, everything that God had said and entrusted to him. Then he put aside his own labors, broke with the routines and plans of his old life, and began preparing for all that God had entrusted him to do, and all the supplies required for the ark that God had asked him to build. He dared not neglect any of God’s words, or any of what God asked, or any detail of what was required of him in God’s words. By his own means, he recorded the main points and particulars of all that God asked and entrusted to him, then pondered and reflected on them, over and over. Next, Noah went in search of all the materials that God had asked him to prepare. Naturally, after each instruction God gave him, he, in his own way, made detailed plans and arrangements for all that God had entrusted to him and instructed him to do—and then, step by step, he implemented and executed his plans and arrangements, and every detail and individual step of what God asked. Throughout the whole process, everything Noah did, whether great or small, whether remarkable or not in man’s eyes, was what he had been instructed to do by God, and was what had been spoken of and required by God. From all that was exhibited in Noah after he accepted God’s commission, it is evident that his attitude toward God’s words was not one of just listening, and nothing more—much less was it the case that after hearing these words, Noah chose a time when he was in a good mood, when the environment was right, or when the timing was favorable to carry this out. Instead, he put aside his own labors, broke with his life’s routine, and made the construction of the ark that God had ordered the biggest priority in his life and existence from then onward and implemented it accordingly. His attitude toward God’s commission and God’s words was not indifferent, perfunctory, or capricious, much less was it one of rejection; instead, he listened carefully to God’s words, and put his heart into remembering and pondering them. His attitude toward God’s words was one of acceptance and submission. To God, only this is the attitude that a true created being should have toward His words which He desires. There was no refusal, no perfunctoriness, no willfulness in this attitude, nor was it adulterated by human intent; it was, wholly and completely, the attitude that a created human being ought to have.

After accepting God’s commission, Noah began planning how to create the ark that God had entrusted to him. He sought out various materials, and the people and tools necessary for building the ark. Naturally, this involved a lot of things; it wasn’t as easy and simple as suggested by the text. In that pre-industrial age, an age in which everything was done by hand, by means of physical labor, it isn’t difficult to imagine how hard it was to build such an ark, such a colossus, to complete the task of building an ark as entrusted by God. Of course, how Noah planned, prepared, designed, and found various things like materials and tools were not simple matters, and Noah may never have seen such a massive boat. After accepting this commission, reading between the lines of God’s words, and judging from everything God had said, Noah knew that this was no simple matter, no easy task. This was no simple or easy task—what were the implications of this? For one thing, it meant that, after accepting this commission, Noah would have a heavy burden on his shoulders. What’s more, judging by how God personally summoned Noah and personally instructed him how to build the ark, this was no ordinary thing, it was no small matter. Judging by the details of everything God said, this was not something that any ordinary person could bear. The fact that God summoned Noah and commissioned him to build an ark shows the importance that Noah held in God’s heart. When it came to this matter, Noah was of course able to understand some of God’s intentions—and having done so, Noah realized the kind of life he would face in the years to come, and was aware of some of the difficulties he was going to encounter. Although Noah realized and understood the great difficulty of what God had entrusted to him, and how great the ordeals he faced would be, he had no intention of refusing, but was instead profoundly grateful to Jehovah God. Why was Noah grateful? Because God had unexpectedly entrusted something so significant to him, and had personally told and explained every detail to him. Even more importantly, God had also told Noah the whole story, from beginning to end, of why the ark was to be built. This was a matter of God’s own management plan, it was God’s own business, but God had told him about this matter, so Noah sensed its importance. In sum, judging by these various signs, judging by the tone of God’s speech, and the various aspects of what God imparted to Noah, Noah could sense the importance of the task of building the ark which God had entrusted to him, he could appreciate this in his heart, and dared not treat it lightly, nor did he dare to overlook any detail. Therefore, once God had finished giving His instructions, Noah formulated his plan, and he got to work making all the arrangements for building the ark, looking for manpower, preparing all kinds of materials, and, in accordance with God’s words, gradually gathering the various kinds of living creatures to the ark.

