Part One the Days of Noah
To begin a serious discussion of Jesus’ end times prophecy, we must go back to the original days of Noah to gain a contextural understanding. The Bible provides the answers to the questions it generates. The Bible also help us to gain understanding in areas of difficulty.
When did Noah live? What did he do? What was the world like during his day? Let us go to Genesis to see what God has recorded. Genesis 5 records all of the genealogy from Adam to Noah. Noah was the 9th generation from Adam. In fact, Adam died just 126 years before Noah’s birth.
Five generations were recorded that were still alive at Noah’s birth and up to his age of around 100, including Jared, his great grandfather, and Methuselah, his grandfather. The flood occurred just 1656 years after Adam’s recorded life began. All of Noah’s relatives died before the flood came. So what was the situation on earth that caused God to destroy the earth with a worldwide flood.
Genesis 6:1-2 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Who were the ‘sons of God’? While there has been much disagreement over the years, it has been clearly shown that this term does not apply to normal men. It’s only use in the Bible is in direct reference to angels. In this example, these are fallen angels, demons. So the only conclusion can be that demons co-habituated with women to produce hybrid off-springs.
Jude 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
So these fallen angels, demons, gave up Heaven to follow Satan. Some were so evil, that God has already condemned them, sentenced them, and imprisoned them. While angels are spiritual beings, they can take on human appearances when they come to earth to do God’s will. What this means to Genesis 6 and the degrading sinfulness of the entire earth, will be covered in Part 2.
Giants, Days of Noah, the days of Noah, Abomination of Desolation, and the Day of the Lord.
What do all these things have in common? They are all in the Bible and Jesus warned of there soon coming. Many people believe the end of the world is coming; many think man is ruining the environment and is responsible for the end of the world.
In a manner of speaking, mankind is responsible. Sinful men are one of the reasons for Jesus’ second return or coming. He will come to bring His kingdom to earth, but before that there will be many signs and terrible judgments poured out upon the earth and mankind.
Matthew 24:15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.
We will embark on a study of all of these events and realities over the next few months. More importantly we will discover the truth of God’s revelation and declaration.
Matthew 24:37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Coliform, Chlorine, and UV Lights
We live out in the county and have a well for all of our water needs. We have never had a problem with our water until recently. We needed a new well pump. After we had a new one installed, we had our water tested. This is where the problems began. We had it tested 4 times over about 6 months and it failed the coliform test all 4 times.
In between these tests, we had to shock our well with granulated bleach. Our well is over 300’ deep, so we needed 1 lb of bleach. After recycling the water in the well for a few hours, we then had to run every faucet, shower, toilet, ice maker, clothes washer, and dishwasher until we smelled bleach out of both the hot and cold faucets. We then shut everything off and waited 24 hours. Then we tried to get rid of all that bleach in all the lines, which took another day or two. After waiting 2 weeks, we had the water retested and it failed every time.
The last attempt included adding 16 ounces of liquid detergent to the bleach to foam the inside of the well casing all the way to the top. Hence the foaming picture. We still failed. So I relented and installed a whole house UV light system and I believe my coliform problems are now behind me.
What did this teach me about sin and salvation?
Jesus repeatedly told everyone that He was the only way to eternal life. He was the only way to salvation and the forgiveness of sins. He also referred to Himself as the Light of the World.
John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Darkness and light were used by Jesus to compare the vast differences in His kingdom and the kingdom of Satan.
John 8:12Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Jesus also described Himself as being able to provide living, eternal water.
John 4:10Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
My well example fits these verses. Man is always trying to feel good about himself. He thinks he is basically a good person. He can take care of his needs, cover his sins, and can do it all by himself. This is my example of trying to use bleach to clean my water. It did not work. I needed a totally different solution; the old ways did not work. Many just try to clean up their act, but that doesn’t work either in the sight of God
I needed a solution that went deeper than just bleach on dirty water. I needed living water. The light of Jesus Christ is the only light that can forgive sins, remove our sins, or make us white as snow.
Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalms 103:11-12 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His loving kindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
What have you been trying to cleanse yourself? How is it working? Only Christ can lift the burden and remove the penalty for your sins.
