Genesis 303
Lesson Ten

Walking and Watching

Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 
Gen 6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 
Gen 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

This lesson will be a little shorter then the others, but there are a couple important points I want to bring out.

The first thing I want to note here is that in verse nine where Scripture says that Noah was "perfect" in his generations, it does not mean what we would think the word "perfect" means. Scripture is very clear that nobody is "perfect", for we have "all sinned and come short of the glory of God". So what exactly does it mean? The word "perfect" here means he had "integrity", he was "upright", and he was "true".  In other words, Noah strived each day to live right before the Lord. He wasn't perfect, but he tried to live the way God would have him live each day. And as such, it is said that he "walked with God". Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Noah (Genesis 6:9) were both men who "walked" with God. When you walk with God, you factor Him into your everyday life and your decision making. You spend time praying and talking with Him throughout the day. Walking with God means you are in agreement with Him and His ways (Amos 3:3). No one is perfect, but when you are walking with God your desire should be to see your own selfish desires die for the sake of seeing God transform you more and more into the image of His Son: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17; see also 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Another name for walking with God that is commonly used in the New Testament is "walking in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:4). When Jesus ascended into heaven, He left the Holy Spirit with us. The Holy Spirit, being on the earth and in us when we believe in Christ, is our direct link to God (Romans 8:9–11, 26–27; Ephesians 1:13–14).

Walking with God is a way of life, and it is a choice. We can walk in God's ways or the ways of the world, but we cannot do both (2 Kings 8:27; Ephesians 2:2; Matthew 6:24; James 4:4).

The last thing I want to mention from this portion of Scripture is found in verse thirteen. Here we see that God tells Noah what He is planning to do.... "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." The lesson we can learn here is something we see throughout the whole Word of God.... God always tell his faithful children what He is going to do. We can see this throughout the old testament as God told His Prophets what was coming, and would send them to warn his Children. 

We see this in all the prophecies throughout Scripture where God tells us what is coming. Jesus spent much of His time on earth telling us what to look for and what the signs of His second coming would be. And much of the New Testament, including the book of Revelation tells us what is yet to come. As a child of God, who strives to walk with God each day, nothing God does should catch us by surprise. But, on the other hand, God also warns us about being "asleep", and not being watchful. Noah walked with God, and God warned him what was coming and what to do about it. God has warned us as well.... are we watching?