The entire process of building the ark was filled with difficulty. For the moment, let’s put aside how Noah got through the whipping winds, scorching sun, and lashing rain, the searing heat and bitter cold, and the four turning seasons, year after year. Let us first speak of what a colossal undertaking building the ark was, and of his preparation of the various materials, and the myriad difficulties he faced in the course of building the ark. What did these difficulties include? Contrary to people’s perceptions, some physical tasks didn’t always go right the first time, and Noah had to go through many failures. After finishing something, if it looked wrong, he’d take it apart, and after he’d finished taking it apart, he’d have to prepare materials, and do it all over again. It wasn’t like the modern era, where everyone does everything by electronic equipment, and once it has been set up the work is carried out according to a set program. When such work is carried out today, it is mechanized, and once you turn a machine on, it can get the work done. But Noah was living in an age of primitive society, and all work was done by hand and you had to do all work with your own two hands, using your eyes and minds, and your own diligence and strength. Of course, most of all, people needed to rely on God; they needed to seek God everywhere and at all times. In the process of encountering all manner of difficulties, and in the days and nights spent building the ark, Noah had to face not only the various situations that occurred while completing this colossal undertaking, but also the various environments around him, as well as the ridicule, slander, and verbal abuse of others. Though we did not personally experience those scenes when they took place, isn’t it possible to imagine some of the various difficulties that Noah was confronted with and experienced, and the various challenges he faced? In the course of building the ark, the first thing Noah had to face was his family’s lack of understanding, their nagging, complaints, and even vilification. Second was his being slandered, ridiculed, and judged by those around him—his relatives, his friends, and every kind of other person. But Noah only had one attitude, which was to obey God’s words, implement them to the very end, and never waver from this. What had Noah determined? “As long as I am alive, as long as I can still move, I will not abandon God’s commission.” This was his motivation as he carried out the great enterprise of building the ark, as well as his attitude when presented with God’s commands, and after hearing God’s words. Faced with all manner of troubles, difficult situations, and challenges, Noah did not shrink back. When some of his more difficult engineering tasks frequently failed and underwent damage, even though Noah felt upset and anxious in his heart, when he thought of God’s words, when he remembered every word that God commanded of him, and God’s elevation of him, then he often felt extremely motivated: “I cannot give up, I cannot discard what God commanded and entrusted me to do; this is God’s commission, and since I accepted it, since I heard the words spoken by God and the voice of God, and since I accepted this from God, then I should submit absolutely, which is what ought to be attained by a human being.” So, no matter what kind of difficulties he faced, no matter what kind of mockery or slander he encountered, no matter how exhausted his body became, how tired, he did not forsake what had been entrusted to him by God, and constantly kept in mind every single word of what God had said and commanded. No matter how his environments changed, no matter how great the difficulty he faced, he trusted that none of this would go on forever, that God’s words alone would never pass away, and only that which God commanded to be done would surely be accomplished. Noah had in him true faith in God, and the submission that he ought to have, and he continued to build the ark that God had asked him to build. Day by day, year by year, Noah grew older, but his faith did not diminish, and there was no change in his attitude and determination to complete God’s commission. Though there were times when his body felt tired and exhausted, and he fell ill, and in his heart he was weak, his determination and perseverance toward completing God’s commission and submitting to God’s words did not lessen. During the years that Noah built the ark, Noah was practicing listening to and submitting to the words God had said, and he was also practicing an important truth of a created being and ordinary person needing to complete God’s commission. To all appearances, the entire process was actually only one thing: building the ark, carrying out what God had told him to do well and to completion. But what was required to do this thing well, and to complete it successfully? It did not require people’s zeal, or their slogans, much less some oaths made on a passing whim, nor people’s so-called admiration for the Creator. It did not require these things. In the face of Noah’s construction of the ark, people’s so-called admiration, their oaths, their zeal, and their belief in God in their spiritual world, these are all of no use whatsoever; in the face of Noah’s true faith and true submission to God, people seem so poor, pitiful, and the few doctrines they understand seem so hollow, pale, feeble and weak—not to mention shameful, despicable and sordid.

