With the recent solar eclipse, the coming Revelation 12 sign in the stars, and the four blood moons happening on the Lord's Feast Days awhile ago, there is an unprecedented interest in the end times.
In Matthew 24:37 (NKJV), Jesus makes the following statement about the end times" "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
In Isaiah 46:10 (NIV), the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to write: "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’"
So, what was it like in the Days of Noah? And did God really declare the end from the beginning? And, if so, how?
We have been studying the first 12 chapters of the Book of Genesis in our weekly Living Water Fellowship meetings. And we have been looking at the end times, and specifically the Book of Revelation in our Friday Night group, Wading in the Deep End. We can answer with a resounding "Yes! God DID declare the end from the beginning!"
So, why should we care what happened in the Book of Genesis? Whatever happens, will happen, right?
Perhaps. But God through the Holy Spirit tells us in Romans 15:4, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."
The Scripture beforehand was written that we might have hope. That is a pretty powerful reason to want to study the past.
So, that brings us back to our prior question. If YHWH declared the end from the beginning, how did He do that?
I am glad that you asked, as that is what this blog post is all about...
As it was in the beginning:
1) Snatched Away
My Dad, Earl Lewis, taught me a riddle when I was very young. It went like this: "The oldest man who ever lived died before his father did."
Did you get the riddle? If not, here is the explanation... The oldest man who ever lived was Methusaleh. According to Scripture, he lived to be 969 years old (See Genesis 5:27). That's longer than anyone else mentioned in the Bible. So how could his father outlive him?
In order to answer that, we have to go back to the Bible.
Genesis 5:21-24 (NKJV) tells us the following: "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."
From this Scripture, we see that Enoch was the father of Methuselah. He walked with God (so, by implication, he lived righteously). And he "was not, for God took him."
The word translated "took" here is the Hebrew word laqach (Strongs # 3947). According to Strongs, some definitions are to take, to accept or be accepted, to buy for a price, to marry, to seize, or to be taken away.
That sounds quite a bit like the greek word harpazo, used in I Thessalonians 4:17 in describing part of what we call the Rapture of the Church: "...we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
There is another similarity between the two events. According to Hebrews 11:5, "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
The greek word for "taken away" here is metatithemi. This is an interesting compound word, consisting of the individual greek word "meta" meaning to change or be changed, and tithemi, to be transported. The literal translation of this verse then would be "Enoch was both transformed and transported so that he did not see death..."
In 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, we are told that "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." So we (the church, the Body of Christ) shall be both transformed and transported as well when Jesus comes back for His saints.
2) Angels Fall
Genesis 6:4 tells of a time when many of the angels voluntarily left their habitation in heaven to come to the earth, and take wives for themselves. The Bible says it this way: "4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (NKJV)"
If you have doubts about the "sons of God" being angels, there are three things that I would like to propose to you: (1) the book of Job (chapter one and others) clearly identify the "sons of God" as angels, as they would go to and fro between earth and heaven, and report directly to God; (2) the union of two humans would not produce a race of giants (Nephilim), and (3) the book of Jude clearly identifies them. Jude verses 6 and 7 identify them clearly as "angels who have left their own habitation", and their sin as "going after strange flesh".
Revelation 12:7-9 says that "Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."
This event happens chronologically right after the Revelation 12 Sign in the Heavens.
3) Remnant Sealed
After Enoch is taken away and the earth invaded by the angels that fell, God has to seal and secure the chosen remnant before His judgment begins. Noah and his family, the chosen remnant, are spared from the lethal waters of the Flood and sealed up in the ark before the fountains of the deep burst open and prior to the rain falling from the sky. When God closed the door to the ark in Genesis Chapter 7, He closed it in such a way that only He could open it. It was sealed to all others.
Similarly, Revelation Chapter 7 speaks of God putting a seal in the foreheads of 144,000 people to be the firstfruits of the tribulation period. These are righteous descendants of Abraham; 12,000 from each of 12 tribes.
4) Judgment Comes
At the beginning, the judgment was the Flood (See Genesis 7). At the end, the judgment will be vials of wrath poured out on the earth (Revelation 16), culminating in the complete destruction of earth by fire (2 Peter 3:5-7).
5) Anti-Christ Arrives
Noah's great, great grandson was a man known as Nimrod. He was the first king mentioned in the Bible, and conquered many areas to enlarge his kingdom. Part of his territory was known as Babel, or Babylon (Genesis 10:10).
According to historical records from the Book of Jasher (which was referenced by Joshua as a reliable source), the reason that Nimrod wanted the Tower of Babel built was so he could ascend into Heaven, and he and his army would overthrow God and He (Nimrod) would rule from God's throne. God had other ideas, but does this not sound like Satan's goals, as listed in Isaiah 14:13-14: "For you have said in your heart:‘I will ascend into heaven,I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
In this passage, Isaiah is prophecying over the destruction of the King of Babylon. He calls the King "Lucifer" in one place, and the "Assyrian" in another.
This Scripture could refer both to the first King of Babylon (Nimrod) who built the Tower of Babel to overthrow God and the last King of Babylon, the end time Anti-Christ, who goes into the temple and declares himself to actually be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:4-5 tells us of the end-times anti-christ: "Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness (the son of destruction) is revealed. He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God."
6) Babylon Falls
Babylon fell the first time when the Tower was destroyed and God confused the languages and scattered those who opposed Him. This story is found in Genesis 11. Revelation 17 and 18 talks about the end times fall of Babylon.
7) World Reborn
God used the flood to re-create the world once again in His image. All things became fresh and new, and even mountains, rivers, and continents were changed. Noah and his family became the new Adam and Eve, only this time God started with a man who He knew to be righteous and to have faith. However, even after this cleansing flood, sin re-entered the world, and it had to be redeemed.
In the end, God will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21). This time, His redemption of the world will be permanent.
So, if we know where to look, we can see a pattern developing at the beginning in Genesis that will be fulfilled at the time of the end. Let me summarize the pattern for you:
1) Snatched Away - In the beginning, Enoch was snatched away and transformed; In the end, the Church is snatched away and transformed.
2) Angels Fall - In the beginning, the angels made a choice to disobey God and sin; In the end, the disobedient angels fall to the earth after a war in Heaven.
3) Remnant Sealed - In the beginning, Noah and his family were sealed in the ark and saved from judgment. In the end, 144,000 are sealed to escape God's wrathful judgments on the ungodly.
4) Judgment Comes - In the beginning, the judgment came in the form of the flood; In the end, judgment comes in vials of wrath and destruction by fire.
5) Anti-Christ Arrives - In the beginning, the antichrist was Nimrod, who wanted to overthrow God. In the end, the Beast of Revelation is the antichrist, who goes into the Temple and declares himself God.
6) Babylon Falls - In the beginning, God destroyed the Tower, scattered the people, and confused their languages. In the end, Spiritual Babylon will be destroyed in a single hour, and the smoke of her burning will be visible to all.
7) World Reborn - In the beginning, the earth was recreated by God through the flood; In the end, a whole new heaven and earth will be created after the old heaven and earth have been destroyed.
There are many more examples and parallels that I did not mention. God does, indeed, declare the end from the beginning...