Man’s wickedness
Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
The “Ark”
God wanted to save Noah:
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Noah met the qualification required by Jesus Christ:
Mat 18:3 …Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This was how God saved Noah:
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Gen 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
God instructed Noah to build an “Ark.”
Gen 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Gen 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Gen 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Further instructions of God:
Gen 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
Gen 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Gen 6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
Gen 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Noah followed God’s instruction to the letter and the Ark was finished:
Gen 7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
Gen 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
Then God began pouring His ire and fury on mankind:
Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Gen 7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Gen 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
The Great Deluge
All perished except Noah and his family and all animals with him in the Ark!
Gen 7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
Gen 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
Gen 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Gen 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Gen 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Length of time of the Great Deluge
Gen 7:11 – Windows of heaven were opened triggering heavy rainfall.
Gen 7:12 – Rain upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 8:3 – Continued rising of water level for 150 days.
Gen 8:4 – Ark “rested” on the 7th month.
Gen 8:5 – Gradual receding of water on the 10th month.
Gen 8:6 – Noah opened the window of the Ark after 40 days.
Gen 8:7 – A raven was sent to determine receding water.
Gen 8:8 – A dove was sent to confirm tapering off of water.
Gen 8:9 – The dove returned to the Ark.
Gen 8:10 – After 7 days a dove was sent again to determine the extent of the receding water.
Gen 8:11 – The dove returned to the Ark with an olive leaf.
Gen 8:12 – After 7 days a dove sent did not return.
After the Great Deluge
Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Gen 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen 9:12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen 9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Something to think about:
For the dimension of the Ark, the following are excerpts from Wikipedia regarding the different measurements. With this we can, more or less, figure out the size of the Ark made by Noah based on the instructions of God.
From Eastman’s Bible dictionary:
* Standard cubit - elbow to end of middle finger (20 inches).
* Lower forearm cubit - elbow to base of the hand (12 inches).
Considering the following, how physically realistic and feasible for all the things that happened in the Great Deluge? How could all animals and insects in pairs, from the largest animal to the smallest being gathered, accommodated in a small Ark measuring only 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in breadth, and 30 cubits in height? Following is excerpts from Wikipedia:
“A cubit is the first recorded unit of length and was one of many different standards of measurement used through history. It was originally based on measuring by comparing to one's forearm length. The Egyptian hieroglyph for the unit shows this symbol. It was employed through Antiquity, the Middle Ages up to the Early Modern Times, especially for measuring cords and textiles, but also for timbers, stone and volumes of grain.
“The largest animal is the elephant, the male weighs about 24,000 lb (11,000 kg) with a shoulder height of 3.96 metres (13.0 ft), and the smallest insect, the fairy fly that is considered to be the smallest insect known in existence. The fairy-flies are tiny wasps from the Mymaridae family. The Costa Rican fairy-flies males are no larger than .0139 mm in length. Many of these fairy-flies are only about .5 to 1 mm in length and there have even been some found to be no larger than 0.2 mm. This means it was only 0.008 of an inch. Fairy-flies are parasites, which lay their eggs on other insects. Their favorite hosts include beetles, flies, leafhoppers, and booklice. It would take a microscope to see these tiny wasps.”
How could all these animals, including the smallest insects that do not even thrive in a particular place, be brought by Noah to the Ark as God instructed him to do? So also the foodstuff and water needed to sustain all these living things for so long period of time in the Ark that lasted for a little less than one year. For the two elephants alone, data from circus people, “each drinks around 100 to 150 litres of water daily, or 37 gallons,” therefore for the two they consume around one and a half drums a day.”
Considering the size of the Ark to accommodate all and the food requirement, so with the kind of container to provide water for the animals and the family of Noah, one needs to think of the feasibility accomplishing this great undertaking.
Truth about creation
On the creation of man:
God created man with “free will,” that is, the freedom to think and express what is in the heart called feeling or emotion. It is in exercising “free will” that God expects the people to humble themselves in order to realize His promise of eternal life with them. In no way does God control or withhold what was given free in determining who among the people deserve to be with Him in eternity.