It took 120 years for Noah to build the ark. These 120 years were not 120 days, or 10 years, or 20 years, but decades longer than the life expectancy of a normal person today. Given the length of time, and the difficulty of completing this, and the magnitude of the engineering involved, if Noah had not been possessed of true faith, if his faith had merely been a thought, the pinning-on of hopes, zeal, or a kind of vague and abstract belief, would the ark ever have been completed? If his submission to God had been but a verbal promise, if it had only been a note made in writing, in pen, like the kind you’re making today, could the ark have been built? (No.) If his submission toward accepting God’s commission had been nothing more than will and determination, a wish, could the ark have been built? If Noah’s submission toward God had been just going through the formalities of forsaking, expenditure, and price-paying, or just doing more work, paying a greater price, and being loyal to God in theory, or in terms of slogans, then could the ark have been built? (No.) This would be too hard! If Noah’s attitude toward accepting God’s commission had been a kind of transaction, if Noah had merely accepted it in order to be blessed and rewarded, could the ark have been built? Absolutely not! A person’s zeal can persist for 10 or 20 years, or 50 or 60, but when they are close to death, seeing that they have gained nothing, they will lose faith in God. This zeal which perseveres for 20, 50, or 80 years does not become submission or true faith. This is very tragic. The true faith and true submission found in Noah, meanwhile, is precisely what is lacking in the people of today, and precisely the things that the people of today cannot see, and that they disdain, scorn, or even turn their noses up at. Telling the story of Noah building the ark is always met with a torrent of discussion. Everyone can talk about it, everyone has something to say. But no one gives any thought to, or tries to figure out, what was found in Noah, what path of practice he had, what kind of attitude desired by God and view toward God’s commands he possessed, or what character he had when it came to listening to and practicing God’s words. So I say that the people of today are unfit to tell the story of Noah, because when anyone tells this story, they treat Noah as nothing more than a legendary figure, even as an ordinary old man with a white beard. They question in their minds whether there really was such a person, what he was really like, and they don’t try to appreciate how Noah came to exhibit those manifestations after he accepted God’s commission. Today, when we revisit the story of Noah’s construction of the ark, do you think it is a major or a minor event? Is it just an ordinary tale of an old man who built an ark in times gone by? (No.) Among all men, Noah was a figure of fearing God, submitting to God, and completing God’s commission that is most worthy of emulation; he was approved by God, and should be a model to those who follow God today. And what was most precious about him? He had only one attitude toward God’s words: to listen and accept, to accept and submit, and to submit until death. It was this attitude, which was most precious of all, that won him God’s approval. When it came to God’s words, he wasn’t perfunctory, he didn’t go through the motions, and he did not examine, analyze, resist, or reject them inside his head, then relegate them to the back of his mind; instead, he listened in earnest, accepted them, little by little, in his heart, and then pondered how to put them into practice, how to implement them, how to carry them out as originally intended, without distorting them. And as he pondered God’s words, he said privately to himself, “These are the words of God, they are God’s instructions, God’s commission, I am duty-bound, I must submit, I cannot leave out any details, I cannot go against any of God’s wishes, nor can I overlook any one of the details of what He said, or else I would not be fit to be called human, I would be unworthy of God’s commission, and unworthy of His exaltation. If I fail to complete all that God has told me and entrusted to me, then I will be left with regrets. More than that, I will be unworthy of God’s commission and His exaltation of me, and will not have the face to return before the Creator.” Everything that Noah had thought and contemplated in his heart, his every perspective and attitude, all these determined that he was eventually able to put God’s words into practice, and make God’s words a reality, bring God’s words to fruition, make it so that they were fulfilled and accomplished through his hard work and turned into a reality through him, and so that God’s commission did not come to nothing. Judging by everything that Noah thought, every idea that arose in his heart, and his attitude toward God, Noah was worthy of God’s commission, he was a man trusted by God, and one favored by God. God observes people’s every word and deed, He observes their thoughts and ideas. In God’s eyes, for Noah to be able to think like this, He had not mischosen; Noah could shoulder God’s commission and God’s trust, and he was able to complete God’s commission: He was the only choice among all of humankind.

