Think about the flood that destroyed nearly all life on land (Genesis 7:23). Such a devastating event ought to have convinced humans that God is their Judge as well as their Creator. We ought to honor Him. We ought to be cured of our tendency to stray. Only Noah and his family survived the flood by God’s grace.
Noah found favor [grace] in the eyes of the LORD…. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8)
“Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him” (Genesis 7:5). That does not mean Noah was perfect (Genesis 9:21). Noah stumbled, but he kept choosing to stay with God, to walk in God’s way.
Most of Noah’s descendants forgot the lesson of the flood—just as people continue to forget (2 Peter 3:5-6; Luke 17:26-27). God had commanded humans to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28; 9:7). In rebellion, the people gathered in Iraq (historically called Shinar and Babylonia) and built the tower of Babel to honor themselves. God was displeased and scattered them by giving them different languages (Genesis 11:1-9).