On the creation of nature:
In like manner, God created nature allowing to take its due course in order to sustain itself. For example, rain occurs from the process of evaporation and condensation. When the water in the clouds becomes too heavy, precipitation occurs and we have rain. Earthquakes happen with the rearrangement of “faults” below the ground. In geology, “a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock,across which there has been significant displacement” (Wikipedia). Volcanoes erupt due to intense and uncontrollable heat below the ground, thus causing mountains to burst. The universe that is composed of planets, stars and everything in it, all works in perfect harmony because God created it that way, and allowing everything taking its due course, as man in exercising his “free will.” Would God violate His own design without being true to which He is known for?
In law, earthquakes and all uncontrollable catastrophic events are called acts of God. All these should only be considered “acts of nature.” Therefore, considering the truthfulness of God with His creation, the Great Deluge could not have happened literally without certain violations of nature from its right and proper course.
Example, in the Great Deluge if the highest mountain was submerged with water; thereafter, where did all the water go since it cannot escape to the sea for it must have been of the same level, and the ground did not have the capability to absorb all.
The “tongue” of God
Everything written in the Holy Bible is truth, and we have to accept everything. God has His "peculiar language” that perhaps many people overlooked:
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
However, God used the language of man, Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament books. The Bible is translated in different languages and dialects of the people reading it, for example, English to the Americans and British, Spanish for the Spaniards, Tagalog to the Filipinos, and so forth. It is obvious therefore to many people thinking that they could understand and interpret the Holy Bible as it is written in their respective lingo. A warning is given by God, but it is ignored by many preachers of the Holy Bible.
2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
The “letter” refers to the literal understanding of the message, while “spirit” for the divine revelation of the intended message thereof. Perhaps scientists are justified in losing confidence on the reliability of the Holy Bible due to the erroneous preaching of the word of God. Hence, many of them became atheist or agnostic.
God reveals His intended message from the very words, by demonstration. Illustration, Jesus drove away the merchants in the temple and He spoke of this word “temple.”
Joh 2:14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
Jesus showed His indignation:
Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
There are two kinds of listeners, and look at the result of their comprehension from the words of Jesus Christ.
The JEWS taking the “literal” meaning of temple results in a negative effect:
Joh 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
Mat 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
The DISCIPLES by simply waiting for divine revelation received the right message:
Joh 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
Joh 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
From the illustration, it appears that those who only take the “letter” of the word of God do not really believe in it.
The intended message of the Great Deluge can only be appreciated if we consider the following truth:
2 Cor 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Wickedness of man
In the days of Noah:
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
God is silent with the kind of wickedness in that era. He simply used generic terms “corrupt and violence” that the people in that age were guilty of.
In the days of Jesus Christ:
Since our Lord referred to the “days of Noah,” the wickedness of man under the two eras must be similar in nature, and this we need to know the specifics or details. Jesus Christ accused the current generation:
Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it…
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 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,
To God, the wickedness of man in the two eras must be too great as to require total destruction of all living things reliant on air in order to live.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them.
“Eating”
For many people eating means satisfying hunger with food. This is also what Satan saw when Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and told Him:
Mat 4:3 … If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
With Jesus’ retort, very clearly His hunger was not with literal food but of the word of God:
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
If “eating” refers to the word of God, and this was not pleasing to Jesus; therefore the people were “eating” the wrong message from His words. Now the following taboos in spiritual matters are put to light that are disregarded by many people:
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
“drinking”
To the Natural Man, again drinking refers to filling up thirst with water or H2O. However, it is written one reference to “water” is the word of God:
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Another reference to “water” is the Holy Spirit:
Joh 7:37 …Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Hence, Jesus told His listeners:
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Therefore Jesus was chiding the people for “eating and drinking” the word of God without the revelation of the Holy Spirit. As a result the people did not receive the intended message thereof. Jesus showed His indignation when He saw the Priests, lawyers and doctors of the law, Scribes and Pharisees, “teaching” the people with their own interpretation of the word. The truth is, the Holy Spirit is the sole Teacher:
1 Joh 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
This was also revealed to James:
Jam 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jam 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jam 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jam 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
“Marrying and given in marriage”
How could “marrying” be loathsome to our Lord when this is natural, and it is expected for people to do all the time? It is written Jesus did not speak except in parables:
Mar 4:34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
To God, “marrying and given in marriage” has another connotation to Him. It is written, God said:
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Looking at the statement of God, it is surprising to see that there are only a few who deserve to be His “wife.” Here God reveals He is the “husband.”
Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Hence, God expects the people to receive only His “seeds” and this refers to the intended message of His words.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
So, there are only two “spiritual male,” God and Satan. In the eyes of our Lord the Jews were receiving the “seeds” of His enemy. While they were zealously following the law (word of God), to our Lord they were “blind” not seeing the intended message thereof. They were divided into sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees who could not agree in their perception of the word. They professed love for God but they did not know Him, so Jesus rebuked them:
Joh 8:54 … it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him…
Joh 8:19 Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also
Very clearly therefore, this is the kind of “wickedness” that Jesus saw in the two great eras of mankind.
REVELATION OF THE “SON OF MAN”
Jesus Christ warned the people in His time about the “coming of the Son of man.” Of course He is referring to Himself, the only Savior as it is written:
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Long ago this was revealed to Isaiah, the prophet:
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? … have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isa 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Who can deny that Abel was not saved? By whom? Simply, by offering a literal “lamb and shedding its blood?”
Gen 4:4 … And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Let us take note of the need for the “shedding of blood” in the salvation of Abel.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Just as Abel was saved, so was Enoch. Was it simply for Enoch not to see literal or spiritual death in the “lake of fire?”
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Was it not by FAITH that both Enoch and Abel recognized JESUS CHRIST, the “lamb” of God, that with the shedding of His blood they were saved?
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
From the foregoing it is clear that recognizing the SAVIOR, by divine revelation, is the bottom line for salvation.
The coming of the Messiah
All along the Jews were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, as prophesied in the book of Daniel (Dan 9:25).
Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
As earlier expounded since God is speaking in parables, this “seven weeks and threescore and two weeks” cannot be taken literally. The focus of this discussion is on the “wickedness, the revelation of the Son of man, and the punishment” for the two great eras in the history of mankind.
The revelation of the “Son of man” was demonstrated when Simon Peter truly recognized JESUS CHRIST.
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
It is obvious that only the DISCIPLES recognized Jesus Christ and the rest of the people at that time did not. This is because to recognize Him, it requires a “miracle” with a condition – spiritual and not just emotional humility. This is true all the time!
Since the beginning up to Old Testament time:
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Thereafter up to the end of time:
Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
2 Tim 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
If it were easy to identity Jesus Christ, why did the people at Caesarea Philippi after seeing and listening to Him had the following impression of Him?
Mat 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
The religious leaders, the teacher and doctors of the law, the priests, more specifically the Scribes and Pharisees talked and argued with our Lord. Let us listen to them:
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Ultimately, they paid Judas Iscariot thirty pieces of silver to identify Him, just so they could crucify Him on the cross?
Today religious leaders of great minds spent time and great efforts studying and memorizing the Holy Bible are like the people at Caesarea Philippi. Why do we hear diverse identifications of Jesus Christ?
- Preaching, “Jesus is only a man and not God.”
- Another doctrine teaching, “Jesus is only a Mighty God for there is a supreme or Almighty God.”
- Still another doctrine preaching, “Jesus Christ is the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit,” but never heard this is by “divine revelation.”
- The most popular doctrine believing, “Jesus is both God and man, and He is the second person of the Trinity.”
All these doctrines teach that Jesus Christ the “Son of God” is the Messiah, Savior, or Redeemer.
