His name shall be Noah
This, like when others are given specific names in the Bible, helps us see God's plan. We don't know how many heard the prophecy, but it is interesting that God still wished to show His mercy even as the world sped toward destruction. In the same way, today He calls people to repent and trust Jesus to save them even with all the problems and how we turn from Him. Isaiah said it so well - all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Shall comfort us
Noah promised to comfort a group. Who? There are two possibilities at least.
This could refer to all the people in the world. Noah promised salvation if p8would just believe him. That is great comfort to many, to be free from this world of sin. It may last a short time, but salvation is forever.
He may have been among the few following God yet, too. Perhaps the followers of wickedness had so corrupted mankind that dealing with them was among the great toil they faced.
Either way, whether that work of their hands was farming or just life in general, we know God is always good and faithful to see us through anything when we trust Him.
However, another interesting thought is this. God mentions that it is because of the ground He had cursed. Just because we have had the agricultural revolution doesn’t mean they had it back then – perhaps the ground didn’t yield as much as it does today, and there was starting to be sporadic famine. This is just speculation, but if people had begun to focus so much on the works of their hands that they had forgotten about God, then perhaps Noah comforted them that God was there for them, and begging the people to turn to Him. Even when serving the Lord, one may become so encumbered with serving that, like Jesus warned Martha at the end of Luke 11, one can forget that which is most important, as her sister Mary did sitting and learning t Jesus’ feet.
The Great Flood would come during Noah’s lifetime, and one wonders how news of that can be a comfort, but this world is not all there is. There is everlasting life to be had, and Noah may well have preached that it was attainable for anyone who would trust God by faith to deliver them.
Salvation has always been by faith. Now, that is by grace through faith(Eph. 2:8-9) - for if it is by works it is no more grace, and if by grace then it is no more works.(Rom. 11:6) however, even before, it was by faith. Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness.(Gal.3:6, James 2:23) The men of the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Fame of faith” were all justified by faith. Indeed, the Bible shows that is how the just live, by faith.
So, for noah to comfort the people, perhaps it was in urging them to have faith in god delivering them, either by that ark he was building or that if they died before the Flood that he would forgive them through whatever means He would.
Now, of course, we know what he planned – He planned to come to this world, live a dinless life, and then die on the cross to take the punishment for each of our sins and rise from the dead. They may not have totally understood that plan in those pre-Flood days, I don’t know, but Noah, at least, knew enough to believe God would make a way where there seemed to be no way.
