Post Ten:
From the First to the Last — Preserved Through the Waters
When Jesus spoke about his coming, he directed his listeners back to the days of Noah. He did not simply mention a great flood. He drew attention to what people were doing before the waters came, the day Noah entered the ark, and what happened to those who remained unaware.
That comparison deserves more than a passing glance.
In our earlier studies, we examined the distinction between those taken away and those who remain, the shaking described in Hebrews, and the protection of those who belong to YHWH (יהוה). Now I want to return to the flood account itself, paying attention to its instructions, its appointed periods, and the difference between surviving the judgment and being told it was time to come out.
The Days of Noah — What Did Jesus Emphasize?
Jesus describes people eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark. They did not recognize what was approaching until the flood came and took them away. He then compares those days with the coming of the Son of Man. Read Matthew 24:37–39.
Notice that Jesus does not make the construction of the ark the center of his comparison. He draws attention to the activities continuing before the flood, Noah's entrance, and the arrival of the waters.
People were going about their lives. The approaching judgment did not prevent them from continuing what had become familiar.
That raises a question worth considering. Could people become so occupied with the life they have built that they fail to recognize when YHWH (יהוה) is calling them to act?
The issue is not that eating or marriage is inherently wrong. It is that the account describes people continuing without recognizing what was about to happen.
We should also remember Hebrews 11:7. Noah acted upon a divine warning concerning things not yet seen. His faith became visible through his response. Read Hebrews 11:7.
Noah did not wait until the waters were upon him before deciding whether the warning deserved attention.
Seven Days — The Warning Before the Waters
Genesis 7 records YHWH (יהוה) instructing Noah to enter the ark with his household. He is then told that after seven days the rain will begin and continue for forty days and forty nights. Read Genesis 7:1–10.
The seven days deserve attention because they place a period of warning before the arrival of the waters.
Throughout Scripture, we encounter appointed periods of preparation, testing, waiting, and judgment. Ezekiel is instructed to use a day to represent a year in a prophetic sign. Peter later reminds his readers that one day is with YHWH (יהוה) as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Read Ezekiel 4:4–6 and 2 Peter 3:8–9.
Could these measurements help us recognize recurring prophetic patterns without requiring every period to represent the same literal duration?
For now, the important distinction is that the warning came before the judgment. Noah received instruction, and his response preceded what others would eventually see.
The Door — Who Closed It?
Genesis 7:13–16 describes Noah entering the ark with his family and the living creatures appointed to enter with them.
Then Scripture records something remarkable: YHWH (יהוה) shut him in. Read Genesis 7:13–16.
Noah entered, but YHWH (יהוה) closed the door.
Why is that detail important?
Because the account distinguishes Noah's obedience from the action that secured his enclosure. Noah was responsible for responding to the instruction he received, but the closing of the ark is attributed to YHWH (יהוה).
Now consider Matthew 25. Jesus describes virgins waiting for the bridegroom. Those who are prepared enter the marriage feast, and the door is shut. Read Matthew 25:1–13.
The two accounts invite us to examine preparation, entrance, and a door that eventually closes.
But they also raise a more personal question. If we have been given an instruction, will we respond while there is opportunity—or continue searching for another answer after the appointed moment has arrived?
This brings us back to John 10, where Jesus identifies himself as the door and describes his sheep as those who hear his voice and follow him. Read John 10:1–16.
The emphasis is not merely upon possessing knowledge of the door. It is upon recognizing the Shepherd and responding to his voice.
Forty Days — Yet the Preservation Continued
The rain falls for forty days and nights. The waters increase, lift the ark, and prevail over the earth. Genesis then describes the waters prevailing for 150 days. Read Genesis 7:11–24.
Forty days is not the entire period of Noah's preservation.
The waters continue to prevail after the rain, and the occupants remain in the ark long after the immediate destructive event has passed.
We previously compared the forty days of rain with Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, where he fasted and faced the tempter. Read Matthew 4:1–11.
The experiences are different. Noah is enclosed within a place of protection while Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tested. Yet both accounts place forty days within a significant period involving dependence upon YHWH (יהוה).
The comparison also raises a question about timing. If a period of trial or judgment has begun, must everything associated with it reach completion immediately?
Noah's experience suggests that we should pay attention to the difference between the beginning of judgment, the duration of preservation, and the appointed time to emerge.
The Five Months — The Waters Prevail
Genesis dates the beginning of the flood to the seventeenth day of the second month in Noah's six-hundredth year. The ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The account also identifies 150 days during which the waters prevail. Read Genesis 7:11–24 and Genesis 8:1–4.
That interval corresponds to approximately five months.
Revelation 9 also describes a five-month period, during which those without God's seal are subjected to torment. Read Revelation 9:1–11.
The experiences are not identical, yet both accounts invite attention to an appointed period and a distinction between those affected and those protected.
Could the repeated measurement help us recognize patterns of limited judgment and divine preservation?
We need not convert the five months into a fixed prophetic timetable to examine that relationship.
The Ark Rests — But Noah Remains Inside
Genesis 8:4 says the ark rests on the mountains of Ararat. Yet the mountain tops do not become visible until later, and the waters continue receding after that. Read Genesis 8:1–14.
Consider the sequence. The ark rests before the mountain tops are visible. The surface of the ground becomes dry before the account declares the earth fully dry.
And throughout this period, Noah remains in the ark.
Resting, seeing, and coming out are not described as the same moment.
That distinction becomes important when we examine the appointed rest in Hebrews 4, the preparation of those who belong to Christ, and the completion of the restoration described in Revelation.
The earth outside the ark was changing, yet those inside remained protected while the process continued.
Could this be another picture of preservation during an interval in which the larger work has not yet reached completion?
One Year — A Lengthy Preservation
Genesis places the flood's beginning in Noah's six-hundredth year and his emergence in the following year. The dated interval extends from the seventeenth day of the second month to the twenty-seventh day of that month in the following year—one year and ten additional calendar days. Read Genesis 7:11 and Genesis 8:13–19.
The exact length in modern days depends on the ancient calendar being assumed, but the narrative clearly describes a lengthy preservation extending well beyond the forty days of rain.
We have previously examined the thousand years of Revelation 20 alongside Peter's reminder concerning God's time, and the ten days associated with Smyrna's trial in Revelation 2.
These periods need not all represent identical measurements. What interests me is their possible relationship as markers of waiting, restraint, testing, and completion.
In Revelation 20, Satan is restrained for a thousand years and afterward released for a little while. Read Revelation 20:1–10.
Could Noah's extended preservation help us consider a period in which some are protected while appointed events unfold elsewhere?
We can examine that possibility without assuming that the flood account supplies a complete prophetic calendar.
YHWH (יהוה) Remembered Noah
Genesis 8:1 begins with the words that God remembered Noah and the living creatures with him. A wind passes over the earth, and the waters begin to subside.
Yet Noah does not immediately leave.
After the earth becomes dry, YHWH (יהוה) speaks again and instructs Noah to come out with his family and the living creatures. Read Genesis 8:15–19.
The order deserves attention.
Noah hears the instruction to enter. He remains during the waters. The ark rests, the waters recede, and the earth becomes dry. Only then does he receive the instruction to leave.
His deliverance is not presented as an excuse to act independently of YHWH (יהוה). Even after the judgment, Noah continues responding to divine direction.
The same faith that led Noah into the ark also required him to remain until it was time to come out.
Are we willing to remain where YHWH (יהוה) has placed us, even when we believe the danger has passed? Or do we assume that recognizing a change gives us permission to move before His instruction?
Peter — Eight Saved Through Water
Peter returns to Noah's days while describing Christ suffering for sins, being put to death in flesh, and being made alive in spirit. He speaks of Christ's proclamation to the spirits in prison, who had been disobedient during the days when God's patience waited while the ark was being prepared. Read 1 Peter 3:18–22.
Peter then identifies eight persons who were saved through water and compares this with baptism, distinguishing it from the mere removal of physical dirt.
Why does Peter bring Christ's death, life in the Spirit, proclamation, Noah, and water into the same discussion?
The comparison invites us to examine a movement from death toward life, from confinement toward deliverance, and from outward washing toward a relationship with God involving the conscience.
This also brings us back to the Last Adam, whom Paul describes as a life-giving Spirit, and to the heavenly image that those belonging to Christ are to bear. Read 1 Corinthians 15:45–49.
Could Noah's preservation through water provide another shadow of the life and restoration accomplished through Christ?
The account certainly gives us more to examine than a simple escape from destruction.
The Flood Took Them — What Remains?
Now return to Matthew 24.
Jesus says the flood came and took the people away. Immediately afterward, he describes one person being taken and another left. Read Matthew 24:37–42.
This deserves careful attention because we have often heard being taken described as the desirable outcome.
Yet in Jesus' flood comparison, those taken away are the people overtaken by judgment.
The Greek verbs used for the flood taking people away and for one person being taken in the following verses are different. Nevertheless, the immediate comparison gives us reason to examine the assumption that removal must always mean deliverance.
Now consider Hebrews 12, where what can be shaken is removed so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Read Hebrews 12:25–28.
What if the question is not simply who is taken, but who remains faithful when everything around them is shaken?
Noah's household remained alive while the flood removed those outside. Their preservation depended upon YHWH (יהוה), not their ability to withstand the waters through their own strength.
This brings us back to our examination of the protected woman, the faithful remnant, and the promise of a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
A New Beginning — The Covenant and the Rainbow
When Noah emerges, he builds an altar. YHWH (יהוה) subsequently establishes a covenant with Noah, his descendants, and the living creatures, setting the rainbow in the cloud as the sign of that covenant. Read Genesis 8:20–9:17.
The flood account does not end with destruction.
It continues with life, multiplication, covenant, and a promise concerning the earth.
And that returns us to Genesis 1, where male and female are blessed and instructed to be fruitful and multiply.
We have been examining a recurring pattern: preservation is followed by a renewed opportunity for life, while the provision and covenant of YHWH (יהוה) remain central.
This also gives us a connection to Ezekiel's promise of a covenant of peace, living waters flowing from the sanctuary, and life becoming plentiful wherever the waters reach. Read Ezekiel 37:24–28 and Ezekiel 47:1–12.
What follows judgment matters just as much as recognizing when judgment begins.
Where the Word Leads
Noah hears, prepares, enters, remains, and comes out according to the instruction of YHWH (יהוה). The flood removes life outside the ark, but those within are preserved through the waters.
Peter compares that preservation with baptism and Christ's resurrection. Jesus compares the days before the flood with his coming. Hebrews describes the removal of what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken remains.
Together, these passages invite us to examine faith, readiness, preservation, judgment, and restoration without assuming that every related event must occur at the same instant.
For now, I leave one question:
When everything familiar begins to shake, will we recognize the voice of the One who tells us when to enter, when to remain, and when it is time to come out?
Perhaps Noah's greatest lesson is not merely that he survived the flood, but that he continued to trust YHWH (יהוה) throughout the entire period of preservation.
Threads to Follow
- The days of Noah and the coming of the Son of Man: Genesis 6–9; Matthew 24:37–42; Luke 17:26–30.
- Faith in things not yet seen: Hebrews 11:1–7; John 20:24–29.
- The seven days, forty days, and five months: Genesis 7:1–24; Genesis 8:1–4; Ezekiel 4:4–6; Revelation 9:1–11.
- The ark, the door, and those prepared: Genesis 7:13–16; John 10:1–16; Matthew 25:1–13.
- The appointed rest and preservation: Genesis 8:1–19; Hebrews 4:1–11; Revelation 20:1–10.
- Christ made alive in Spirit: 1 Peter 3:18–22; 1 Corinthians 15:42–49.
- What is taken and what remains: Matthew 24:37–42; Hebrews 12:25–28.
- Covenant, rainbow, and renewed life: Genesis 8:20–9:17; Ezekiel 37:24–28; Ezekiel 47:1–12.
The books were opened…
🌿 Studies by Maria Emilia ~ 🗺️ Continue exploring: Visit Bible Books to find studies organized by book of the Bible, along with related studies and links.
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