In the Beginning was the End, Part 3

Resound Missions Base Podcast with Leah Ramirez

Well… we’re at a pivotal crossroads. Once we cross over there will be no going back. I’ve delayed this teaching for several years, but now feel compelled to press forward. I’ve been a diligent student of the Word for the last 19 years. I’ve studied end-times as a good Berean for the last 9. It is my hope that your hearts would burn for Jesus. Surely He will come again, quite possibly…maybe even quite probably in our lifetime.

I have counted the cost of what I am about to preach. Like teaching anything from the scriptures, it will be controversial. I am unashamedly a Bible literalist. I believe the scriptures are the inerrant Word of God. It is with fear and trembling that I preach every week.

My hope for this teaching (as with all others) is that your heart would burn for Jesus; that you would glory in His incredible wisdom and leadership. That through the declaring of truth I would destroy every hidden accusation that still may remain hidden in your heart towards the Lord. That seeing the manifold wisdom of God, you would eagerly and quickly throw off every sin and every weight of distraction that could so easily entangle you. And finally, that you would be prepared in whatever comes, rooted in the unshakeable love of Jesus. From this place of ultimate security, that you would count the cost, pick up your cross today and follow Jesus… to the end.

So without further adieu… let’s dive in!

I. MATTHEW 24 – IN THE END JESUS POINTS US TO THE BEGINNING

Matthew 24

36"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

A. We’ve covered this in brief during our Matthew 24 overview. Jesus is detailing the tribulation and persecution and many of the deceptions that will be coming on the earth in the last days. He then points us to a very particular time in history: The days of Noah.

B. The days of Noah were remarkable. We know that whatever was happening in the earth in those days was significant enough to warrant a flood. God was literally cleansing the earth! This is no children’s story. This is a mass genocide of the highest order. Just because we’ve turned it into felt cut-outs for Sunday school, and made paper maché boats, doesn’t make this story suitable for nursery rhymes. This was violent!

Genesis 6

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." 22Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

C. Here are some questions that may have come up while we were reading over this text:

· Who are the sons of God who are taking woman to be their wives?

· Why does God change man’s lifespan in response to this?

· Who/what are the Nephalim?

· What does it mean that they are the offspring of this union (sons of God x daughters of man)?

· How are they around after the flood?

· What does it mean to have only evil thoughts continually?

· How was Noah blameless?

· Who whole earth was corrupt? All flesh was corrupt?

D. We’re going to look at some other historical texts to see if there is more understanding, but before you do I want to talk about the canon of scripture.

E. The word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick.”

F. It may come as a surprise to you that Jewish texts weren’t canonized until up to 200 A.D. and our Christian texts we’re canonized until the mid 1500’s though the 1670’s. Why does this matter? Because there are texts that were considered holy and were even common knowledge hundreds of years ago that we have never read. Now I believe that God brooded over these councils where such matters were regarded and disputed. I also believe that there is much we can glean from looking into historical texts.

G. I’m going to put several of these texts before you today. By do so, I am not placing them as the same weight as the canonized scripture that we have today, but I place it before you as I would any historical document. Can it verify the scripture? Can it give us insight into what was happening?

H. For me, the answer is yes. I submit this for you to consider and weigh.

II. THE BOOK OF ENOCH

A. The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, although modern scholars estimate the older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to the first century BC.[2]

B. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest, but they generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.[3] It is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churchand Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, but not by any other Christian groups.

C. The Book of Enoch was considered as scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas (16:4)[24] and by many of the early Church Fathers, such as Athenagoras,[25] Clement of Alexandria,[26] Irenaeus[27] and Tertullian,[28] who wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ.[29] However, later Fathers denied the canonicity of the book, and some even considered the Epistle of Jude uncanonical because it refers to an "apocryphal" work. (Wikipedia)

ENOCH

6.1 And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters. 6.2 And the Angels, the sons of Heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another: "Come, let us choose for ourselves wives, from the children of men, and let us beget, for ourselves, children."