“Lightning, that lighteneth”
Clearly the literal offering of blood of Abel revealed the intended message that actually refers to the shedding of blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. But what did Jesus see in His time? Long ago the coming of Jesus Christ was prophesied:
Isa 49:6 … I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
Jesus Christ the Messiah came, but the Jews did not recognize Him. He told them:
Luk 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
“Lightning” indicates brightness or illumination. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” however, He was prophesied to speak “dark sayings of old.”
Psa 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
As lightning is seen in a certain place and darkness all around, so is Christ clearly identified by a few, but remaining strange and weird to the rest of the people.
Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Is not the foregoing clearly demonstrated in the case of the “man born blind?”
Joh 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
Compared to the Scribes and Pharisees and the religious leaders who could see the surroundings since birth, but they did “not see” or recognized Jesus Christ.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
This truth about recognizing Jesus Christ is seen all the time.
Two classes of Disciples
First group – These were the great multitude that followed our Lord whom He fed with “bread and fishes” but Jesus exposed their real motive by saying:
Joh 6:26 … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
When Jesus told them, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” Their real color, so to speak, was revealed by not comprehending His message.
Joh 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
The great majority of the multitude left Him because of this:
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Second group – These were few who recognized Jesus and became His Apostles and Disciples.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
This group realized that Jesus taught them unlike the Scribes:
Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
The revelation or identification of the “Son of man” was literally demonstrated during the time of the apostles. Jesus asked His Disciples:
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
It took Peter a “miracle” to recognize Jesus is the CHRIST or Messiah, meaning Savior or Redeemer. His basis is the following, but many people have “not heard” the Father claiming all of these. The Father, the God of Abraham and Moses speaking:
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Let us take note that it was the Father who made the testament of salvation:
Gen 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Very explicitly stated, a testament requires the “death of the testator.”
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
The question now is, how can the Father a Spirit, fulfill His covenant or testament without “manifesting Himself in the flesh.” Thus,
1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit…
It is by divine revelation that God revealed the two roles of JESUS CHRIST.
First – as the “Father in the flesh” appropriately called the CHRIST, the Savior, Redeemer or Messiah.
Second – as “Son of God,” the model to the chosen, showing the “way” by example, and acting as “mediator between God and men.”
“Thou art the Christ”
Peter therefore, by declaring “Jesus is the Christ,” perceived Him to be the “Father in the flesh,” the Creator:
Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Jesus Christ confirmed this!
Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he…
The Father claiming to be the only Savior:
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Jesus Christ confirmed it!
Joh 8:24[KJV] I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
“Beside me” indicates position, and it is written Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God.
Mar 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
Very clear to the Natural Man, in eternity Jesus Christ is literally sitting at the right hand of God. However, in the “language” of God “right hand” means the totality of His power as expounded in the following:
Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
This is likewise revealed to Paul and Isaiah as this refers to Jesus Christ:
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (as Father)and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor (Holy Spirit), The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (as Son).
Apostle John in his vision of heaven wrote:
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
On the cross, this role of Jesus as the Father in the flesh revealed it when He was about to fulfill His testament:
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
John validated this truth further by writing:
1 Joh 3:16[KJV] Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us…
Many people cannot comprehend and therefore cannot believe this truth. They say, if Jesus Christ is the Father in the flesh, then for three days that He was in the tomb there was no God in that short period of time. They have overlooked that Lazarus the beggar when he died only his body was dead but his soul was alive “in the bosom of Abraham.”
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And since Lazarus was a chosen of God having His spirit, this returned back to God:
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Very clear therefore to the Apostles and Disciples of Christ and to the chosen all the time, this primary role of Jesus leaves no doubt in them. It is written there is only one Creator.
Neh 9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein…
Regarding the claim of the Father creating everything by Himself:
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
And here is Paul testifying about Jesus Christ on this matter:
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Can human perception of the plurality of God at creation sufficient to nullify the truth that He is speaking in “parable and dark sayings of old?”
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…
“Thou art the Son of the living God”
Here, Peter and the rest of the Disciples declaring Jesus the Son of God perceived Him only in His secondary role. This is also revealed to Paul when he wrote:
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
This secondary role of Jesus is very clearly illustrated in the following. His humility before the Father:
Joh 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…
Joh 14:28 … If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Showing the Way by example:
1 Pet 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way… no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
As mediator between the Father:
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Jesus in this role as Son showed the example that He has limited knowledge regarding “His second coming” in His role as the Father:
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
In this role, Jesus has God like the chosen:
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Joh 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Hence, Jesus as Son of God can never be the Savior, Redeemer, or Messiah as many religious preachers believe. In this role, Jesus cannot be God. Otherwise, He cannot be a perfect model to the chosen.
Because of spiritual blindness, the Jews cannot “see” Jesus in His primary role who is the Messiah they had been waiting for. They hated and crucified their God!
Satan, the “angel of light”
If Jesus Christ is the “light of the world,” Satan is the counterfeit who is called the “angel of light” that deceives the people of the world:
2 Cor 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And look!
2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
As a result, today many people developed a false sense of salvation with the following belief about Jesus Christ, when in fact His true identity needs to be established first.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Phi 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be Joh
Warning!
How many professing Christians feel and are fully aware of the following rebuke of Jesus Christ?
Joh 8:19 … Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Fatheralso.
Joh 8:54 … If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him…
Many people like the Jews cannot comprehend that Jesus is the Father in the flesh. Nobody told them that “to see” Him as such, it needs a “miracle.” The warning of our Lord, saying, “As it was in the days of Noah” makes it relevant all the time. Many people are limited recognizing Jesus being the Son of God only. Therefore, they will surely be subject to His sharp rebuke at Judgment Day:
Luk 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me…
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me…
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Father in making His Testament of Salvation promised Himself to be the inheritance to the priests and Levites:
Eze 44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me…
Eze 44:28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance…
Spiritually, the priests are the chosen of God as revealed to David and Peter:
Psa 16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
1 Pet 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Pet 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
In the course of the ministry of Jesus Christ, His true Disciples came to Him asking about His second coming:
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us…what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Among many signs, He gave the following:
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
True to what is written Jesus did not speak except in parables. However, He explained to them privately:
Mar 4:34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
The “world”
If the “world” to the Natural Man refers to planet earth, to God it is man himself since the literal earth does not have ears to listen to His words:
Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
The “sun”
If to the Natural Man the “sun,” the planetary object at the center of the Solar System and the source of light and heat, to God it refers to our Lord who is the “light of the world.”
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield…
In the “signs” given by our Lord, the “sun not giving its light” means in the life of His chosen, for awhile they could not see the truth. This is caused by the great temptation of the enemy that they would long for God’s enlightenment.
The “moon”
The “moon” symbolizes the chosen,
Song of Solomon 6:10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon…
This simply follows the revelation regarding the “sun” since the “moon” only gets its light from the “sun.”
The “stars”
Now regarding the “falling of stars,” these cannot refer to the heavenly bodies that are even larger than the earth. They are actually evil persons who are with the chosen of God:
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Therefore, all the signs enumerated by our Lord for His second coming happened in the life of the chosen, not literally but spiritually. Jesus in His role as the Father revealed to His Disciples this great mystery about the identity of the Holy Spirit. He told them:
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Mat 28:20 …lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Thus, at Pentecost!
As promised, Christ who would never tell a lie came to the DISCIPLES in His Holy Spirit form.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
This is evident with the “endowment of divine knowledge and wisdom” to the chosen of God.
Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
2 Tim 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
With “cloven tongue” the chosen speak the dual purpose of the word of God. For some words, like stealing and adultery, following the literal meaning simply “cleanses the outside of the cup and platter.” This is MORALITY that many people raised to RELIGISOITY believing it is God’s standard of righteousness.
