NOAH
“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.” Genesis 6:13-16
God gave Noah strict instructions on how to build a safe house, because God wanted all to be saved. It was three stories high, which is about the height of 45 feet. The ark was made of gopher wood and sealed with pitch within and without—storm-resistant material!
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:26-27
“God did not condemn the antediluvians for eating and drinking; He had given them the fruits of the earth in great abundance to supply their physical wants. Their sin consisted in taking these gifts without gratitude to the Giver, and debasing themselves by indulging appetite without restraint. It was lawful for them to marry. Marriage was in God’s order; it was one of the first institutions which He established. He gave special directions concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty; but these directions were forgotten, and marriage was perverted and made to minister to passion.
“A similar condition of things exists now. That which is lawful in itself is carried to excess. Appetite is indulged without restraint. . . . Multitudes feel under no moral obligation to curb their sensual desires, and they become the slaves of lust. Men are living for the pleasures of sense; for this world and this life alone. . . . The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening.
“As the time of their probation was closing, the antediluvians gave themselves up to exciting amusements and festivities. Those who possessed influence and power were bent on keeping the minds of the people engrossed with mirth and pleasure, lest any should be impressed by the last solemn warning.” –Conflict and Courage, p. 41
Before the flood God sent Noah to warn the world, that the people might be led to repentance, and thus escape the threatened destruction. As the time of Christ’s second appearing draws near, the Lord sends His servants with a warning to the world to prepare for that great event. Multitudes have been living in transgression of God’s law, and now He in mercy calls them to obey its sacred precepts. All who will put away their sins by repentance toward God and faith in Christ are offered pardon.
The Lord merciful, the Lord righteous, instructed Noah to build the ark of a precise length, breadth and height. One inch out of the measurements would have been disobedience on Noah’s part. If Noah did not follow the exact measurements, material and instructions of God, he and his family would have perished!
CRIME
“We are living in the midst of an ‘epidemic of crime,’ at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. The corruption that prevails, it is beyond the power of the human pen to describe. Every day brings fresh revelations of political strife, bribery, and fraud. Every day brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Every day testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?” –Ministry of Healing, p. 142
“The spirit of anarchy is permeating all nations, and the outbreaks that from time to time excite the horror of the world are but indications of the pent-up fires of passion and lawlessness that, having once escaped control, will fill the earth with woe and desolation. The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world, represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening. Even now, in the present century, and in professedly Christian lands, there are crimes daily perpetrated, as black and terrible as those for which the old-world sinners were destroyed. Before the flood, God sent Noah to warn the world, that the people might be led to repentance, and thus escape the threatened destruction.” –Christian Service, p. 53
MOSES
God loved communicating with Moses. “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8. “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.” Exodus 25:40
Every detail of the sanctuary was given to Moses. If Moses was not obedient to every detail of God’s instruction, would God have dwelt among them? In the building of the earthly sanctuary we can clearly see who our God is and the materials that He uses are of endurable quality. Strict instructions were given to Aaron and those ministering in the temple.
JESUS
“Christ does not lessen the claims of the law. In unmistakable language He presents obedience to it as the condition of eternal life—the same condition that was required of Adam before his fall. The Lord expects no less of the soul now than He expected of man in Paradise, perfect obedience, unblemished righteousness. The requirement under the covenant of grace is just as broad as the requirement made in Eden–harmony with God’s law, which is holy, just, and good.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 391
“Christ was obedient to every requirement of the law. He said of Himself, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.’ Psalm 40:8. When on earth, He said to His disciples, ‘I have kept My Father’s commandments.’ John 15:10. By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 311
I would like to appeal to the husbands, pastors and leaders in God’s church. Whose measurements are you using to build a church in your home in a time of great moral decline? As in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of the end.
What material are you using to bring to the Lord a tabernacle that He may dwell among you?
The servant of the Lord, Sister White was labeled as a FANATIC because of the straight testimony, because he lived up to every ray of light that was given her.
“The people before the flood mocked at God’s warnings. They called Noah a fanatic and alarmist. Great and learned men declared that such a flood of waters as he foretold had never been known, and that it would never come.” –The Story of Jesus, p. 181
“Our life, if hid with Christ in God, will not be discerned or appreciated by the world. Christian character is sometimes admired by some classes of the world who desire to see consistency, but generally the world is at enmity with God and His people. The world generally will not be pleased with real, vital godliness, with a firm, steadfast character that will not be swayed by any of their sophistries or by science falsely so called.
“Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The living stones in the temple of God do not attract the man of the world. He does not understand their position in the building, and sees nothing in them that he appreciates. He sees talent and sharpness of character and begrudges every particle of it. Whatever the Christian may do religiously, conscientiously, for Christ’s sake, is not understood or appreciated because the world know not the power of the truth, and know not the Lord or Jesus Christ.
“Let a Christian walk with the Lord in all humility of mind and he is called narrow, bigoted, exclusive. If he is zealous, the world will call him a fanatic. Let him speak the truth decidedly with pen and voice and go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the day of the Lord, and he is called by the world excitable; they say he is denouncing everything but that which he believes. Let the Christian be whatever grace can make him, and the world cannot understand it. It is the unseen, inner life that is woven with the life of God, represented as hid with Christ in God, that the world cannot discern.” –The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 3, p. 928
We live in a time where the leaders and home priests are accepting the compromise and standards of the world. When the directions are given on dress and health reform, why do you fathers and leaders allow your wives and children to overthrow the materials and measurements of God?
Are you fearing to be called a fanatic or will you, like Noah, Moses and Jesus stand and be numbered among the faithful, so that your ark may stand the storm that is approaching? God’s wrath is real and this time it will not be mingled with mercy.
Please, my IMS friends and spiritual family, a time of revival and reformation precedes the Latter Rain. Let us return to the old paths. Lift the standards of righteousness first in your own heart, in your own home and in the church. MARANATHA!
Milly Frieslaar
Cape Town
South Africa