During the Stay in the Ark
(The Calendar as Seen in the Timeline of the Flood)
Genesis 7:6-16; 8:6-19; 8:22; Psalm 104:6-9
History is the trace left behind of documenting the changes of human society. The Bible is a record of history. What kind of history is it? It is the history of salvation, calling upon the fallen mankind to repentance in order to give eternal life without seeing death. Therefore, the Old and New Testaments are the history of redemption. God says that all the books in the world will disappear, but the Word of God and His history of redemption for the salvation of mankind will remain forever. The entire history of the fall, the restoration, wars, and of the temple and the church are recorded in the Bible. All these flow to the stream of the history of redemption. The Bible is the measure and method of God to save mankind as He speaks in various ways to help us understand His words. In order to understand this history of redemption, we must first accurately know the chronicles of the Bible.
The importance of biblical chronology
We all know how to answer the question, “How old are you?” Knowing your age is about knowing your years and history. “Remember the days of old. Consider the years of all generations” (Deut 32:7). In our church, even elementary school students know this verse. The method God uses to record dates in the Bible may seem inconsistent, shifting from this measure to that measure, in order to fool Satan the devil. In our mind, we think it would be so much better if all the directions are instructed orderly by starting from the east side and then to south, and then to the north. However, the directions in the Bible shift in an unpredictable way, as it talks about the east side and then all of the sudden the south side, leading us to confusion. Thus reading the Bible seems no fun so people close the Bible. The Word of God opens only to those who believe and seek. If you don’t believe it, the Bible just remains a mystery. If we do not seek and ask God, we won’t be able to know the mystery of God until death. Jesus is the mystery of God. If you truly believe in Jesus, hold on to Jesus, and place Him in your heart, you are able to realize the mystery of God (Col 2:2-3). Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field (Matt 13:44). Wouldn’t you have to dig the field with a hoe, pickaxe, or shovel to find treasure? Then how are we able to know the Bible? It is only through prayer, reading the Bible and earnestly asking and relying on God.
God used so many different ways to record dates. In the Bible. It seems complex, difficult, and sometimes erroneous in our eyes. Some theologians claim that the biblical chronology is not exhaustively recorded, but summarized by topics. Some say it is illogical as they even wrote such remarks in their commentary. As these seminary professors teach with such perspective, the seminary students start to believe the same. After learning from them, what would happen when these people teach the church congregation after becoming a pastor? These are all atrocious people.
Isaiah 34:16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, and His Spirit has gathered them.
God recorded the chronology of the Bible with the purpose for redemption. The Bible surprisingly records exact dates of each period in the history of redemption.
Today’s sermon is proclaimed for the first time in 47 years. Long time ago, at the time when I was praying in Mount Jang-an for 47 days and in Mount Jiri for 3 and a half years, I was able to understand this word of God with the powerful illumination of the Holy Spirit after 2 years and 6 months from entering Mount Jiri. I recorded my understanding in my notebook back then. God said, there are many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning (1 Cor 14:10).
Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge (Ps 19:2), however, we are unable to hear because our spirit is broken by our sins and transgressions. Yet, God still fulfills His will. When I was praying on Mt. Jiri, my body was left only with bones. I wasn’t able to have protein-based meals like meat. It’s impossible to cook rice in the mountains. So I would put rice in a cup twice a day and pour water to soak it. I ate soaked rice, pine needles, and petals of azaleas. Cold pine needles are awfully stiff. However, because I ate pine needles for a long time back then, my eyesight is still good although I am 86 years old. I’ve never worn glasses. I would read the Bible during the day when there was light, and since I can’t read the Bible at night, I automatically prayed. I never experienced such solitude until those days. I thought to myself, “I guess people commit suicide when they reach to this point of loneliness.” My hometown was in the north, so there were no relatives in the south. I had no place to depend on. I prayed with the determination, “If I die while praying, I will die.” I would pray with my hands raised for a long time and it would get numb and painful. When I tried to lower my hand, it was so cold that my arms were freezed and would not come down. The thing I wanted to eat the most was rice boiled hot water, sungnyung. For eight months a year, fog and clouds cover the mountain peaks and nothing is visible. It doesn’t simply snow on Mt. Jiri, rather the clouds vomit the snow. Snow instantly stacks up to 2 or 3 meters. I couldn’t get out of the burrow for two days. The snow doesn’t melt until June 17th and 25th because even in May, the temperatures drop to 3-5 degrees below zero. In winter, the ice freezes all over the cliff so you can’t even come down. I don’t mention my experience as much because people might think I’m being boastful. Our pastors and elders didn’t believe my words, but now they understand what I was talking about after they visited the site in mid-May. It’s not some prayer center where you go out for a snack bar and buy a bowl of noodle soup with the village bus going back and forth. Even if you have money, you have nowhere to spend it and nowhere to go. I was at a place where there was no electricity nor tap water. It was so painful to the point my intestines felt like it was severed. It’s just beyond description. You are able to understand the word of God only through the powerful illumination of the Holy Spirit. I am witnessing today the words I’ve understood through the illumination of the Holy Spirit in such circumstances. So please listen attentively.
Why should we remember the days of Noah?
Today’s title is “During the Stay in the Ark (The Calendar as Seen in the Timeline of the Flood)”. The calendar is accurate. You may forget the date but soon be able to figure out when you look at the calendar. The great flood during Noah’s time recorded in today’s main scripture is an unprecedented flood since the creation. The flood at the time of Noah was not some regional rain, like the rain in Seoul but not in Daejeon. The rain was enormous to the point it can cover the entire universe. Noah’s Flood is a historical fact that occurred in the days of Noah and foreshadows the last judgment. Please do not forget the words of Matthew 24:37-38 as it says the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. The Second Coming of the Lord will come just like the time of Noah’s Flood, which suddenly came while doing business, building a house, registering, entertaining, and having sons and daughters. I believe in this 100%. Two are grinding at the mill, one is taken and the other is left (Luke 17:34-35). Every single word in the Bible is true. That is why Jesus repeatedly said, “Be on the alert, take heed and be ready for You do not know when your Lord is coming” (Matt 24:44) Please take today’s message to your heart. How tragic would it be if the husband doesn’t get transfigured when the wife does without seeing death?
God warned Noah of the end time. The Bible states, “the Lord saw” and “in the sight of God.” When the end time of God arrives, no one can prolong or stop it. It is by all means certain and absolute. Noah lived in an evil generation. It was a violent world filled with destruction. There was no place without corruption filled. Sin prevailed and overflowed. It was overflowing because it wasn’t 99, but over 100 percent. The end time has arrived before God because there was no place where sin has not reached. God lamented and regretted that He had made man on the earth; He declared that He will blot out man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky from the face of the land. However, no one prepared in shock but blankly remained in their place. They did not understand until the flood came, until the water went into their nostrils, and took them all away (Matt 24:39). It is the same today. Death may arrive while I only look after my parents, my husband, and my children. Therefore, when the word warns us, we must listen carefully. God created the universe through His Word. The Word is the Lord. We should never ignore the Lord nor treat His words as if it is the sound of a dog barking. This is why our church says, “This is the word of God” after reading the Bible verses during worship. It is not the sound of men nor beasts but it is the word of God.
