Noah: A Righteous, Blameless Man

January 28th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Genesis 6:9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Throughout the Bible, when Noah is mentioned, he is remembered as righteous—one who believed God and lived to serve Him. Around 2000 years after Noah lived, God appointed Ezekiel as one of His spokesmen, ministering to Israel while they were in Babylonian captivity outside of Israel. On one particular occasion, God spoke to Ezekiel telling him that when He would decree judgment on a rebellious people, no prayer could dissuade Him. God said, “Even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves” (Ezek. 14:14). What a commentary on Noah! Moses therefore says, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9).

First, Noah was “righteous.” But since no man is righteous (Rom. 3:10; cf. Ps. 14:1-3) in and of himself, having been born sinful (Rom. 5:12-14), Noah had been made righteous by God—elected and called according to God’s purposes. His faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:5) just as Abraham’s was (Gen. 15:6). Second, Noah was “blameless.” Of course he was not sinless, for no man has ever lived who is without sin (Eccl. 7:20) except Christ Himself. Noah was “blameless” in the sense that he was “complete,” or “without hypocrisy.” His moral uprightness was shown in his behavior, for he stood out among the wickedness of his day like a light shining in the dark. Third, Noah “walked with God.” This reminds one of Enoch (5:22, 24), pointing to the fact that Noah and Enoch were from the righteous seed of the woman (3:15). Only these two patriarchs are said to have “walked with God,” (cf. Micah 6:8), although similar language is used of Abraham and Isaac who walked “before” God (17:1; 24:40; 48:15).

Noah was a walking rebuke to all those with whom he encountered, for his life would have stood so contrary to theirs that they could not help but either notice his behavior or hear his exhortation to repent (2 Peter 2:5). While all of his contemporaries followed the crowd, Noah marched to the beat of God’s drum, as it were. Though there was no written law in his day, as there would be in Moses’ day, he followed God’s righteous law written on his heart, a law that all mankind knows without being taught (Rom. 2:14-15). Later in Israel, those who were faithful to God’s law did not suffer as those who were unfaithful (Exod. 23:7). Hence, Noah’s works reflected his faith and separated him from his evil generation.

Though nothing in Scripture denotes how Noah was received by his generation, some ancient writings depict the people he ministered to as sneering at him, even accusing him of being insane. The Jewish historian Josephus claims that Noah fled the country for fear of his life. Martin Luther surmised, “More than one miracle was necessary to prevent the ungodly from surrounding and killing [Noah].” As a preacher of righteousness, Noah condemned the world by his obedience to God (Heb. 11:7). It is thus certain that he was persecuted greatly. Yet Jewish literature celebrated his place in history as the model of righteousness (e.g., Sir 44:17; Jub. 5:19; Wis 10:4; 1 Enoch 67:1).

Food For Thought
Noah reminds us that faithful believers stand out in a wicked generation. Though his preaching would have earned him persecution, the author of Hebrews tells us that it was simply his faith that “condemned the world” (Heb. 11:7). In fact, we only hear Noah speak one time in Scripture (9:25-27). Certainly he spoke like any other human did, but it’s his actions that speak so loud for every generation to hear. So whether we talk about God or just walk with Him, let it be our prayer that the world around us would take note and see Jesus Christ in us.