6.3 And Semyaza, who was their leader, said to them: "I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done and that I alone will pay for this great sin." 6.4 And they all answered him, and said: "Let us all swear an oath, and bind one-another with curses, so not to alter this plan, but to carry out this plan effectively." 6.5 Then they all swore together and all bound one another with curses to it. 6.6 And they were, in all, two hundred and they came down on Ardis, which is the summit of Mount Hermon. And they called the mountain Hermon because on it they swore and bound one another with curses.6.7 And these are the names of their leaders:Semyaza, who was their leader, Urakiba, Ramiel, Kokabiel, Tamiel, Ramiel, Daniel, Ezeqiel, Baraqiel, Asael, Armaros, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsiel, Satael, Turiel, Yomiel, Araziel. 6.8 These are the leaders of the two hundred Angels and of all the others with them. 7.1 And they took wives for themselves and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go into them and were promiscuous with them. And they taught them charms and spells, and they showed them the cutting of roots and trees. 7.2 And they became pregnant and bore large giants. And their height was three thousand cubits. 7.3 These devoured all the toil of men; until men were unable to sustain them. 7.4 And the giants turned against them in order to devour men. 7.5 And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles, and against fish, and they devoured one another's flesh, and drank the blood from it. 7.6 Then the Earth complained about the lawless ones. 8.1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and daggers, and shields, and breastplates. And he showed them the things after these, and the art of making them; bracelets, and ornaments, and the art of making up the eyes, and of beautifying the eyelids, and the most precious stones, and all kinds of coloured dyes. And the world was changed. 8.2 And there was great impiety, and much fornication, and they went astray, and all their ways became corrupt. 8.3 Amezarak taught all those who cast spells and cut roots, Armaros the release of spells, and Baraqiel astrologers, and Kokabiel portents, and Tamiel taught astrology, and Asradel taught the path of the Moon. 8.4 And at the destruction of men they cried out; and their voices reached Heaven. 9.1 And then Michael, Gabriel, Suriel and Uriel, looked down from Heaven and saw the mass of blood that was being shed on the earth and all the iniquity that was being done on the earth. 9.2 And they said to one another: "Let the devastated Earth cry out with the sound of their cries, up to the Gate of Heaven. 9.3 And now to you, Oh Holy Ones of Heaven, the souls of men complain, saying: "Bring our complaint before the Most High." 9.4 And they said to their Lord, the King: "Lord of Lords, God of Gods, King of Kings! Your glorious throne endures for all the generations of the world, and blessed and praised! 9.5 You have made everything, and power over everything is yours. And everything is uncovered, and open, in front of you, and you see everything, and there is nothing that can be hidden from you. 9.6 See then what Azazel has done; how he has taught all iniquity on the earth and revealed the eternal secrets that are made in Heaven. 9.7 And Semyaza has made known spells, he to whom you gave authority to rule over those who are with him. 9.8 And they went into the daughters of men together, lay with those women, became unclean, and revealed to them these sins. 9.9 And the women bore giants, and thereby the whole Earth has been filled with blood and iniquity. 9.10 And now behold the souls which have died cry out and complain unto the Gate of Heaven, and their lament has ascended, and they cannot go out in the face of the iniquity which is being committed on the earth. 9.11 And you know everything, before it happens, and you know this, and what concerns each of them. But you say nothing to us. What ought we to do with them, about this?"

10.1 And then the Most High, the Great and Holy One, spoke and sent Arsyalalyur to the son of Lamech, and said to him: 10.2 "Say to him in my name; hide yourself! And reveal to him the end, which is coming, because the whole earth will be destroyed. A deluge is about to come on all the earth; and all that is in it will be destroyed.

10.3 And now teach him so that he may escape and his offspring may survive for the whole Earth."10.4 And further the Lord said to Raphael: "Bind Azazel by his hands and his feet and throw him into the darkness. And split open the desert, which is in Dudael, and throw him there. 10.5 And throw on him jagged and sharp stones and cover him with darkness. And let him stay there forever. And cover his face so that he may not see the light. 10.6 And so that, on the Great Day of Judgment, he may be hurled into the fire. 10.7 And restore the Earth which the Angels have ruined. And announce the restoration of the Earth. For I shall restore the Earth so that not all the sons of men shall be destroyed because of the knowledge which the Watchers made known and taught to their sons. 10.8 And the whole Earth has been ruined by the teaching of the works of Azazel; and against him write: ALL SIN." 10.9 And the Lord said to Gabriel: “Proceed against the bastards, and the reprobates, and against the sons of the fornicators. And destroy the sons of the fornicators, and the sons of the Watchers, from amongst men. And send them out, and send them against one another, and let them destroy themselves in battle; for they will not have length of days. 10.10 And they will petition you, but the petitioners will gain nothing in respect of them, for they hope for eternal life, and that each of them will live life for five hundred years." 10.11 And the Lord said to Michael: "Go, inform Semyaza, and the others with him, who have associated with the women to corrupt themselves with them in all their uncleanness.

10.12 When all their sons kill each other, and when they see the destruction of their loved ones, bind them for seventy generations, under the hills of the earth, until the day of their judgment and of their consummation, until the judgment, which is for all eternity, is accomplished.

10.13 And in those days, they will lead them to the Abyss of Fire; in torment, and in prison they will be shut up for all eternity. 10.14 And then Semyaza will be burnt, and from then on destroyed with them; together they will be bound until the end of all generations.

10.15 And destroy all the souls of lust, and the sons of the Watchers, for they have wronged men. 10.16 Destroy all wrong from the face of the Earth and every evil work will cease.

10.17 And now all the righteous will be humble, and will live until they beget thousands. And all the days of their youth, and their sabbaths, they will fulfill in peace.

III. THE BOOK OF JASHUR

A. The book of Jashur is referenced in Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18; and 2 Timothy 3:8.

Jashur 4

16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.

17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.

18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.

19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field for I repent that I made them.

IV. THE BOOK OF JUBILEES

Jubilees 5

1 And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.

2 And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually.

3 And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes.

4 And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth which He had created.

5 But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord.

6 And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate.

7 And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven.

8 And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'.

9 And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.

And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the Lord.

Why did the Lord send the flood? Because He’s good! Because He’s good!

A. When we started this series I talked a lot about DNA. This battle between heaven and hell has been and will be fought out through genetics.

Genesis 3

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel."

B. This is all about the SEED. The seed of God verses the seed of the snake, that nachash. The plan of God would come through the woman! Do you see this! At the very beginning, in what we would call the “Fall of Man,” is the first preaching of the Gospel, if you will.

In Christian theology, the Protevangelium is God's statement to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden about how the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head:

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15, KJV)

C. Paul remembers it, and says it this way as he considered Jesus: God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Romans 16:20)

D. In this proclamation of the Gospel, which was declared at the very fall of man, God’s plan was revealed. He would crush His adversary through the Seed of the woman. Isn’t it amazing that the devil immediately sets in motion a plan to corrupt the seed of the woman? He immediately attacks, via corruption of DNA, the Seed. Do you see it?

1 John 3

8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 Peter 1

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

E. So, Noah was found “perfect” in his generation. This speaks to the purity of bloodline issue. Ever wonder why there seem to be endless genealogies in the Bible? This answers that question once and for all. The devil would seek to destroy the plan of salvation by corrupting the “Seed of the woman.” More on this in future weeks!

V. SO WILL BE THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

A. Jesus refers to Himself by one title more than any other, and considering who He is as King of all kings, Lord of all lords, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Captain of the Hosts, the I AM, the Son of God… and yet his preferred title as the “Son of Man” is humble to be sure. It appears 81 times throughout the Gospels. But is it something else? Is it a prophetic key? Is it a holy boundary? More on this in later weeks!

CORRUPT, adjective [Latin] – Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

1. Changed from a sound to a putrid state, as by natural decomposition.

2. Spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound; as corrupt air, or bread.

3. Depraved; vitiated; tainted with wickedness.

They are corrupt; they have done abominable works. Psalms 14:1.

The earth was corrupt before God. Genesis 6:11.

4. Debased; rendered impure; changed to a worse state; as corrupt language.

5. Not genuine; infected with errors or mistakes. The text is corrupt

B. The “days of Noah” were about a corruption of DNA. The flood was God’s loving response toward saving man. There was something else… some “enhancement”… something that had been added to man that God would not redeem. Jesus was THE plan to save humanity. He was the plan from before the foundation of the world. Is it possible that there is some future enhancement, some future alteration that would altar us so utterly that we would no longer be considered fully human?

C. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He sent the flood as a mercy, the wiping out of entire populations that we see all through the Old Testament by the command of God was a mercy, and I believe the coming judgment recorded for us in the New Testament is also mercy. There is something unfolding in our day that has been impossible since the days of the flood. It’s the same story line we see in Genesis 6, but this time the world will not be washed clean with water, it will be purified with fire. (2 Peter 3:11)

Revelation 14

9And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

D. Jesus points us back to a very particular and dangerous time in human history. Noah was building an ark. God had given him the blueprints to ensure his safety and salvation. The barge didn’t magically appear! He believed God and he worked. Day after day he built. The scriptures tell us this building project took about 100 years. It was low and slow. It was tedious, back-breaking labor. Sometimes the Good News is like that! Keep building!!