The Flood was the most important event in the Old Testament. Noah and salvation in the Ark, is a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.
The Flood shaped the world as we see it today. God unleashed all the water on the planet to wipe out earth's people and animals and reshape the landscape. It is a wonderful story , and I love retelling it from Genesis.
God put this in the Bible as a warning about the end of the world. Jesus said that when He comes to judge the world things will be like they were at the time of the Flood. It looks like that now to me!
Table of contents:
The Flood in the Old Testament, and Fire in the New.
The Flood is not a children’s story.
The Flood had never happened before either,
Both the Flood and Judgment Day warn of sudden danger
Jesus drew the parallel Himself:
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. – Matthew 24:37
The Flood narrative begins in Genesis 6:19 and ends in 9:17. The destruction of the world by water is the most important event in the Old Testament.
Noah, the righteous man of God offering salvation in the ark, is a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus.
Both men came to be saviors of the world.
Both were sent by God and had divine knowledge of impending danger.
The Flood in the Old Testament, and Fire in the New.
God called Noah to provide a means of salvation by building the Ark. He built it with his sons as God instructed. St. Peter tells us he was “a preacher of righteousness,” but there is no record of anyone accepting this salvation freely offered..
Why not? Jesus says they were so caught up in eating and drinking and marrying that they missed the warnings and ignored Noah and the message of salvation. That's how it will be when Jesus comes.
The Flood is not a children’s story.
Gustave Doré’s illustration below shows the horror of it graphically.
Horrible as those millions of deaths were, some may have been saved, either by innocence or by calling on the name of the Lord.
This will NOT be an option at the Second Coming:
The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. – Jesus in Matthew 13:49-50
This sounds like a similar scene to the Flood, but then the disaster fell impersonally, and everyone died although God would have saved the innocent from Hell.
But Jesus is personally involved on Judgment Day:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: – Jesus in Matthew 25:41
What more terrible and frightening words can one hear than those? Only the reality of Hell and its eternal horrors. Long before the Flood, God had prepared Hell for Satan* and his angels. Those who reject the Lord wind up there too.
How do we reconcile this with the fact that God is love? His love works with His righteousness, and that is why He prepared salvation for His people, in the Ark for the Flood, and in His only Son for the fires of Judgment Day.
So why does anyone refuse the great salvation?
People do not set out to reject Jesus, they are just too busy eating, drinking, and enjoying life to pay serious attention to something that has never happened before.
Both the Flood and the Second Coming Warn of Sudden Dangers
Both events highlight the need for salvation and the wonderful gift Jesus' death on the cross was. Both warn of God's wrath, and God waited, but no one came during all that time Noah was building the Ark. And when the Flood came, it was too late. It came suddenly and washed away the world.
Jesus’ second coming will be sudden too: St. Paul uses this language: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, (1Co_15:52), and Jesus’ last words in Revelation are: alert us again: Surely I come quickly. – Revelation 22:20
These words are directed to us, His people, for unlike the Flood, the Second Coming has a glorious aspect. To those who have been faithful, Jesus will say:
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: – Matthew 25:34
What a contrast to the horrors of damnation! Instead of doom, glory, instead of agony, joy. And the greatest joy of all is to be with Jesus as He has promised. Listen to these words recorded by John, the disciple Jesus loved:
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. – John 14:2-3
He loves us too and is coming back to take us home with Him, Hallelujah!
About Doré's illustration:
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929. | |