..To Ancient SDA's ............ To "What's New?"

by

Ron Parsons

The aim of this series:

“Then He said to them, ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:25-27.

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"Of every clean beast you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female [one extra male for a sacrifice after the flood]: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creeps upon the earth, there went in two and two to Noah into the ark [as obedient ones they came to him under the guidance of angels], the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

In the selfsame day [all on the one day] entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark [for the last time]; they, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in [for seven days before the rain came].

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth [It was like a typhoon and a hurricane all mixed up, only worse. It was then that the earth’s surface was broken into the Tectonic plates we hear about, like a cracked eggshell]; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward [30 ft or 10 metres above the highest point] did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered [by raging waters]. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth [this caused great landslides of the soft earth and helped cover many bodies, including those of the dinosaurs], and the waters assuaged [settled down]; the fountains also of the deep [some of the water came from under the earth] and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained [at the end of the forty days].

And the waters returned from off the earth continually [they began to find their own levels and form the great oceans]: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated [i.e. reasonably settled - only there were some great storms during that five months].

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon [near] the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen [about 300 days had passed since they had entered the ark].

And it came to pass at the end of forty days [340 in total since the beginning], that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth [it was still very muddy]: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in to him into the ark.

And he stayed yet other seven days [347]; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days [354]; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again to him any more.

And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth [enough for resettlement to begin]: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry [around the ark]. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, was the earth dried.

Noah entered the ark on the 17^th day of the second month (Genesis 7:1) and left it on the 27^th of the second month a year later. That means that he and his fellows were aboard for one year and ten days [about 370]. The extra time after the rains ceased was required for the earth to regenerate and produce food for man and beast.

And Noah built an altar to the LORD; and took [the 7th] of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour [because this action showed that Noah believed in the sacrifice of the Son of God]; and the LORD said in His heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

But of the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need that I write to you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the LORD [not the second coming but a period just before that] so comes as a thief in the night [quietly and unexpectedly to those who are asleep]. For when they shall say, "Peace and safety"; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail [labour pains] upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief [for you are waiting up for Him].

?????

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.  No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly.  All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

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