However, the way Jesus Christ rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees it is the intended message of the “letter” of the word that “cleanses the inside of the cup and platter.” For “stealing” it is more than things of value not own being taken, but more important are the souls and honor and glory that belong to God. This is caused by not “passing through the door of the sheepfold.” The “door of the sheepfold” is the truth in the word.
Joh 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
For “adultery,” it is more than carnal knowledge or sexual intercourse with a person other than the wife or husband. By divine revelation in spiritual matters, God is supposed to be the “husband” of the people:
Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
The “seeds” of God are His intended message from His words.
Luk 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
As it is, people by not trusting God expound on His words, we witness diverse interpretations thereof.
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
But because of “spiritual blindness,” not only the Jews but all the people have not seen God’s way that pertains to the soul. They are more concerned of the body than the soul that God harvests for His eternal kingdom. This was revealed to Paul:
2 Cor 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Jesus Christ preached SPIRITUALITY out of the word, but man is limited to MORALITY and simply put this to the level of RELIGIOSITY. Man’s invention of different religions, and sects and denominations within each, is clearly the fruits of the intellect and feeling, called human wisdom. How many can comprehend the words of Jesus Christ in the following?
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
He preached SPIRITUALITY to the Jews, but they hated, persecuted, and eventually crucified Him on the cross. This truth has never passed away, as it is written. The message of the Great Deluge is right before the eyes of the chosen of God.
Eccl 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
On knowing the One True God
How many people realize “spiritual blindness” reigns all the time and only a few truly recognize the One True God? Can religious leaders and many people believe and accept the following truth about Jesus Christ? Can they honestly declare without any doubt as they read other verses relating to the Father and the Holy Spirit the following truth about Jesus Christ?
1 Joh 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (Col 2:9): and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor (Holy Spirit), The mighty God, The everlasting Father (Jesus in His role as the Father), The Prince of Peace(Jesus in His role as Son of God).
Therefore, how could many people expect to identify JESUS CHRIST as the true God with the dictate of the “intellect, senses and feeling” especially at His baptism?
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Because of human doctrines, while many people are waiting for the second coming of Christ, the chosen are at peace with the truth that He has already come in their life.
What they are waiting for is His second appearance as revealed to Paul in:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
And by that time, they would be “like Him” in His role as “Son of God” as promised:
1 Joh 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
THE PUNISHMENT
The hub of deceptions is caused by taboos that are ignored by Bible believers. Religious leaders are virtually “stepping into the shoes of” God by how much they are trusted by people.
Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
While everybody professes trust in God, the truth is, it is just lip service:
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Emotionalism draws people to different sects and denominations, all “leaning unto their own understanding,” resulting in the different identifications of Jesus Christ.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Because of the foregoing, only to the DISCIPLES is revealed the “days of the Son of Man.” This remains hidden from the Jews and equally applies today if only we open our eyes and listen to the different preachers of the Holy Bible.
The punishment, “As it was in the days of Noah,” is completely ignored by the people. They mistakenly rely on the promise of God, that He would no longer destroy the earth with “water.”
Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen 9:14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
But how many people, especially the religious leaders, believe and subscribe to the following?
2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
The “letter” refers to the literal meaning of the word. There is therefore a false sense of security for the world not to be destroyed with “water” anymore. However, it is a lapse of judgment relying on the physical happening of the Great Deluge that did not really happen.
Therefore, it is the purpose of this article to draw attention to the real message of God expounded by divine revelation. To simply rely on historical events would nullify the immutability of the message. It is written:
Ecc 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
Reminded also that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” and He is the truth in the word. Hence, what was true before is truth today as it will also be true in the days to come.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith … I am … the truth,
And besides, He reminded His listeners to this:
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
The spiritual Ark
If the literal Ark saved the body of Noah and his family, it is the soul of the chosen of God that are saved by the spiritual Ark. Just as the physical Ark was designed by God, so is the spiritual Ark comes from His scheme revealed to the chosen.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
To follow the instructions of God, it requires the humility of “little children” in the eyes of God, for to them is endowed “divine knowledge and wisdom.”