In God’s eyes, Noah was His one and only choice for accomplishing such a great undertaking of building an ark. So what was found in Noah? Two things: true faith and true submission. In God’s heart, these are the standards that He requires of people. Simple, yes? (Yes.) The “one and only choice” possessed these two things, things that are so simple—yet apart from Noah, they are found in no one else. Some people say, “How could that be? We have forgone our families and careers, we have forsaken work, prospects, and education, we have abandoned our assets and children. Look at how great our faith is, how much we love God! How are we inferior to Noah? If God asked us to build an ark—well, modern industry is highly developed, do we not have access to wood and plenty of tools? We too can work under the hot sun if we use machines; we too can work from dawn till dusk. What’s the big deal about completing a small job like this? It took Noah 100 years, but we’d do it in less so that God wouldn’t feel anxious—it’d only take us 10 years. You said that Noah was the one and only choice, but today, there are many perfect candidates; people like us who have forsaken their families and careers, who have true faith in God, who truly expend themselves—they are all perfect candidates. How could You say that Noah was the only choice? You think too little of us, no?” Is there a problem with these words? (Yes.) Some people say, “Back in Noah’s time, science and technology were still very underdeveloped, he had no electricity, no modern machines, not even the simplest electric drills and chainsaws, or even nails. How on earth did he manage to build the ark? Today we have all of these things. Would it not be incredibly easy for us to complete this commission? If God spoke to us from the sky and told us to build an ark, then forget just one—we could easily build 10 of them. It would be nothing, a piece of cake. God, command of us whatever You wish. Whatever You require, tell us. It wouldn’t be difficult at all for so many of us to build an ark! We could build 10, 20, even 100. As many as You want.” Are things that simple? (No.) As soon as I say that Noah was the one and only choice, some people want to butt heads with Me, they are unconvinced: “You think well of the ancients because they’re not here. The people of today are right under Your nose, but You can’t see what’s so good about them. You are blind to all the good things the people of today have done, to all their good deeds. Noah just did one little thing; is it not because there was no industry back then, and all physical labor was hard, that You think what he did worthy of commemoration, that You think him an example, a model, and are blind to the people of today’s suffering and the price we pay for You, and to our faith today?” Is this the case? (No.) Regardless of the age or era, no matter what kind of conditions the environment people live in have, these material objects and the general environment count for nothing, they are not important. What is important? What is most important is not the age you live in, or whether you have mastered some kind of technology, nor how many of God’s words you have read or heard. What is most important is whether or not people possess true faith, whether or not they have true submission. These two things are most important, and neither may be lacking. If you were placed in the time of Noah, who of you could complete this commission? I dare say that even if you were all to work together, you couldn’t accomplish this. You could not even do half of it. Before all the supplies had even been prepared, many of you would have run off, complaining about God, and doubting Him. A small number of you would be able to persevere with great difficulty, to persevere due to your tenacity, zeal, and thoughts. But how long could you persevere? What kind of motivation do you need to carry on? How many years would you last without true faith and true submission? This depends on character. Those with better character and a little conscience could last eight or 10 years, 20 or 30, maybe even 50. But after 50 years, they would think to themselves, “When is God coming? When will the floods arrive? When will the sign given by God appear? I’ve spent my whole life doing one thing. What if the floods don’t come? I’ve suffered a lot throughout my life, I’ve persevered for 50 years—that’s good enough, God won’t remember or condemn it if I give up now. So, I’m going to live my own life. God doesn’t speak or react. I spend all day looking at the blue sky and white clouds and see nothing. Where is God? The One who had once thundered and spoken—was that God? Was it an illusion? When is this going to end? God is not concerned. No matter how I call out for help, all I hear is silence, and He does not enlighten or guide me when I pray. Forget it!” Would they still have true faith? As time went on, they would likely grow doubtful. They would think about making a change, they would look for a way out, put aside God’s commission, and abandon their ephemeral zeal and ephemeral vows; wanting to control their own fate and lead their own lives, they would put God’s commission to the back of their minds. And when, one day, God personally came to urge them onward, when He asked about the progress in building the ark, they would say, “Ah! God really exists! So there really is a God. I must get building!” If God did not speak, if He did not hurry them along, they would not see this as a pressing matter; they would think that it could wait. Such a fickle way of thinking, this attitude of reluctantly muddling through—is this the attitude that people with true faith ought to display? (No.) It is wrong to have such an attitude, it means they do not possess true faith, much less true submission. When God spoke to you in person, your momentary zeal would indicate your faith in God, but when God put you aside, and did not urge you, or supervise you, or make any inquiries, your faith would disappear. Time would go on, and when God did not speak or appear to you, and did not carry out any inspections of your work, your faith would completely disappear; you would want to live your own life, and to carry out your own enterprise, and God’s commission would be forgotten at the back of your mind; your zeal, oaths, and determination of that time counting for nothing. Do you think God would dare entrust a great undertaking to someone like this? (No.) Why not? (They are untrustworthy.) That’s right. One word: untrustworthy. You are not possessed of true faith. You are untrustworthy. And so, you are not fit to be entrusted by God with anything. Some people say, “Why am I unfit? I’ll carry out whatever commission God entrusts to me—who knows, I might be able to accomplish it!” You can do things in your everyday life in a careless manner, and it doesn’t matter if the results fall a little short. But things entrusted by God, that which God wishes accomplished—when are they ever simple? If they were entrusted to a blockhead or a cheat, to someone who is perfunctory in everything they do, someone who, after accepting a commission, is liable to act in poor faith everywhere and at any time, would that not delay a great undertaking? If you were asked to choose, if you were to entrust a major undertaking to someone, what kind of person would you entrust it to? What kind of person would you choose? (A trustworthy person.) At the very least, this person must be dependable, have character, and no matter what the time, or how great the difficulties they encounter, they would put all of their heart and energy into completing what you had entrusted to them, and give you an account. If that is the kind of person people would choose to entrust a task to, how much more so for God! So, for this major event, the destruction of the world by floods, an event that required the building of an ark, and someone worthy of surviving to remain, who would God choose? First, in theory, He would choose someone who was fit to remain, who was fit to live in the next era. In reality, before all else, this person must be able to obey God’s words, they must have true faith in God, and treat whatever God said—no matter what it involved, whether it conformed to their own notions, whether it was to their taste, whether it agreed with their own will—as the words of God. No matter what God asked them to do, they should never deny the identity of God, they must always consider themselves a created being, and always treat obeying God’s words as a bounden duty; this is the kind of person God entrusts this particular undertaking to. In God’s heart, Noah was just such a person. Not only was he someone worthy of remaining in the new era, but he was also someone who could bear a heavy responsibility, who could submit to God’s words, without compromise, to the very end, and who would use his life to complete what God had entrusted to him. This was what He found in Noah. From the moment Noah accepted God’s commission, until the moment he completed every single task that had been entrusted to him—throughout this period, Noah’s faith and his attitude of submission toward God played an absolutely crucial role; without these two things, the work could not have been completed, and this commission would not have been accomplished.

