But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses…As unknown, and yet well known… (2 Corinthians 6:4, 9a)
The Bible is full of great accounts of everyday people that God used to do incredible things for Him. From Abraham to Moses, David to Daniel, and Peter to Paul, we can read of the mighty acts of servants of God.
However, sometimes, God chooses not to give us the name or names of the people He used to accomplish His will. Sometimes, He simply tells us about them and their willingness to be used. We will never know their names this side of Heaven, but God knew them. We still have much that we can learn from them as well.
Noah’s Wife
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. Make thee an ark of gopher wood…And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:13-14a, 17)
What a wicked place the world must have been in Noah’s day. We know it is bad today, but imagine every single person in the world except for you and your family being wholly given over to the flesh and its wicked desires—that is what Noah and his family had to endure. They were constantly surrounded by sin and evil, yet they did not allow it to control them.
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 repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:7-8)
At this point, God chooses to only mention that Noah found grace in His eyes. However, we see from verses later in chapter 6 and in chapter 7 that God included Noah’s family in this grace. Eight people—that was all.
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. (Genesis 6:18)
Now, we don’t want to speak where God is silent, so we will not belabor the details about Noah’s wife. However, we can try to put ourselves in her shoes and imagine how she must have thought and felt. We will also see that we can make one definite conclusion about her.
First, let’s put ourselves in Noah’s wife’s place: Here comes your husband, and he tells you that God has just spoken to him and told him to build a gigantic ark with room enough for your family and two of every animal. Why? Because God is going to destroy everyone except those on the ark. How do you react?
God doesn’t tell us whether Noah’s wife argued, complained, or maybe fainted dead away from fear or shock. We have no way of knowing whether she fought with Noah about the ark, whether she doubted if they could build such a thing, or worried about taking care of all the animals. However, we do know this: Whether right away or after some deep praying and soul-searching, she obeyed.
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. (Genesis 7:7)
Noah’s wife had great faith in her husband and in God. She also had more love for the Lord and His commandments than she did for anything that she knew she’d lose when the flood came. While she may have shed some tears over things, she obviously didn’t allow them to keep her behind with all the wicked ones who perished in the flood.
Noah’s wife provides us with an excellent example of how we should feel about the things of this world. The greatest riches the world can offer are only wood, hay, and stubble in the eyes of the Lord. Noah’s wife laid up great treasure in Heaven for her faith and obedience to God; she accomplished that by loving God above all else.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him…And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15, 17)
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
How are we faring today considering the above verse? Are we like Noah’s wife, seeking to obey the Lord? Noah’s wife turned her back on the wicked world around her and sought salvation in God through His ark, which we know is a picture of salvation in Christ. Or are we tightly grasping things that will only bring temporary happiness and have no lasting reward? Noah’s wife may have been unnamed, but because of her faith and obedience, she is certainly not unknown.
To read more about Noah and his ark, please click here.