When Noah Was Mocked and People Would Not Listen
Sometimes people will mock what they don’t understand.
Sometimes they will laugh at your obedience because they cannot see what GOD has shown you.
Noah is one of the greatest examples of this.
GOD warned Noah about something that had never happened before and commanded him to build an ark. Noah had to obey GOD while living among people who did not understand what was coming.
Hebrews 11:7 (KJV)
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house…”
Noah had to build in faith before there was evidence that the flood was coming.
He had to keep working while everyone else continued living as though nothing was going to happen.
Jesus later described the condition of the people in Noah’s generation:
Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV)
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Noah’s obedience did not require the approval of the people around him.
He did what GOD told him to do.
And when the flood came, GOD preserved Noah and his household.
Genesis 7:16 (KJV)
“And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.”
I think there is something powerful about that last part:
“And the LORD shut him in.”
Noah did not have to fight everybody who laughed at him.
He did not have to convince everybody.
He did not have to defend himself against every person who did not believe.
He simply obeyed GOD.
And GOD Himself knew how to preserve him.
The Prophets Were Mocked Too
Noah was not the only one who experienced rejection.
The prophets of GOD were repeatedly mocked, rejected, persecuted, and spoken against because they delivered messages that people did not want to hear.
2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (KJV)
“And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
Read that again:
“But they mocked the messengers of God…”
People mocked those GOD sent.
They despised His words.
They misused His prophets.
And GOD saw it.
This is why we should be very careful when we mock, ridicule, lie on, mistreat, or intentionally harm people.
You may think you are only dealing with a person, but you don’t always know what GOD has assigned to that person’s life.
Jeremiah Knew What It Felt Like to Be Mocked
Jeremiah experienced the pain of being mocked while carrying out what GOD had commanded him to do.
Jeremiah 20:7 (KJV)
“O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.”
Jeremiah was not pretending that the experience didn’t hurt.
He told GOD exactly how he felt.
And that is something we can learn from too.
You can tell GOD that you are hurt.
You can tell GOD that you feel betrayed.
You can tell GOD that you are tired of being mocked.
You can tell GOD that you don’t understand why people are treating you this way.
You don’t have to hide your heart from GOD.
But don’t allow what people did to you to become an excuse for becoming something GOD never called you to be.
They Mocked GOD’s Servants, But GOD Remained in Control
The prophets show us something important: rejection does not cancel GOD’s calling.
Mockery does not cancel GOD’s purpose.
People refusing to believe you does not mean GOD does not believe in what He has placed before you.
Noah kept building.
Jeremiah kept speaking.
The prophets kept warning.
And GOD remained GOD.
Isaiah 53:3 (KJV)
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…”
Even our Lord JESUS CHRIST was despised and rejected.
So if you are experiencing rejection, betrayal, or mockery while trying to walk with GOD, remember that rejection itself does not mean you are on the wrong path.
The question is not always, “Why don’t they believe me?”
Sometimes the better question is:
“Am I still obeying GOD?”
Because Noah could not allow the laughter of people to make him stop building.
Jeremiah could not allow the mockery of people to make him stop speaking.
And we cannot allow betrayal, disrespect, rejection, or mockery to make us abandon the character GOD is building in us.
Don’t Become What Hurt You
This is where forgiveness becomes so important.
You can acknowledge that what happened to you was wrong without becoming consumed by revenge.
You can establish boundaries without hatred.
You can walk away without cursing someone.
You can forgive without pretending that trust was never broken.
And you can allow GOD to deal with what you cannot fix.
1 Peter 2:23 (KJV)
“Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.”
That is the example.
JESUS was reviled, but He did not repay reviling with reviling.
He committed Himself to the One who judges righteously.
And that is what I want GOD’s children to remember:
You don’t have to fight every battle.
You don’t have to answer every accusation.
You don’t have to prove yourself to everybody.
You don’t have to chase people who have already decided not to value you.
Sometimes your assignment is simply to keep obeying GOD.
Keep building.
Keep praying.
Keep your heart clean.
Keep your hands from evil.
Keep walking.
And let GOD handle the people who chose to mock what He is doing in your life.
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