Noah is a man who lives by the word
In the age when everyone turned their back on God and went astray, Noah was the only one who found favor in the eyes of God (Gen 6:8) and that is because Noah attentively listened to the word of God. I pray and bless in the name of the Lord that not only the saints of Pyungkang Church, but all the saints around the world who receive the word of God, be granted with the blessing of finding favor in the eyes of God. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time. He walked with God. Whenever he opened his eyes, he prayed. He prayed at work, at lunch, at dinner, at work, and at bedtime. Those who do not praise, pray, or read the word of God are just oblivious fools. Just because you are a pastor, elder, or deacon, and have been a Christian for 50 years does not make you righteous. Being a righteous man is about living only for the glory of God and His will with all my heart, truly believing that I was created by the word of God and the word is my Lord. It is about striving to grasp and hold on to the word wherever I go and living in alert so that my deeds won’t disgrace or harm the word. Noah never departed from the word of God. However, we continue to worry about our husbands, wives, children, and business and lose all the words we’ve received. So what good prayer can come out from this kind of heart? The life of faith is about concentration. We need to focus when we sing praises and hear the word. Just as the basic posture of a soldier is “attention!” so must be the way we receive the word. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, we see a man on whom the seed was sown but becomes unfruitful as the worry of the world hinders him from following the word; he ultimately perishes after losing all his granted time. We must hear the word of God (Rev 1:3) as faith comes from hearing the words of Christ (Rom 10:17). We must never hear the words of men, but hear only the words of Jesus. Our deeds must be based upon faith and follow the commandments of the word. Such a person is recognized by God and walks with God. Two people can walk together only when their minds are on the same track. When they are on the same track, they interact harmoniously in joy and never get tired in their journey. However, when two people are not on the same page, they cannot accompany each other as it would cause more trouble in their journey. The Old and New Testaments of the Bible records Noah (Gen 7:1, Ezek 14:14,20, Heb 11:7, 2 Pet 2:5), Enoch (Gen 5:22-24), Job (Job 1:1 -8), and Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:28-38) as those who walked with God. They are all very blessed people. Anna was married to her husband for seven years until his death and she had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years, which means she was over 100 years old when Jesus came. Simeon as well, how blessed was he as it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he see the Christ, whom the prophets prophesied about!
1. God commands a sanctified life while in the ark
During the stay in the ark, all people kept themselves consecrated. In other words, there has been no intimacy nor relationship between men and women during the stay on the ark as Noah kept the command. In contrast, the world is the opposite. The ark is not a place for a man and a woman to have a relationship, but a place to preserve life. Until today as you call yourself a believer of Jesus, did you know about this? I realized this through the illumination of the Holy Spirit and was shocked and stunned to the point of trembling. There may be some saints who would ask, “Where is such a word in the Bible?” It is recorded in the Bible. The order in which Noah enters the ark is clearly different from the order he leaves the ark.
Genesis 6:18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
Men and women are separated here. Noah obeyed the command. From Noah’s perspective, he has a wife, and his three sons also have wives. So he and wife could simply go into the ark together. However, God told Noah not to do that.
Genesis 7:7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
Genesis 7:13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.
In the ark, they had to feed, water, and clean the waste of hundreds of thousands of animals. What work can they do if they have children to nurture? The ark is a place to preserve one’s life. If they hadn’t lived a consecrated life in the ark, Noah would’ve seen his grandchildren. The same goes for the time of building the ark. As God commanded Noah to build the ark, Noah’s three sons had no children until two years after the flood that Shem gave birth to a son (Gen 11:10). Even during the 40-years journey in the wilderness after the exodus, God commanded men and women to consecrate themselves and women to strip off their ornaments whenever there was an important event. We are now in the season of Lent. During Lent, we have to repent for not reading the Bible, not praising, not evangelizing, and not offering properly, and prepare thoroughly to face the Lord of Resurrection.
Look how God says about the order of entering the ark. God said to Noah in this way to prevent Satan from knowing as it can manipulate it. In the garden of Eden, the serpent knew that God spoke to Adam and Eve, but did not know what God told them. So it went to Eve to sound out by asking, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the garden?’” If Eve replied as follows, “It’s none of your business. It is a covenant between God and I. If you want to know, ask God,” then all would’ve been in good hands. But Eve gave the serpent a hint. As a result, the serpent took advantage of the tree of knowledge and said to Eve, “Even if you eat it, you will surely not die, and your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” When Eve heard the words of the serpent, greed sneaked into her heart. Lust begets sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (Jas 1:15). Evil desire and greed is idolatry (Col 3:5). God leaves your heart when you only think about what you want to eat, day and night, as that desire becomes your idol. Thus, doesn’t the scripture say, “whose god is their appetite”(Phil 3:19).
In contrast, God said the following when they were coming out of the ark:
Genesis 8:16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”
However, contrary to what God said, Noah came out of the ark in the same way he first entered the ark; men and women in their own groups.
Genesis 8:18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
2. The calendar of Noah’s Ark and the timeline of the flood
Genesis chapters one through six records the birth and death of men in various forms as the genealogy in chapter five records in detail. However, the flood is the first to record the dates of events as well as its chronological timeline. This is the first appearance of the calendar. The amazing part is that Noah’s calendar can be perfectly reconstructed based on the detailed biblical record of the dates and chronological timeline of the flood.
God told Noah on the tenth day of the second month in the year he turned 600, that the flood will come upon the earth after seven more days. That is, on the seventeenth day of the second month and it happened accordingly (Gen 7:1-11). This record shows that a calendar already existed at that time. On the seventeenth day of the second month, thunder, lightning, storm and raging billows began and lasted for forty days. All the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the sky were opened, pouring down water. The entire earth was caught in between like a sandwich and the water overflowed even to the highest mountains of Ararat.
1) God said, “For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen 7:4). The seventeenth day of the second month in the year Noah turned 600, when it began to rain, was a Sunday. It was the first day after keeping the Sabbath. There are many world-renowned theologians, so why would I make a false statement? Everyone knows the date and even the hour of their birth. I was born at seven in the morning. Just as we know the date and hour of our birth, we must also have precise knowledge of the date and hour of the events recorded in the Bible. After Noah entered the ark, it was not Noah who closed the gate of the ark but it was God who closed it. Why was this so? It is because every opening and closing is up to the hands of God.
2) In accordance with the word of God, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights in the six hundredth year of Noah, on the seventeenth day of the second month (Sunday) (Gen 7:4), and the rain stopped on the twenty-seventh day of the third month (Friday). The water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days (Gen 7:24), and after 150 days the water subsided and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month (Wednesday) (Gen 8:4). Since it is recorded as 150 days from the seventeenth day of the second month to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, it is clear that a month at that time was composed of 30 days. The ark arrived upon the mountains of Ararat and time of rest began for the first time since the flood began.
Genesis 8:4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
When God created the heavens and the earth, He created the light of the sun, moon, and the stars on the fourth day. Since the dates are determined based on the sun, moon, and the stars, the ‘date’ was created at that time. The calendar was created on the fourth day of creation, thus the years and the four seasons began. There is no time before that. Neither year nor month existed. It was an infinite world.
Genesis 1:14 Then God said, “Let there be lights … and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.”
A new beginning in the Bible is on Wednesdays. Wednesday beholds a new creation. When all the priests and elders of Judah were corrupted, the “Essenes”, a sect of holy people, went out into the wilderness to create the calendar of Jubilee with their devout spirit; It is said that they intentionally made the first day of the first month, that is, the first day of the month of Tishri, to fall always on Wednesdays.
3) After 74 days from arriving at the mountains of Ararat, the tops of the mountains became visible as the water steadily decreased; This day was on the first day of the tenth month in the six hundredth year of Noah, which was on Sunday.
Genesis 8:5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
This cannot be found in any biblical commentary. We must understand. But how can we understand if we do not pray or read the Bible properly?
4) After 90 days since the tops of the mountains became visible, the water was dried up from the earth and Noah removed the covering of the ark. This was on the first day of the first month in the six hundred-first year of Noah, which was on Saturday.
Genesis 8:13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
5) After 57 more days, Noah came out of the ark. The day was the twenty-seventh day of the second month in the six hundred-first year of Noah; it was on Saturday.
3. Special characteristics of Noah’s calendar
(1) Noah’s age became the benchmark for counting the years.
Genesis 7:6 Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Genesis 8:13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
(2) It is based on 7-days.
