ALL ABOARD
Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 "You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; 3 "also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep their seed alive on the face of all the earth. 4 "For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made."
The day had finally come. After 120 years of building, after 120 years of preparation, after 120 years of preaching, the command had come to board the ark. The day of probation for the antediluvian world had ended. As the wicked went heedlessly on their way little did they know that their last chance at salvation had slipped away, never again to return. The last sermon had been preached, the last call to repentance given. Now the voice of God to the wicked was silenced.
“Seven more days�?/FONT> the Lord had said. This, by Jewish tradition, would have been the day that Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather died, for Jewish traditions says that Methuselah died seven days before the flood. For the entirety of his long life, Methuselah was a testimony to the world of their coming destruction. Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the antediluvian Elijah. Roughly translated his name meant, “When he dies it will come.�?Now Methuselah was dead. And by the Lord’s own words, the flood was already on its way. “Seven more days�?/FONT> the Lord had said.
It is possible that Lamech, Noah’s father, also died at this same time at a mere 777 years of age. Just as it was not for Moses to cross over the Jordan into the promised land, it was not for Methuselah or Lamech to pass over to the other side of the flood. God laid them both to rest in the grave before the flood came, to await to glorious resurrection morning. And so it will also be in these last days. Before Jesus comes again, before the awful terrors of the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, many will be laid to rest, to await the resurrection. Others however, will be called upon to endure the “storm,�?to, like Noah, ride it out to the end and bear living witness to the coming of the Lord. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man�?(Luke 17:26).
Joel 2:11 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. 15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, . . . 17 "I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse." 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD'S wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.
And when that day come, the wicked will cry out: "The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!" (Jeremiah 8:20). That is why the Bible says time and again, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.�?(2 Corinthians 6:2). If you wait, you may wake up one day and discover to your horror that you have waited too long. God is patient, long suffering, not willing that any should be lost, but the day will come when even God’s patience is exhausted and His longsuffering at an end.
For the antediluvians their day of grace had ended. To them the decree had gone out, as it will soon do so for this world: "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.�?(Revelation 22:11-12). It is not possible to emphasize strongly enough the importance of being ready NOW!!! TODAY!!! Tomorrow may be forever too late.
Genesis 7:5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, 9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
And so, all that day the animals God had gathered from all parts of the world began to make their way into the ark. What a spectacle it must have been to those who witnessed it. By two’s and by seven’s they entered the ark under the guidance of God, every animal going to its appointed place. Sometime during the course of this busy day, Noah and family probably attended to the sad business of saying farewell to Methuselah. Then last of all, they themselves boarded the ark.
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
Prev Message
