"'Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,' says the Lord God. . . . 'Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,' says the Lord God, 'they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness'" (Eze. 14:14-20, NKJV).

HE MESSAGE OF THE PASSAGES came during a time of judgment for Judah. Twice in one chapter God drew attention to these three people.

Why did God single out these three, mentioning them twice in the same chapter? Why wasn't Abraham included, with his wrenching experience of being commanded by God to sacrifice his beloved son? Abraham is even called God's "friend forever" (2 Chron. 20:7, NKJV). Nor is David mentioned, the one Samuel describes as "a man after [God's] own heart" (1 Sam. 13:14). And what about Moses, who received the Ten Commandments from God directly, God even relating to him "face to face" (Deut. 34:10)? And then there is Elijah, with his amazing courage on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18).

Besides, the account of Noah's life ends so pathetically! Why was he included? Why the other two? The more I've pondered this question, the more convinced I've become that there are some critical issues involved in the lives of all three men that are significant for Seventh-day Adventists in the twenty-first century.

Noah
The first thing one recalls about Noah is that he was commanded by God to build a huge ship on dry land because of a coming worldwide flood. Apparently he did not stop to wonder what everyone would think of him if he did it. Instead, he believed just what God told him, and he commenced his work immediately. The Genesis text also mentions that the inhabitants of Noah's world were exceedingly wicked, implying that the greater part of the antediluvian world would likely react negatively to what Noah was doing.

And indeed, Ellen White informs us that the people made fun of Noah. They ridiculed the idea of rain, considering Noah insane. They laughed at and mocked him. What they knew of the natural world made a greater impression upon the inhabitants of the pre-Flood world than the pointed message from heaven.1 Even the philosophers and scientists of the time reasoned that it was impossible for the earth to be destroyed by water. They said: "The threatenings of God . . . are for the purpose of intimidating, and will never be verified. You need not be alarmed. Such an event as the destruction of the world by the God who made it, and the punishment of the beings He has created, will never take place. Be at peace; fear not. Noah is a wild fanatic."2 The world made fun of the deluded old man. Yet Noah kept building the ark according to God's directions.

If Noah had been like some today who insist that we need to know only that "Jesus loves me," and all that one has to do is "love the Lord," the ark would have never been built. However, in the face of intense ridicule, we find Noah proclaiming a judgment message, and demonstrating genuine faith--a faith that is obedient. He testified by what he did that he believed just what God had said, even though he had never seen rain.

Nor was he an arrogant preacher of doom. According to Ellen White, the people of that "degenerate age" heard "the prayers of Noah that had ascended day after day in their behalf, and with his heart drawn out for them he delivered his very last message to them."3

Though the people considered him insane, for 120 years Noah kept building according to God's directions. Amid the prevailing corruption, he took God at His word and labored to stay the tide of moral evil. Not surprisingly, we find him in God's "hall of fame," both in the Old Testament (as we have seen) and in the New: "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; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith" (Heb. 11:7).

Noah's time is not so different from the situation Seventh-day Adventists find now as they proclaim another judgment message. "In Noah's day philosophers declared that it was impossible for the world to be destroyed by water; so now there are men of science who endeavor to show that the world cannot be destroyed by fire--that this would be inconsistent with the laws of nature."4

"But Noah stood like a rock amid the tempest. Surrounded by popular contempt and ridicule, he distinguished himself by his holy integrity and unwavering faithfulness. A power attended his words, for it was the voice of God to man through His servant."5

Yes, there are distinct correlations between the issues Noah faced in obeying God in his day and what we face today.

Job
The first thing to come to mind here is Job's faithfulness. The harsh reality of unjust suffering has often been held up as an argument against the God of heaven, and a reason for unbelief. And no single book in Scripture focuses on suffering as poignantly as does the book of Job.

Job, an upright and God-fearing man, living a respected, happy, and prosperous life, is suddenly plunged into utter wretchedness. Even his wife urges him to "curse God, and die" (Job 2:9). Will Job reject God? This is a paramount issue that confronts us in the book. What will Job's response be to the challenge that Satan has hurled against God (of which Job is unaware)?

Without being privy to the issue swirling around him, and in the midst of intense suffering, Job expresses his profound faith in God:

"I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand
upon the earth.
And after my skin has been
destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God" (Job 19:25, 26, NIV).

There are issues beyond that of suffering here. Note, in particular, Job was not of the "covenant line," though certain details mentioned about his life likely place him in the time of the patriarchs.

For example, the types of animal herds he had are exactly those described of Abraham and the other patriarchs in Genesis. His offering of sacrifices corresponds to that of the patriarchs; and there's no mention of the Exodus event that, subsequent to its occurrence, is mentioned by almost every other Bible writer.

Furthermore, Ellen White informs us that Moses wrote the book of Job while in Midian.6

This all constrains us to recognize, in the oldest book of the Bible, that Job is a "worthy gentile." Thus God through Moses' pen is careful to record two strands of His family line:

1. The covenant line in the Pentateuch;

2. The existence of faithful believers outside the Abrahamic covenant in the book of Job.

Within this schema we see striking evidence that God, from the very beginning of recorded history, wanted the two sides of the great controversy clearly delineated. The great battle between Christ and Satan was not a late development in the minds of the Israelites. Very early, Satan's existence was clearly defined. God's merciful providence included the recording of the life of Job early in the history of this world so that Satan's adversarial role would be clearly portrayed.

