The Days of Noah | AdventAI

Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Jul 24, 1855

The Days of Noah.

"AWFUL as the contemplation of the deluge is, yet there is another revolution in prospect still more momentous and awful. There shall not, indeed, be an overwhelming flood of water upon the earth, but a stream of devouring fire, which will burn up all the works of nature and of art. A sudden destruction shall come upon the workers of iniquity, and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be then: 'They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah 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.' Matt. xxiv, 38, 39. Infidelity and immorality will prevail to an extraordinary height in the latter days; and though the prophetic signs will be clear and striking to considerate and religious minds, yet upon the generality of men they will have no effect. 'Blessed are those servants, therefore, whom when the Lord cometh he shall find watching.' When destruction shall come as a whirlwind, and vengeance shall be poured down from on high, they shall be safe, being sheltered in the ark of divine mercy. Then cometh the judgment, when all the mysterious ways of Providence shall be cleared up, and every dispensation thereof fully vindicated, to the confusion of the wicked and the glory and happiness of the righteous.

"The solemn scene ended, and old things being done away, 'all things shall become new.' There shall be 'new heavens and a new earth,' in which righteousness only shall dwell. 'Peace shall flourish in that happy state; mercy shall descend thereon as the dew, and righteousness spring out of the ground.' No evil, either natural or moral, shall disfigure it, for 'all shall know and obey the Lord, from the least to the greatest.' The inhabitants of that world shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD (or of the Messiah) and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord, 'that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.'" Isa. lxv, 17, &c.

What a glorious prospect is here expanded to the view of the Christian! Is he apt to look back with a kind of regret upon a paradise lost, through the weakness of our first parents? He turns with rapture to contemplate a paradise before him infinitely more glorious, in which is the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, there is the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, and yielding

her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever." Rev. xxii, 2-5.

If the Christian looks back upon a world destroyed by water, and sees the ark preserving Noah and his family, with the various living creatures necessary to stock the new world, he admires the wonderful goodness of God blending itself with his judgments; and on viewing in prospect the last dreadful destruction of the earth, he rejoices that there is a salvation appointed for all who shall flee from the wrath to come, and also an inheritance reserved for them, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

The covenant with Noah is typical of that made with Christ for the preservation of his church: "For this is as the waters of Noah unto me, saith the Lord; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would no more be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. For THE MOUNTAINS SHALL DEPART, AND THE HILLS BE REMOVED, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Isa. liv, 9, 10.

It is an unspeakable blessing to be interested in this divine and precious promise—to be included in that covenant of grace to which it is given. Many, however, are professedly baptized into communion with Christ's spiritual body, who have never been renewed in the disposition of their minds. A mere outward profession of Christianity, and attaching ourselves to some branch of the Christian church, gives no man a claim to the promise, but will rather serve to add to his condemnation in the world to come. There was an unrighteous, idolatrous Ham in the ark, who inherited a curse instead of a blessing; and the same will be the case with respect to many now in the visible church of Jesus Christ. In her communion, it is to be feared, there are numbers who are not united to the Head by a true and living faith, who marvel much at the declaration of Truth itself, "Ye must be born again," [John iii, 7.]—who know nothing of real religion, are destitute of all pious feeling, and who, when tried in the balances of the sanctuary, will be found wanting. Nothing short of "being born of the Spirit," can make us heirs of the promise, children of God, and consequently inheritors of the kingdom of heaven.

Let it be, therefore, our serious care and concern not to have the form of godliness merely, but the power of it also, [2 Tim. iii, 5.] in our hearts, and manifested in our lives and conversations. Noah walked with God in this manner, and had that rest, both here and hereafter, which his name implied; and hereby we also must live in all holy obedience, in the midst of a dark and corrupt generation, as lights of the world, [Phil. ii, 15.] if we would enter into that rest "which remaineth for the people of God." Heb. iv, 9.