' Ready.....Or Not Ready? '
(Caps used for Divine Emphasis)
Genesis 6: 3 ~ 8 And The Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And it Repented The Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. 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.
2 Peter 3: 6, 7 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the Heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto Fire against The Day of Judgment and Perdition of ungodly men.
Jesus refers to this, warning:
Matthew 24: 37 ~ 39 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also The Coming of The Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also The Coming of The Son of man be.
Genesis 6: 14 ~ 22 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 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.
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.
And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God Commanded him, so did he.
Historically speaking, Halley's Bible Handbook states that the Ark was about 450 ft. long, 75 ft. wide, and 45 ft. high. It had three decks, divided into compartments, with a window course around the top. (I'm sure with all the animals, they needed a lot of fresh air!) When God instructed two by two of each kind of animal ~ male and female, some have speculated that there was room in the Ark for 7,000 species of animals. Whew! (This, would not have been the time not to use the head and supply enough food for them until whenever, plus for the people in the Ark; nor, would it have been the time to not like animals.) :)
Up until after Noah built the Ark and God rained after shutting the door 7 days later, there had never been rain upon the earth. The earth, until that time, had been watered solely by:
Genesis 2: 6..10 But there went up a Mist from the earth, and WWatered the whole face of the ground. ....And a River went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
Although there has been no rain, we read of these rivers God had provided. Noah's home, according to Babylonian tradition, was at Fara, on the Euphrates River, about 70 miles Northwest from the site of the Garden of Eden. So boat-building and river traffic must have been familiar to Noah from childhood.
It was a gigantic task to build the Ark, gather all the animals into it, and stock up necessary food for all that would therein. This, being a first to ever happen of its nature, Noah and the others had to use their head, covering for span of time and provisions accordingly. Herein we see this man of God's utter devotion, trust and obedience IN God. He knew that he knew he had heard from God and defied his 5-senses and acted upon his Faith in preparation. Our obedience to God, as his, shows God our love for Him, and that we Do indeed Trust Him with whatever.
Study books have it that Noah and his sons could not have done this task alone, but may have employed thousands of men in the work. Hmmm. Though unbelievers in sin away from God, they were willing to work 'for a price'. Yet, they were soon to be dead in their unbelief after God shut the door to The Ark Himself. Only those who believed and obeyed could enter in. (A type of Heaven)
And, notice this.....throughout the 120 years it took for them to build that Ark, there was only one convert to God. Did Noah get discouraged and stop? Absolutely not. He was focused, and, about His Father's bidding. Hallelujah! Another FAITH-FILLED wonderful example for us all.
Now, put yourself in Noah's shoes and skin. Let's say...God Himself came to you...under the same circumstances, gave you explicit direction as He gave Noah, past all that you'd ever heard of, seen or done while on the earth. This was truly 'Faith in God' that motivated him and gave him the sticktoitiveness to the finish after so many years. Personally, I'd be more than happy to get that chigger done and over with. Yet, God's Mercy and Love and believing in man was extended....throughout all those years, to the lost and unbelieving souls.
He gave them...ample 'chance' to 'see, consider and repent'. And to think, God singled out Noah. Just like today, He knows us all ~ where we are and what we are.
He also knows our heart and the kind of choices we shall ultimately make.
He knows our 'character'; if He can count on us too.
Think of it! ~ ~ Their first scent of fresh-fallen Rain. Looking upon it, smelling it for the first time. Seeing the form and shape the Raindrops; its sound and the sight of the ping in the puddles!
The waters rose higher and higher ~ The Flood from God Almighty ~ from that same Rain, they saw and experienced!
I've often thought how it was only Noah that had heard from God ~ not his family members. Yet, look at their faith in God and each other as a unit. They put their shoulders to the work, trusting 'this man of God' (husband and father etc.) bearing the mockery of all the people around them day and night. Now they ~ were all safe with God and one another. :) Love!
All that were in the earth were destroyed. God had not spoken to them; just to Noah.
God did exactly what He told Noah He would do! THIS IS our HEAVENLY FATHER, GOD ALMIGHTY.
Although they were told, the unbelieving crowd just could not fathom that the end was near. Their end ... of living on the earth. Far fetched?
We are in The Last Days people. Don't you see the Signs of the times coming to pass all around you? Christ warned of them; Paul warned of them; Daniel warned of them; Amos warned of them, etc. etc.
2 Timothy 3: 1 ~ 5
This know also, that in The Last Days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away.
Jude 1: 3 ~ 13
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common Salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you,
and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for The Faith
which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares,
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men,
turning the Grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying The Only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance,
though ye once knew this, how that The Lord,
having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that believed not.
And the Angels which kept not their first estate,
but left their own habitation,
He hath reserved in Everlasting Chains under darkness unto
The Judgment of The Great Day.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha,
and the cities about them in like manner,
giving themselves over to fornication,
and going after strange flesh,
are set forth for an example,
suffering The Vengeance of Eternal Fire.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,
despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Yet Michael The Archangel,
when contending with the devil
he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said,
The Lord Rebuke thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not:
but what they know naturally, as brute beasts,
in those things they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,
and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward,
and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
These are spots in your feasts of charity,
when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear:
clouds they are without water, carried about of winds;
trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit,
twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Raging waves of the Sea,
foaming out their own shame;
wandering stars,
to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness Forever.
It is a time to be as Noah....'ready....to be summoned by The Lord'.
Not ... getting....ready! Ready! Look UP for your Redemption draws near! Jesus Christ.
Jude 1: 14 ~ 25
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying,
Behold, The Lord Cometh with ten thousands of His saints,
To Execute Judgment upon all,
and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds
which they have ungodly committed,
and of all their hard speeches
which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts;
and their mouth speaketh great swelling words,
having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before
of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
How that they told you there should be mockers in The Last Time,
who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not The Spirit.
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most Holy Faith,
praying In The Holy Ghost,
Keep yourselves in the Love of God,
looking for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal Life.
And of some have compassion, making a difference:
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before The Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy,
To The Only Wise God our Saviour,
be Glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power,
both now and Ever. Amen.
Ecclesiastes 12: 13, 14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into Judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good or whether it be evil.
Thank You So Very Much Danny and Bev ~ So Beautiful!
Script Used For the Animated Floater is Courtesy of Altan
The Pretty Music Playing Today is one of Enya's and is Entitled, Only Time
|