We also observe throughout the entire book of Job that Job was a deeply spiritual and religious man. We read in his book that he regularly offered sacrifices for himself and his family; he was sensitive to the needs of the poor; he was sought out for his wise counsel. And yet he was outside the divinely chosen covenant line of Abraham through which the Messiah was promised.

This is very significant for Seventh-day Adventists in the twenty-first century. We believe, through a study of biblical prophecies, that we are called to proclaim God's last message of salvation to a dying world. We believe we are the final remnant of that long line of God's chosen people. It makes my own heart burn when I trace this glorious legacy! This stirring thought should keep our hearts afire with who we are and where we are in salvation history.

However, the book of Job reminds us of an important perspective that must accompany our understanding of what it means to be Seventh-day Adventists. Yes, God has called us to an important mission. The life of Job reminds us that God also has faithful children outside our church. And if (as the text itself seems to clearly affirm) the life of Job was lived in the patriarchal period when God so pointedly called out His covenant people, God also was careful to record through Moses His special affirmation of a devout believer outside the Old Testament Messianic line. And thus we are reminded through Job that God has faithful children beyond the remnant line.

Yes, God chose Abraham to be the Father of Nations, but He says of Job--something He never states about any of the patriarchs:

"Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" (Job 1:8 and 2:3, Nkjv).

And then later, through Ezekiel, God again twice declares the righteousness of Job. Job becomes one of many other subsequent reminders that God's sphere of influence is much wider than we might imagine!

As important as the Seventh-day Adventist mission is for God's kingdom at this time, we are not the only people He loves and cherishes. Scripture even closes with God referring to those inside fallen Babylon as "my people" (Rev. 18:2, 4).

Many are the lessons we can learn from God's affirmation of Job in the book of Ezekiel.

Daniel
Seventh-day Adventists rightly continue their study of Daniel's prophetic materials. However, in Ezekiel 14 it is Daniel's righteousness that God commends.

What is it about Daniel's life that God acclaims? In the opening chapters of Daniel we find a portrait of the prophet's life of strict temperance and integrity, even though a teenage prisoner-of-war in Babylon. We also see Daniel more than once maintaining his faith in God even in the face of death.

There is no evidence of Daniel harboring a haughty contempt for the non-Hebrew pagan religion he found in Babylon. However, did he casually assume that his Israelite faith was just one of several possibilities that can bring a person to God, and that it doesn't really matter which religion one chooses?

Scripture is explicit: Daniel knew exactly where he stood. He revered the God of heaven and faithfully maintained his distinctive worship amid great difficulty. And when called before the king in high court, to the very monarch who had decimated his own country of Israel, Daniel did not hesitate to acknowledge the true God of heaven as his source of wisdom. And he did this repeatedly, often risking his life.

When a death decree is issued by the king, which Daniel realizes will certainly condemn him, he withdraws to his room. And in the face of determined and deadly political strategy, he opens his window and prays.

Daniel does not pray out of religious duty, nor from mindless routine. Nor is it this emergency circumstance that has forced him to pray. The text instructs us that he "prayed . . . , just as he had done before" ("three times a day") (Dan. 6:10, 13, NIV). For him, prayer was not a last resort. It was an integral part of his life.

However, at this moment it takes heroic courage to ignore the royal edict and to pray. In performing the simple act of kneeling, Daniel risks his life. For a while at least he could have adapted to the extreme circumstances and prayed in secret. But when the authorities outlaw prayer, to pray in hiding is to imply that the king is greater than God. And Daniel prefers to die rather than to put a momentary hold on his communion with heaven, or even let it appear that it is broken. His courage is remarkable. An intelligent and experienced man within Persia's high court, Daniel knows what he is up against. His is not the action of naive virtue, ignorant of the gravity of the situation.

Thus God dramatically singled out Daniel through the prophet Ezekiel. And also in the book of Daniel itself, on three different occasions, the mighty angel Gabriel was dispatched from heaven to answer his prayers. And note how Gabriel expresses the divine encouragement: "You are greatly beloved" (Dan. 9:23, NKJV); "O Daniel, man greatly beloved" (10:11, 18, 19).

Daniel is the solitary person in all the Old Testament so signally affirmed. Only the Messiah Himself receives such multiple divine expressions of affection when at both His baptism and His transfiguration the Father proclaims from heaven, "This is My beloved Son!"

Why These Three?
Why did God hold Noah in such high esteem? Could it be because of his unqualified faithfulness amid the prevailing skepticism of his time, and his integrity in the face of scientific and philosophical mockery of the divine command given to him? He seemed to face, just as we do now, a widespread commitment to a kind of technological materialism in which reality is defined and circumscribed by what is humanly imaginable and presently occurring. But Noah grasped the infinite unseen world, and this shaped his strikingly obedient faith that followed God's commands explicitly, announcing God's judgment on sin by building a large boat on dry land, having never seen rain.

Job too traveled a tortuous route with God. Yet in the face of seeming confusion, suffering, and pain, he declared his unmovable faith in God. Moreover, his life is also an important portrait of the "grafted branches" God promises for the True Vine.

And Daniel? We who are challenged by "New Testament Babylon" have been called to the same lofty standard in our own personal habits, refusing harmful drinks and choosing a simple vegetarian diet.

When I consider the profound prayer life of Daniel, along with his determination to bring glory to the God of heaven in that premier but pagan court, and recall that he was willing to face execution rather than compromise his faith or even let it appear that his relationship with God was altered in any way, it is not difficult to understand why God pointedly draws attention to the righteousness of Daniel through the prophet Ezekiel.

Noah, Job, and Daniel--each one of them faced a distinct challenge that demanded a profound level of faith. The issues that confronted them: