CLIFFORD GOLDSTEIN asks, "What does an ancient story about a world-wide flood tell us about or world today"?
Hollywood has never been shy about creating end-of-the-world flicks. from Beware! The Blob to 2121, Contagion, and the World war Z, moviegoers who like imaginative accounts of end-time events have plenty to choose from.
Some time back however, Hollywood came up with a different kind of apocalyptic thriller: NOAH, staring Russell Crowe. Based very loosely on the Biblical story of the flood in Genesis, this movie tells about the the impending doom of the ancient world and one man's attempt to save his family from it.
Whatever the merits or demerits of the film (and it has plenty of both), it does raise valid questions about the fate of humanity today. What challenges do we face in the 21st Century as the world's population increases, as natural resources get scarcer, as the specter of war continues, and as the questions of pollution and climate change remain?
{(j.B.) please know this one huge but single fact: Science and scientist, for the most part, seek to explain, the universe, but leaving God the Creator totally out of the equation, yet science holds that it seeks only truth? How can one then, leave out any factor, by rejecting Creation and The Creator out of hand? Is that not unlike a mathematician ignoring Zero, as if it were not present?]
Are we doomed, as were the the people in the time of Noah's Flood, or do we have hope? And IF we do have hope, what is it? The biblical account of Noah' s Flood may be far removed from the consciousness of most people today, but how does that change facts, and what does it hold, today, for us, in the way of lessons? Though it's often viewed only in terms of the destruction and punishment, the deeper message is the hope of redemption in a world getting ever closer and closer, to destroying itself.
With an endless progression, or should I say procession, of wars, terrorism based upon "love of a god', our obsession about climate, when we know it's always in flux, and changing, and natural disasters, {Which by the way we are only to happy to blame God for them, rather than the real perpetrator, Satan. As earth's population becomes more and more evil, God withdraws His Spirit, giving Satan more leeway!, but who teaches the Bible these days? The Sun-day worshipers, that obey the laws of men?]
With all these events ongoing, one doesn't have to be a doomsday fanatic to be concerned about the world's future! In fact, Jesus very specifically used the Noahatic Flood to compare that time to what it will be like in earth's future! When He's about to return at this world's end. He said....
Matthew 24:37-39 "But as the days of Noe 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."
[As stated before, "Who bothers to read the Bible today?" But please note:
Ecclesiastes 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."
[Is this where we got this saying? "History repeats itself?" or "What comes around, goes around"? THINK!]
[If you want to learn what live was like, that got God so disgusted, and angry with mankind read Genesis 6:, then read Gen.11:1-9 the story of Tower of Babel, and learn that men learned nothing from the flood!]
Jesus' point is that, as we near the time of the end, the ,masses of people, will be going about their business as if nothing were wrong, nothing amiss. Apparently, that was the people's attitude and behavior before Noah's Flood, in spite of the fact that they had plenty of warnings about what was to come, in fact Noah preached about the flood for 120 years!
[In point of fact, we of the Seventh day Adventist Church, have been preaching and teaching the "Time of the End" message ever since 1864! Showing that God, in His mercy, has withheld His wrath, these days, much longer than in Noah's time, but how long are Y O U wiling to test His patience?]
All of God's children, CONT *.. {we are all His, for He gave each one of us HIS BREATH OF LIFE, for only the Father and the Son, have life, within themselves, thus SUSTAIN ALL LIFE!]...
Colossians 1:17 "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. "
Consist in the Greek the word is Sunistao ( soon-is-thah'-o) means to make, to stand. To consist. Would this be a good time to introduce the Second Law of thermodynamics? Paraphrased... Anything set into an orderly motion, will over time degrade into disorder.'
That's from human science's "Natural Laws", so why has the universe, not degraded into disorder, and why we see no massive scale collisions? IS possible that there is a a force, a sustaining force a consisting force?
CONT*... we all, need to be careful that we do NOT ignore His warnings. All around we see signs of impending disasters that Jesus Himself gave warnings too:...
Matthew 24:5-10 " For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."
[ If you can't understand this, who has ever seen or heard of a crime, or an assault done in LOVE? Who has not heard of the Islamic crazies, and their slogan, "Believe as we do, or die"? How many so-called 'Christians' must they murder, across this earth, before people understand what Jesus spoke about, way back then? But Heh! Who bothers to read, let alone study the Holy Bible these days? THINK!]
As humankind entered the twentieth century, the majority of people were full of optimism and hope for a bright future. Many were convinced that the world was entering a golden age in which science and technology would bring utopia--- a grand world of peace and prosperity for all. However World War 1 quickly dashed all those false hopes, did it not?