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
2 Tim 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
Nicodemus, a renowned religious leader, before meeting Jesus must be zealously serving the God of Abraham and Moses, but he was subject to His rebuke:
Joh 8:54 … it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him…
Saul of Tarsus also known as Paul, before recognizing the God he was serving went to the extent of persecuting the Disciples of Christ. But he was subject to His rebuke:
Joh 8:19 … Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
These two characters are typical of the chosen of God before recognizing the God they were zealously worshipping and praising. Thereafter, Nicodemus and Paul and the other Disciples of Christ were shown the power of God and were saved by the spiritual Ark from eternal damnation.
An overview of the spiritual Ark:
Like Noah the chosen are enjoined to build a spiritual Ark whose “framework” is the following:
Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The Ark that would save them from drowning from spiritual water is the TRUTH in the word. This is “water” for the word of God:
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
God gave us another reference for “water” and it symbolizes the Holy Spirit that reveals the message from the literal word:
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
To have a clear view of the spiritual Ark let us consider the following:
2 Cor 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
“Fasting” is needed. Does it mean to starve oneself with food? This was demonstrated when Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights. The Devil told Him to turn the stones into bread:
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Another example, “religiosity” based on morality for simply taking the “letter” of the word “Thou shalt not steal” and the rest of the commandments. This cannot form part of the structure of the spiritual Ark. The thieves at the left and right side of Jesus on the cross, in comparison with the Scribes and Pharisees and the religious leaders are given as example.
Literal stealing:
The two thieves crucified with Jesus on the cross were never rebuked by Him. Instead, one of the two even went with our Lord to Paradise:
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Spiritual stealing:
Joh 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
The Scribes and Pharisees must have followed this commandment to the “letter,” but for being “blind to the intended message,” Jesus sharply rebuked them. Clearly the following refers to spiritual matters only.
Mat 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Stealing causing jealousy of God in spiritual matters:
Jam 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
Psa 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
The word of God has two purpose, one for “cleaning the outside” and the other the “inside of the cup and platter.” The Scribes and Pharisees for being “blind to the intended message,” Jesus reproved them:
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Outside of the cup and platter” refers to MORALITY by simply following the “letter” of the word. In the example, it refers to stealing money or material things. “Inside of the cup and platter,” refers to stealing what belongs to God. This is SPIRITUALITY that Jesus Christ preached to them, but they could not understand. Thus,
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Read the whole of Matthew 23.
“One component” of the spiritual Ark is demonstrated by Paul in the following. While he is noted as the leading Apostle, he never took preaching as a profession. Never did he take the “letter” of the law on Tithes (2 Cor 3:6). He enjoins the believers:
1 Cor 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Act 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
Act 20:34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
2 Thes 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Another component of the spiritual Ark:
As a test for real trust in God, who can accept the following?
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Jam 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jam 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jam 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
Jam 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Upper portion of the spiritual Ark:
If many people aspire for eternal life with God, why is the following truth disregarded? Jesus told this to the multitudes after feeding them with “bread and fishes.”
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Very clearly our Lord pointed out the importance of the soul over the body. This was demonstrated by Jesus in opening the eyes of the man born blind. To many people, it was the literal opening of the eyes. But He revealed the significance of His miracle, that of “seeing” Him. Many people cannot accept that without clearly identifying Christ sins can never be forgiven.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
Some religious leaders realized this, but because they wanted the praise of men more than the praise of God, they did not follow the truth that is Jesus Christ.
Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Knowing Jesus Christ signifies the ability to comprehend the two roles of Jesus Christ:
- In His primary role, Jesus is the “Father in the flesh,” who made the testament of salvation. Therefore, He is the Savior, Redeemer or Messiah, and the Creator.
- In His secondary role, Jesus as “Son of God” acts only as model to the chosen, showing the way, by example. He cannot be God.
