"And they that
went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and
the Lord shut him in." Gen. 7:16
Noah preached for
years.
The people mocked
for years.
And God's wrath
against a wicked and perverse people
accumulated for years.
A few felt the power
of the message...at first. But everyone soon gave way to "seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils". No need to worry: "all things continue as
from the beginning."
Not so.
Voices raised in
mock and derision were silenced when the watching world saw the animals enter
the ark. But their awe and fear did not last long; for they went back to the
same thing again.
One last pleading
look, one last entreaty: Noah is beaten back by a tide of angry, jesting
voices. He enters the ark with all his house. Still, the door remains open.
No human power
could've closed this door. None. And so, "a flash of dazzling light was
seen, and a cloud of glory more vivid than the lightning descended from heaven
and hovered before the entrance to the ark. The massive door,...was slowly
swung to its place by unseen hands." PP 98.2
She continues.
"The seal of Heaven was on that door; God had shut it, and God alone could
open it. So when Christ shall cease His
intercession for guilty men, before His coming in the clouds of heaven,
the door will be shut. Then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked,
and Satan will have full control of those who have rejected mercy. They will
endeavor to destroy God's people; but as Noah was shut into the ark, so the
righteous will be shielded by divine power." PP 98.2
Shut in. By God's
power, God's protection, God's mercy and grace.
And all those who
had not heeded the warning; those who would not put their sins away, however
small, were left outside to bear the terrors of what was to befall the earth.
As the little
children's song says, "the rains came down and the floods came
up." Sounds poetic--even
cute--coming from the lips of a toddler in Sabbath school, but this was no
picnic.
"Upon the
eighth day dark clouds overspread the heavens. There followed the muttering of
thunder and the flash of lightning. Soon large drops of rain began to fall….
"Darker and
darker grew the heavens, and faster came the falling rain. The beasts were
roaming about in the wildest terror,…
"Then,...water
appeared to come from the clouds in mighty cataracts. Rivers broke away from
their boundaries, and overflowed the valleys. Jets of water burst from the
earth with indescribable force, throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into
the air, and these, in falling, buried themselves deep in the ground." PP
99.1
What of the watching
world?
"The people
first beheld the destruction of the works of their own hands. Their splendid
buildings and the beautiful gardens and groves where they had placed their
idols, were destroyed by lightning from heaven, and the ruins were scattered
far and wide." PP 99.2
"As the
violence of the storm increased, trees, buildings, rocks, and earth were hurled
in every direction. The terror of man and beast was beyond description. Above
the roar of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people that had despised the
authority of God. Satan himself, who was compelled to remain in the midst of
the warring elements, feared for his own existence." PP 99.3
That is enough to
catch someone's attention. The devil, unable to be killed by anything but God,
feared that he would lose his life in the violence of the flood.
"As it was in
the days of Noah…"
One day, similar
things will come upon the earth. But it won't be destroyed by water. It will be
destroyed by fire.
Our only hope?
Being shut in. Like
Noah.
Shut in by grace, by
love, by mercy…
Lord God, shut me in. And keep me there.
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