When the great-grandchildren of those who welcomed in the 20th century, ushered in the 21st they did NOT have any grand illusions about a coming 'golden age',. On the contrary, September 11, 2001, became this generation's symbol of the future. Things seem to have been going downhill since then, right?
[ Please humor me, God promised NEVER to use water to destroy life again, right? He does not have another Noah, to tell us about the coming disaster, as ALL Bible Students know, this time God's going to use fire to clean earth Revelation's Lake of fire, read 19 - 22.chapters So what else can He do? How about kicking the secularists in their 'collective wallets', and look at all of earth's economies, since about 2003?....
Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:"
Isaiah 33:15-16 "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."
{As you can see, those who accept Him through Christ, are protected, and even if they lose their lives, yet will they live again, forever. Read His promise in John 14:1-3].
However, even in the days of Noah, the people all had hope.... The ARK. It was built precisely to save them from what was coming on the world! Sadly they did not recognize is as such.
Today, amid our trails and worries, we, too, can have hope, because we have something better than a boat. We have Jesus and the promise of eternal life IN Him!
Jesus, left all behind in Haven, to come down to this earth, as a helpless babe, born of woman, just as
Y O U and I, living a perfect life, without a sin, only to become sin for all, for all time, thus died with OUR sins, but resurrected that beautiful Sunday morn, to show us that the Father raised Him, so also He can raise us. So whether we die a calm, and peaceful death, at old age, in the presence of loved ones, or in car crash, or at the hands of fanatics, or in an earthquake, or however we meet our end, if we are in Jesus, then He is in us, and all those shall "Sleep in christ', resting in the grave until at the 7th Trump (et call) He calls us to wake up and be with Him and the Father, for ever. Then we shall have life without hurt, pains or worry}.....
John 10:25-28 "Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
{Note: Many do not understand, that God's promises, that are for the good, are CONDITIONAL, upon our faith/trust in Christ, will, with our total surrender, to His will in loving obedience. Why would any want to surrender? That goes against our grain, right, but remember Love conquers all and....
1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
{Note: God loves us all, each and everyone one of us, so much so, that He'll even give them what they want, "to have nothing to do with Him.... but they know not, that God is life, thus without Him, and HIS Breath of Life we perish. read Genesis 2:7 with understanding.]
So, Hollywood's Noah, the movie which owes very little to the Bible's narrative, but still doesn't change one fact it presents: 'we all live in a very scary world. Within which we find no hope in any boat, but in Jesus and what He promises us, IF we are but willing!
ARE Y O U ready to be willing?
FLOOD ACCOUNTS:
The story of a great flood is not unique to the Bible. Several ancient cultures had similar stories.
The Epic of Gilgamesh. Dating back to 2,000 B.C., in one of the airiest surviving works of literature. The He, Gilgamesh, meets Utnapishtim, who tells his how the the god Ea warned him that a flood will be sent by the gods to punish and destroy the world. Ea instructs Utnapishtim to build a huge vessel that saves Utnapishtim, his family friends and some animals. Utnapishtim and his wife are later granted immortality.
[Note: the Bible's info has the flood beginning in 2348, a year after the death of Methuselah.]
Matsya Purana: is one of the oldest Hindu scriptures, dating back to 250-500 A.D. [Christ died in A.D.32.] The deity Matsya forewarns the human Manu about an impending catastrophic flood and orders him to collect all living animals and the grains of the world in a boat. Manu survives by boarding the ark, which Matsya pulls to safety.
Maasai myth: The Maasaia are a native group in today's Kenya and Tanzania. According to this flood rendering, once upon a time the rivers began to flood. A god told two people to get a ship and take lots of seeds and animals with them. The flood eventually covered the mountains. When it stopped, one of the men set a dove free, but it returned. Later he let go a hawk, and it did not return. Then the people left the boat and took the animals and the seeds with them.
{note:but these three stories, handed down through time, are but three of many such stories all around the earth's peoples. Most such, as the "Educated Elite" like to call them myths, without a bases for fact. Yet most are founded upon truth, even if it's only a small portion of the whole story.
NEXT: How to Overcome addictions. by Marvin Moore-editor of the Signs of the Times, Aug. 2014 issue.
Thanking Y O U for your time, Comments?......Questions? John at servant@frontier.com
Want More learning? Visit your Seventh day Adventist church any Saturday/Sabbath at 9:15 AM. You just may find that Jesus can fill that emptiness within you.
Other sites: www.blbn.org www.itiswrittern.com www.amazingfacts.org
www.servantsite@wordpress.com
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