Truly identifying Jesus exempts a person from His rebuke:
Joh 8:19 Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
The animals in the Ark
Gen 7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
Gen 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
“beasts”
If to the Natural Man the “beasts” are animals, let us see what these creatures symbolize according to the “spiritual language” of God. Surprisingly, “beasts” symbolize people! “Clean beasts” are the chosen also called “sons of God,” while “unclean beasts” are the “called” also known as “sons of men.”
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Now in the Ark, we find the following:
- “Sons of God” in this particular case refers to the “chosen,” Noah and his family
- “Sons of men” to the “called” for “unclean beasts.”
Tit 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
2 Pet 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
Jude 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Paul fighting the “beasts at Ephesus” clearly referred to the false prophets or apostles in that place.
1 Cor 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
“things that creepeth”
The “chosen” of God learn lessons from the “called” on physical-earthly matters. Example, from the “ants” for their industriousness and perseverance in providing for “physical life” but this is only for the body that ends in the cemetery.
Prov 30:25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
“fowls of the air”
Let us look here what the “fowls of the air” are capable of doing. Surprisingly, they can “tell” something that only people can do. So therefore, the “fowls of the air” in the Ark represent people.
Job 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
The “fowls of the air” actually represent the “called” who are also fed with the word. But this is only from the “letter” that involves MORALITY, like, “Thou shalt not steal,” and so forth.
The “called” raise this to RELIGIOSITY and this is exactly what Jesus Christ found in the Scribes and Pharisees. In the eyes of the people this is “righteousness” but to our Lord it is hypocrisy for it only “cleanses the outside of the cup and platter.”
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
To the Disciples, Christ reveals the “spirit” of the word that “cleanses the inside of the cup and platter.” This is SPIRITUALITY that “only a few” could “see and understand.”
God, the Provider:
The provisions for food and water for the animals are actually the “literal word,” like “Thou shalt not steal,” and other commandments and edicts that benefit the body. Thus,
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
From the foregoing, both the “called” and the “chosen” benefit for the MORAL lessons they teach. But, since only the body is benefited, all ends in the cemetery.
The family of Noah
Since the Great Deluge did not happen literally, the “family of Noah” actually refers to his soul, as revealed by God in the following:
Deu 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul…
To conclude, the real message of the Great Deluge is the salvation of the soul and not the body. God harvests souls to be with Him in eternity. The body is but a temporary vessel of the soul that in the beginning God told Adam and Eve, “From dust thou came and unto dust thou shalt return.” The process just summed up is God’s plan of establishing His eternal kingdom. Jesus Christ called the attention of His listeners to the importance of the “heavenly” more than the “earthly.”
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
David realized this long ago:
Psa 41:4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
Psa 34:22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
Psa 42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
Just as Noah and his family were in the Ark seeing the rest of the people perishing, so are the chosen of God from Abel received this revelation of building the spiritual Ark. At any moment in the life of the chosen, they see themselves “floating on water” while the rest of the people are perishing and “drowning under” the truth of the word.
Psa 77:19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
At creation
Related to the foregoing revelations of God, at the creation of man, we read:
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
At creation, man was created in the “image of Jesus Christ,” a physical being, consisting of the following:
Body – for “dust of the ground” consisting of the visible part with the different senses including instinct.
Soul – for the “intellect and feeling or emotion” symbolized by the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Spirit of God – for the “breath of life,” symbolized by the Tree of life.
Conclusion:
From the clear revelation of the intended message of God from the “letter” of His words, it can now be conclusively stated that The Great Deluge did not happen literally. But the message of God must, in a good way be taken spiritually.
The Great Deluge happens in the individual life of the chosen of God. They realize this when God recognized their humility like Noah. They are distinct from the rest of the people because they perceived the “command” of God “to build the spiritual Ark.” They are endowed strength and wisdom to persevere building the spiritual Ark. They are mocked and jeered by people who are not aware of their impending damnation. In the end as Noah did an offering to God, they earnestly praise God through His words:
Psa 56:10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.
Psa 56:11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Psa 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
END
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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