Noah’s calendar is based on the standard of “one week = seven days.” Unlike the other cycles such as year, month, and day, the seven-day cycle is irrelevant to the natural rules of the sun, moon, and stars. Nevertheless, both the solar and lunar calendars can be formed systematically only when a seven-day (one week) basis is applied. God was using seven days as the basis before the flood.
Genesis 7:4 For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
Genesis 7:10-11 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Even after the flood, God used the 7-day standard (Gen 8:10, 12).
Forty days after the top of Mount Ararat became visible on the first day of the tenth month in the six hundredth year of Noah (Sunday), Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out a raven on the eleventh day of the eleventh month (Friday)(Gen 8:6-7). Some people interpret the raven to represent those who do not fulfill their calling as they are preoccupied picking at corpses in their worldliness and hypocrisy. This is not biblical. Why add to what the Bible does not say? Nothing must ever be added to the Bible (Rev 22:18-19; Deut 4:2; 12:32; Prov 30:6).
Revelation 22:18-19 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
The raven was devoted to its master to the very end. Its human counterpart would be a filial child. The raven flew back and forth from the ark until the waters dried up (Gen 8:7). Seeing the raven fly back and forth from the window of the ark, Noah inferred that the waters had yet to dry. Even if perishable food is consumed in the perishable world, the heart with which we do so must be different. The raven fulfilled its God-given commission. People’s necks stiffen, their legs become shaky, and everything feels bothersome even after walking just one to two hours. But the raven went here and there without rest. Doves are drained after being out for only a day but the wings of ravens are extraordinary.
Genesis 8:7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.
“Flew here and there” is wayyese yasow wasowb in Hebrew and includes the terms yatsah meaning “to depart, to go or come out, to leave” and shub meaning “to turn back, to return, to answer, to restore.” It persistently went out and returned. It was only when Noah exited the ark that the raven ceased to go back and forth. The Word is truly amazing. The raven refreshed the soul of its master like the cold of snow with its faithfulness, and it received the blessings of Proverbs 25:13, 15:31, 25:25, and Psalm 42:8.
Proverbs 25:13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.
On the first day of the first month in the six hundred and first year, Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried up (Gen 8:13) but God did not command him to come out of the ark. Why? Because the raven was still flying to and fro until the waters dried. On the twenty-seventh day of the second month in the six hundred and first year of Noah, the earth was completely dry and God instructed Noah to go out of the ark (Gen 8:14-19). Thus the raven flew back and forth from the ark for 107 days. Remember this.
Noah sent out a raven on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a Friday. Seven days later, on the eighteenth day of the eleventh month (Friday), Noah sent out the dove. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot so she returned to him into the ark (Gen 8:8-9). Noah waited yet another seven days and, on the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh month (Friday), he again sent out the dove (Gen 8:10). This time the dove returned in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in her beak. Olive trees cannot survive at high elevations but grow below mountains at lower elevations. So when Noah saw the olive leaf, he knew that the water had abated from the earth and that olive trees were beginning to revive below the mountains (Gen 8:11). Noah waited yet another seven days and, on the second day of the twelfth month (Friday), he sent out the dove for the third time. This time the dove did not return to Noah because the waters had subsided so that there was no longer a need for her to stay in the ark. Having found a suitable place, the dove completely settled itself in (Gen 8:12).
At first, the Bible doesn’t seem to explicitly state that the dove was sent out for the first time (on the eighteenth day of the eleventh month) seven days after the raven was sent out (on the eleventh day of the eleventh month). However, it is written that “he waited yet another seven days” before sending out the dove for the second and third time (Gen 8:10, 12). This indicates that this was a repeated act done in the same manner as before — hence we can conclude that the dove was sent for the first time after waiting seven days.
Genesis 8:10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.
Genesis 8:12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.
The word “waited” in verses 10 and 12 use different words in Hebrew. “Waited” in verse 10 is chuwl which means “to be in pain” signifying how he was in extreme anguish after sending out the dove. However, “waited” in verse 12 is yachal meaning “to hope, to wait expectantly.”