Rat Poison, Cancer, and Sin
While many of you may know just how dangerous and life threatening cancer is, not many may know just how dangerous sin is to everyone. Rat poison is 99.995% harmless filler and only.005% dangerous, deadly poison. That is how they trick or trap the rat into eating this poison. Who can detect this small amount of poison? Who can detect the first two cancer cells that form in your body?
Sin is just as deceptive as rat poison and just as deadly as cancer. It is not the size of the sin or frequency of the sin, it is just sin. We all are filled with it and it can go undetected for years before its deadly consequences become known to us. Some never come to realize the deadly affects of sin before they die, which is too late for them to do anything about it.
Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Many think, erroneously, that a little sin can’t kill you. They are wrong. The Bible has no category for labeling any sin as little or letting anyone think any sin is okay with God, because it is not.
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
Sin is not relegated only to the things you do, it also covers the things you don’t do, but should do.
James 4:17Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
It the world of retail and products, the consumer is often warned by labels. These labels are intended to be a real warning as to use, danger, risks, or side effects. Companies are regularly sued for failing to give adequate, clear warnings of these dangers.
God cannot be admonished for not providing either the warnings or the remedies. His Word is very complete, easy to understand, and available to everyone. No one can claim ignorance of this truth. Everyone is responsible for knowing the risks, rewards, and remedies for sin. The only anecdote for the deadly effects of sin is Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Black Snakes and the Entanglement of Sin
This black snaked did not know the truth of his dire entanglement, when I discovered him in the bird netting surrounding my garden. It may be hard to see in this picture but he was so wrapped up that it was cutting off his circulation. I don't know how long he had been there before I came back to do something in my garden.
Several truths come to mind.
The more he tried on his own the more entangled he became.
None of his friends could help him, they didn’t know how to either.
He couldn’t get out on his own.
He was dying in his entanglement, it was serious.
In summary, he could not save himself, but he did need to be saved or he would die.
This is a very clear picture of the human predicament of sin.
Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Only someone not like him could save him.
Romans 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Someone who could see the extent of his entanglement. Someone who would have compassion on him.
Romans 6:22-23 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Someone who had the means to save him and the will or desire to save him.
John 1:29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
It would not be easy, it would not be without work. I had to one by one cut away every strand of netting to finally free him.
But would he find himself entangled again?
2 Peter 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
What have you tried, to free yourself from your sins? Who have you gone to for help?
There is only one Savior and He alone can remove the deadly entanglement of your sin.
John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 8:36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
What a difference a day makes at NC State!
So often we live each day the same. We assume that what we have planned or what we expect to happen will come to fruition. Days tend to blend together and become somewhat indistinguishable from each other as time marches on.
I sadly remember the news story some years back about two young men enjoying an NC State tailgate party. Unfortunately, an altercation was started and both of these young men were killed. They had not planned on that. The very thought that they would die that day had never entered into their thoughts or plans.
What is the difference from one day to another? According to God, we should not take any day for granted.
Hebrews 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
The time for this to occur can happen at any time.
People die every minute of every day. The cemetery is full of people who had other plans for the day they died. No one knows their individual appointed time.
Since judgment comes right after death, everyone should take some very careful and prayerful time to reconsider what will happen to them when they die.
James 4:13-14 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
We should never take any day for granted but, we do.
1 Peter 1:24-25 For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.
How have you prepared for that day?
Have you made any plans for that day?
Horseshoes and the Gospel
Horseshoes is one of the only game where close enough actually earns some points. I don't know if there is any other game that has that scoring anomaly.
Unfortunately, many people go through life as if close enough or good enough will gain entry into heaven. God's Word tells us differently.
Romans 3:10-12 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.
So God clearly tells us that no one can be good enough because no one does any good at all. In fact, all are sinners and fall short of being able to do any good.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Many of you may take exception to that fact. You try to do good deeds all the time. God says even those deeds are not good or good enough.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation is the gift from God. It is free to you but it wasn't free to Jesus Christ, it cost Him a painful death on a cross. You have to make a choice, do you want death or life?