As in the Days of Noah - The Other Side of the Story

AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY – FILLING THE ARK.

[Mat 24:37 NLT] "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.

In my last article, we dealt with the conditions in the secular world that will exist in the days preceding the Lord’s return to the earth. They will be days of wickedness, lawlessness, corruption, violence, and evil. These are days that look very much like the days we are living in.

But there is another side of the story, the days of the filling of the Ark.

[Gen 6:17 ESV] For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

[Gen 6:18 ESV] But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the Ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

[Gen 6:19 ESV] And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the Ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.

[Gen 7:1 ESV] Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the Ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

[Gen 7:2 ESV] Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate,

[Gen 7:3 ESV] and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

[Gen 7:4 ESV] For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground."

God had a covenant with Noah and his family. In god’s sight, they were considered the righteous remnant of the people of the earth. Noah and his family had been obedient to God and had spent years building the Ark. At the appointed time, Noah was commanded to fill the Ark with his family and the animals and birds of the earth. Seven days (Hebrew, yowm = day, time, or year) after Noah and his family and the animals entered the Ark, God sent rain for forty days and forty nights to wipe away non-righteous mankind from the face of the earth. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

The other side of the story of “as in the days of Noah” is the rescue of the righteous from the destruction of the unrighteous as God judges mankind. We note that after Noah and his family entered the Ark, it was seven days (period of time) before the rain (judgment) began.

Noah, representing righteous mankind, took many years to build the Ark. We know that the Ark represents the place of safety that is found when someone makes Jesus their Lord and Savior. This is where they become righteous as a gift from God. This is becoming a child of God, part of God’s family. This is becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of God. For almost 2000 years the Holy Spirit through the true Church has been calling people out of the darkness of the world and into the light of the Kingdom of God. The Church will one day be complete. The fullness of the gentiles will come in.

[Rom 11:25 ESV] Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. [Rom 11:26 ESV] And in this way (after that, after (in) this manner) all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

The word in Greek for fullness is pleroma. It is a word meaning, of those things which a ship is filled, freight and merchandise, sailors, oarsmen, soldiers. Once the ship is fully loaded, it sets sail. Once the complete number of the gentiles of the earth have been marked as righteous through the Blood of Jesus they are loaded into the Ark to be saved from the judgment of God that will come seven “yowms” (days, years, time) after the Ark is fully loaded and sets sail.

[Rev 3:10 ESV] Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

Zep 2:3 Seek the LORD, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the LORD'S anger.

Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs {its} course. Isa 26:21 For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain.

Psa 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

The good news concerning “as in the days of Noah” is that it is time to complete the loading the Ark. Many are already on board but there are still stragglers that are out there in the world that God wants the “Noahs” of our day, God’s family (the righteous ones) to find and lead to Jesus to find righteousness that they can be brought aboard the Ark. We need to remember that the Ark cannot set sail until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”, until the ship, the Ark, is fully loaded.

God is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son. The marriage supper has been prepared. All things are ready. God is calling out, “come to the wedding”.

[Mat 22:2-10 NKJV] 2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 "and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." ' 5 "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 "And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. 7 "But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' 10 "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

[Luk 14:23 NLT] 23 So his master said, 'Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.

This is an hour of gathering the stragglers from the highways and country lanes, even those “hidden” behind “hedges” (those caught up in the snares, sin, and evil of today’s darkness) and urging all that can be found to come into God’s Kingdom, His house, the Ark, so that it is fully loaded and ready to set sail.