Likewise, “seven days” appears twice before the flood and twice after the flood. Let us listen attentively to this Word. A calendar based on the week (seven days) was used both prior to and after the flood. The Sabbath was strictly observed in the days of Noah. After six days of creation work, God rested on the seventh day and had the Sabbath honored and observed in remembrance (Gen 2:1-3). He also commanded Moses to keep the Sabbath when he gave him the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Moses subsequently instructed the Israelites to keep the Sabbath. The subject of honor is a personal being; the Sabbath is to be honored as an individual is honored. Noah too observed the seventh day, the Sabbath, before the flood to his stay in the ark.
Rain poured down for forty days starting on the seventeenth day of the second month in the six hundredth year of Noah. The ark floated on the waters for five months (150 days). “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and cattle that were with him in the ark; and God sent a wind to pass over the earth, and the water receded. “Remember” means to bear something in one’s heart, tending to it and meditating upon it. It is God’s agape love for humankind. The waters decreased steadily so that on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible (Gen 8:5). After forty days passed, Noah opened the window of the ark (Gen 8:6). The forty days recorded in the Bible is a “period of being trained.” They signify first, refining; second, suffering; third, judgment. Forty days refer to the maximum length of time that can be endured by human beings. When a person was punished with a beating, the Israelites stopped after the thirty-ninth strike (Deut 25:3). That is why apostle Paul was flogged thirty-nine lashes five times (2 Cor 11:24). The Israelites were also tested after the exodus in the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:33; 14:34; 32:13). They were a grievance to God for forty years.
Psalm 95:10 “For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways.
Why did the calendar change after the days if Noah?
The waters of the great flood prevailed upon the earth for one hundred and fifty days. The earth gradually began to tilt due to the immensity of the waters.
Genesis 7:24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 8:3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.
This was when the axis of rotation was severely tilted. Consequently the earth has an axial tilt of 23.5 degrees. According to scholars1), the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 is thought to have slightly increased Earth’s rotation.
(1) According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “the earthquake affected Earth’s rotation as well as small changes in Earth’s gravitational field.” The Earth’s axial tilt is about 23.5 degrees. Although it would take a long period of time, theoretically, a decrease in the tilt would result in less difference in temperature between summer and winter. (December 19, 2004, The Dong-A Ilbo)
When the whole earth was flooded in the days of Noah, the earth was altered and changes in weather occurred; these will return to their rightful state at the return of Jesus. There will no longer be winter, cold, heat, or any weather-induced harm according to Revelation chapter seven.
Revelation 7:16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;
Prior to the flood, the sowing of seed resulted in monthly harvests. Even today, there are two to three crops a year in East Asia. These monthly harvests made it possible for Noah to store over a year’s supply of food in the ark for his family and the animals according to God’s command (Gen 6:21-22). Huge beasts like elephants and hippopotamuses consume a tremendous amount of food. He had to prepare food for all the different types of birds as well. This would not have been possible if harvests were only once a year. Before the flood, Earth’s axial tilt was nearly vertical. One year consisted of 360 days and there were barely any climate changes like those in the four seasons. There was no freezing weather below zero like today but the weather was very pleasant. Please look to the fully restored world in Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:2.
Ezekiel 47:12 By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”
Revelation 22:2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Changes formed after the flood. See what God said to Noah after the flood.
Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Here, “cold” is qor and “heat” is chom in Hebrew. Extremes in cold and heat that are difficult to withstand are due to the Earth’s axial tilt. The sun during the day and the moon during the night became harmful to people. Nowadays, food rots unless it’s stored in refrigerators. In the world before the flood, food would not go bad even in the absence of refrigerators. There was a time I went to do missionary work in Bolivia which is 4,500 meters above sea level. Refrigerators are unnecessary there because nothing goes bad.
In Psalm 104:6-8 is a detailed record of how the waters covered the entire earth and subsided during Noah’s flood.
Psalm 104:6-8 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. 7 At Your rebuke they fled, at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. 8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them.