If, in the course of accepting God’s commission, Noah had his own ideas, plans, and notions, how would the whole undertaking have changed? First off, faced with each detail imparted to him by God—the specifications and types of materials, the means and methods of building the whole ark, and the scale and dimensions of the whole ark—when Noah heard all this, would he have thought, “How many years would it take to build something so large? How much effort and hardship would it take to find all these materials? I’d be exhausted! Surely such exhaustion would shorten my life, right? Look how old I am, yet God won’t give me a break, and asks me to do something so demanding—could I bear it? Well, I’ll do it, but I’ve got a trick up my sleeve: I’ll just broadly do as God says. God said to find a type of waterproof pine. I’ve heard of a place where I can get some, but it’s pretty far away, and quite dangerous. Finding and obtaining it will take a lot of effort, so how about finding a similar kind nearby as a substitute, one that’s more or less the same? It would be less risky and take less effort—this would be okay as well, wouldn’t it?” Did Noah have such designs? If he had, would this be true submission? (No.) For example: God said for the ark to be built 100 meters high. Hearing this, would he have thought, “A hundred meters is too high, no one could get on it. Wouldn’t it be mortally dangerous to climb up and work on it? So I’ll make the ark a little shorter, let’s go with 50 meters. That’ll be less dangerous and easier for people to get on to. That would be fine, right?” Would Noah have had such thoughts? (No.) So if he had, do you think God would have chosen the wrong person? (Yes.) Noah’s true faith and submission to God allowed him to put aside his own will; even if he had had such thoughts, he would never have acted on them. On this point, God knew Noah was trustworthy. First, Noah would not make any changes to the details stipulated by God, nor would he add any of his own ideas, much less would he change any of the details stipulated by God for his own personal benefit; instead he would carry out all that God asked to the letter, and regardless of how hard it was to get hold of materials to build the ark, regardless of how hard or exhausting the work was, he would do his best to, and use all his energy to complete it properly. Isn’t this what made him trustworthy? And was this a real manifestation of his true submission to God? (Yes.) Was this submission absolute? (Yes.) And it was not tainted with anything, it contained none of his own inclinations, it was not adulterated with personal plans, much less personal notions or interests; instead, it was pure, simple, absolute submission. And was this easy to achieve? (No.) Some people might disagree: “What’s so hard about that? Doesn’t it just involve not thinking, being like a robot, doing whatever God says—isn’t that easy?” When the time comes to act, difficulties arise; people’s thoughts are always changing, they always have their own inclinations, and so they are liable to doubt whether God’s words can be accomplished; God’s words are easy for them to accept when they hear them, but when the time comes to act, it gets tough; as soon as the hardship begins, they are liable to become negative, and it is not easy for them to submit. It is evident, then, that Noah’s character and his true faith and submission, truly are worthy of emulation. So, are you now clear about how Noah reacted and submitted when faced with God’s words, commands, and requirements? This submission was not tainted with personal ideas. Noah required of himself absolute submission, obedience, and implementation of God’s words, without going astray, or playing clever little tricks, or trying to be smart, without having a high opinion of himself and thinking he could make suggestions to God, that he could add his own ideas to God’s commands, and without contributing his own good intentions. Is this not what should be practiced when trying to achieve absolute submission?