A Study of Noah.

I saw a post where someone said "Noah didn't come out of the boat until God said it was safe." Great point! SO I decided to do some research on Noah and compare his situation to today. (We are currently in quarantine because of a virus - but some states are saying they are going to open businesses again and people can go back to work and play again)

First thing that popped in my head was the Bible verse that states that Jesus' return will be like the days of Noah.

"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." - Matthew 24:37-39

Good to know. Now - let's go into deeper detail about what the "days of Noah" were REALLY like shall we?

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:1-4 

Wait, huh? What is "the Nephilim"? After a quick Google search it seems like they were giants or fallen angels. This would make sense because it's known that when the devil got kicked out of Heaven some of the angels went with him. It gets pretty deep as far as how all of this works and I don't want to spread any false information or base my research off of Google searches - so we won't even dive that deep into all of that. However, based off of the scripture - these Nephilim were/are not just regular humans and they were marrying the human women and having children by them. 

SO back to the "days of Noah" scripture - For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, It's safe to assume that the "they" that that scripture is talking about is the Nephilim right? - Because the scripture also says that The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward— 

SO DOES THAT MEAN THAT THERE ARE STILL SOME HERE ON EARTH? Maybe - calm down, let's keep reading. 

"The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." - Genesis 6:5-8 

This is the first time that I noticed that God was basically like "the animals gotta go too". 

Shoutout to Noah though. He found favor in the eyes of The Lord! He's actually one of many people that found favor in God's eyes like David, Abraham, Job, etc... and I always wish and hope that I too will be added to that list of people - that in the midst of all the wickedness going on around the world - finds favor in The Lord. 

So after reading this I now see that the "days of Noah" weren't all fine and dandy as I thought. This scripture says every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. Wow. That's bad. IF the Nephilim were the crew that dipped out of Heaven with the enemy, then that makes sense then...right? 

I'm just now noticing that even though I said I wasn't going to get deep into the Nephilim I kind of keep going there. Well, either way God wasn't pleased with what was going on so He decided to put an end to it. Following the scripture we just read it goes into detail as to why Noah found favor in The Lord's eyes and more on why God wanted to destroy the earth:

"This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.  So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth." - Genesis 6:9-13 

Ah. Got it. Noah was a righteous man, blameless and walked faithfully with God. The earth, however, was full of corruption and violence. 

So after this, God instructed Noah to build the boat and even how to build it and what to use. This is a sure sign to know when God instructs you to do something - He will always give you what you need to do it! 

So, I won't post all of the details here - but if you want to read it for yourself here is the link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5%3A32-10%3A1&version=NIV

Compared to today - it's kind of like God was telling Noah to quarantine. Stay inside. Don't come out until the rain and flood is over. Spend time with your family. It even says in verse 21, "You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” This is like everyone running to the grocery store and stocking up on food before the stay at home order. 

God even gave Noah a time period to when it was going to happen and how. Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him. So in this time should we be doing everything that The Lord commands us? Absolutely! God told Noah that the rain was coming in seven days. That gave Noah time to prepare. God has been giving us time to prepare for Jesus' return too. The only difference is we don't know the day nor hour. 

Now - when the earth flooded the Bible says in Genesis chapter 7 that every living thing on the earth died except Noah and his family along with the animals in the boat. So while everything outside was dying - they were safe inside. OK, let's get back to the scriptures. 

"But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.  Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." - Genesis 8:1-4 

They were on that boat for a long time. However - as they were on the boat the water was receding - things were changing - God was "cleaning things up". What would've happened had they got off the boat before the 150 days were up? Even though things were getting "better" - the water hadn't gone down until the end of the 150 days. Let's continue though because here's the kicker! 

We see in the previous verse that on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." It was the seventh month when the ark came to rest right? Well then, we can leave right? It's over! The boat is done rocking, the rain has subsided. Let's get out of here! No. This is why it's important to read fully. The Bible says that the rain "went down" ...that doesn't mean it was gone. On top of that, they were on a boat in the mountains. Is that a good place to leave? 

Look at this:

"The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible." Genesis 8:5 

So they came to "rest" in the seventh month. (I see what you did there God. On the seventh day He rested. That was when He created the earth - now He's recreating it.) 

The rain continued going down all the way into the 10th month. So here's some math - I'm not the greatest at math but this is what I'm getting (please correct me if I'm wrong):

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights - (Genesis 7:4) - That's 1 month and 10 days 

At the end of 150 days the water receded - that's like 5 months in. So for about 3-4 months it wasn't raining - but the earth was flooded still. 

By the 7th month they weren't moving anymore. 3 months later - they could see the tops of mountains again. That means the water was still fairly high. 

"After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him." - Genesis 8:6-12

So adding in 40 days later when Noah opened the window, the seven days after that when the dove brought back the leaf, and the final seven days after that that totals as almost a year on the boat before they knew it was safe to come out. That's my bad math though. According to scripture it was a little over a year between the time it started raining and when the earth was dry. 

I find it interesting how Noah didn't step out of the boat prematurely. He sent out the birds before him to check and even after getting a positive answer still waited on God to tell him the next move. 

AND HE DID. 

"Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another." - Genesis 8:15-19 

The general question during this lockdown that people ask is "What's the first thing you're going to do when this is over?" Well, let's see what Noah did when his quarantine was over:

"Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.  The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done." - Genesis 8:20-21

Looks like he gave an offering to God that pleased Him so well that He said He wouldn't destroy all living creatures again. How great is that!? 

Well, the rest is history. Of course more happened after that - but I think here is a good stopping point. As always, go read for yourself. What are the take-a-ways after reading this compared to where we are currently? It's up to you! Here are mine though:

1. When something big like this happens it's important that you find favor in the Lord's eyes by following God wholeheartedly. 

2. When God tells you what to do concerning being prepared - do exactly what He tells you to do.

3. You may be in the situation for longer than you thought - but be patient! 

4. Make sure the coast is clear before going out. Wait on God's command.

5. When you come out of it - give God thanks! 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Also, if you haven't already made the decision to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, I suggest that you make that decision today! 
"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9
After that -- join a good faith based Bible based church -- get baptized -- read The Word everyday! Pray everyday! Trust me, I did it. It's still and will forever be the best decision that I have ever made in life!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about the faith. 
Let's figure it out together with God. livingoutvisions@gmail.com