Genesis 8:1 writes of how the waters receded at God’s remembrance and in Psalm 104:7 the waters fled at the Lord’s rebuke. Verse 8 records of how Earth’s terrain settled into their respective places while verse 9 describes how God set a boundary for the waters. No biblical commentaries heretofore have linked these verses with Noah’s flood.
Many people ask, “Why didn’t Noah come out of the ark when the waters dried up and he removed the covering of the ark on the first day of the first month in the six hundredth and first year?” During the next 57 days, tectonic changes were occurring. The earth was shifting in its attempt to settle into place making it uninhabitable for people. What prevented them from exiting the ark during this time was God’s love. Even if a thousand or ten thousand fall, God will uphold all His people who believe in Him. He says, “You will only look on” (Ps 91:7-8). If the earth tilts 23.5 degrees all at once, everyone would die. But this gradually took place over the course of 57 days. Only after the earth settled did God have Noah come out of the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month. Last year, there was the Great East Japan earthquake. The tsunami came upon the Japanese archipelago and wrought tectonic changes2). Some hills became mountains while others disappeared without a trace.
(2) At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, every mainstream media around the world reported the analysis by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy that the earthquake “shifted the Earth’s axis by 10 centimeters and shortened the length of a day.”
After the flood, there was a noticeable change in human lifespan. The human lifespan suddenly changed with the tilting of Earth’s axis. Prior to the flood, the lifespan of the ten generations from Adam in the Genesis 5 genealogy was generally more than 900 years (Gen 5:3-32): Adam, 930 years; Seth, 912 years; Enosh, 905 years; Kenan, 910 years; Mahalalel, 895 years; Jared, 962 years; Enoch, 365 years (transfigured and ascended without seeing death); Methuselah, 969 years; Lamech, 777 years; Noah, 950 years.
However, after the judgment of the flood, the lifespan distinctly decreased in the genealogy of Genesis chapter 10 (Gen 10:1-26). Noah’s son Shem 600 years; Arpachshad 438 years; Shelah 433 years; Eber 464 years; Peleg 239 years; Reu 239 years; Serug 230 years; Nahor 148 years; Terah 205 years; Abraham 175 years.
Conclusion
Noah removed the covering of the ark on the first day of the first month in the six hundred-first year, which was on Saturday. The Sabbath is from Friday 6pm to Saturday 6pm. It says in Genesis, “there was evening and there was morning” (Gen 1:5). As soon as Noah observed Sabbath, he removed the covering of the ark. He did not break the Sabbath. When the earth was dry, the day he came out of the ark was also on Saturday, the twenty-seventh day of the second month. This means Noah exited as soon as the Sabbath was over.
Noah stayed on the ark for 371 days starting from the seventeenth day of the second month in the six-hundredth year. The period from the arrival of Noah’s ark on the Mountains of Ararat (seventeenth day of the seventh month) to the time he came out of the ark (twenty-seventh day of the second month) was 221 days.
Please keep and engrave today’s word in your hearts for generations. I pray in the name of the Lord that God’s blessings will come upon you all, not only Pyungkang Church, but all the churches around the world as well as all the individuals, families, businesses, and workplaces, until we enter the kingdom of God. Please keep yourselves healthy. All perished during the time of famine in the Philistines. However, God was with Isaac as he lived a life that followed His heart, thus Isaac harvested a hundredfold and became a man of wealth (Gen 26:12). I bless you in the name of the Lord that all of you may receive the same blessings of Issac.
This sermon was preached by Rev. Abraham Park, the author of the History of Redemption series, for the first time in 2006 at Green Hill Church in Orlando, U.S., and twice more, on March 3, 2012 (Sat) and March 11, 2012 (Sun); we have combined these sermons. The calculation of the days are done in accordance with the calendar of that time, where one year is composed of 360 days. For the basis of calculating the days, please refer to the 8th volume of the History of Redemption series, “The Fulfillment of the Covenant of the Torch.”
*This post can also be read in 'Champyungan'. (http://champyungan.com/en/)
A Thousand-fold Blessing
A Life That Goes Forth (Matthew 8:18-22; Joshua 3:1-13)
