Scripture
Genesis 7:11~12
[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.
[12] The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is 111th Lecture on Genesis.In the last lecture, I explained the first part of Genesis 7:11.The Judgment of Flood in the days of Noah can be regarded as an antitype of the Judgment of the White Throne.Water was used to judge the world for the judgment of flood, and fire, for the other. Regarding this, 2 Peter 3:6~7 says, “(…water) through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
Everyone except Noah the righteous and his family was destroyed by water at the Judgment of the Flood.At the Great White Throne Judgment, those who are not recognized as righteous as not believing in the Lord will fall down into the lakes of fire and of brimstone. Therefore, as you listen to the words about the Judgment of the Flood, you shouldn’t just regard it as an old tale. I urge you in the name of the Lord to find an answer to how to prepare yourself for the upcoming Great White Throne Judgment.
Now, Genesis 7:11 continues to say, “…on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.”The judgment of great flood finally began.At this moment, drops of tears fell down from the eyes of Father God. And these tear drops wrote a word on His garment, it was “Expectations”.It contained the meaning that He would wait again with expectation, and that He would surely accomplish it.
What then has He expected and waited for? He expected to see ‘true children’ emerge through human cultivation which would again take place beginning with Noah.With His tears on His garment, God wrote His strong will that He would surely accomplish.
The scripture explains in detail how the flood took place and how it came upon the earth. It says, “…all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.”People of today interpret this verse to mean that it took place on the earth.That is, the fountains burst open in the deep sea, and a great amount of rain fell down from the sky.
By the flood, however, even the highest mountains were covered by the water.Would it be possible if the fountains of the sea burst and the rain fell from the sky?Common sense might tell you “No, not possible”. If the great flood took place because the fountains of the sea burst and the great rain fell down, where did such an enormous amount of water go after the flood?
People cannot answer with their knowledge and common sense. Therefore, you should not search for the answer from this fleshly world. You should know the fact that it has something to do greatly with Eden, in the spiritual world.
Let’s briefly review the previous lectures first. The earth where we live in belongs to the first heaven; the Garden of Eden, to the second; and the Heavenly Kingdom, to the third.I said that the second heaven is divided into two domains. One it the domain of light which is called ‘Eden,’ and the other domain of darkness is the realm of evil spirits.
The Garden of Eden, where the first man Adam and Eve lived, is a special area that was created in Eden, the domain of light. Although it is called ‘Garden,’ it is not a small garden; it is too huge for this earth to be compared to it. Since the ‘Garden’ of Eden is so huge, just how huge is the entire area of Eden?Just as the space you can see is endless, Eden in the second heaven is a limitlessly huge space.
Out of this huge Eden, a river flowed.That’s why Genesis 2:10 says, “Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.”The water of this river in Eden was used in the judgment of Noah’s Flood. When the scripture says, “the fountains of the great deep burst open” means that the fountains in Eden burst open.
Likewise, “the floodgates of the sky were opened” means that the passageways between the second heaven and the first heaven were opened. As its result, the water in Eden of the second heaven came down to this earth of the first heaven through the passageways.
And the scripture says “the floodgates.”It is not “floodgate,” but “floodgates” in plural form. It tells us that not only one passageway between the second and first heavens was opened, but the passageways in many parts of the earth were all opened. Therefore, a great amount of water fell down to this earth at the same time.
The Bible records the things from the second heaven came down to the first heaven in other parts. Psalm 78:23~24 says, “Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven; He rained down manna upon them to eat and gave them food from heaven.””Manna” that the Israelites ate in the wilderness after they came out from Egypt was also from the second heaven. And the fire that Elijah the prophet pulled down from the sky to defeat 850 prophets of Baal and of the Asherah was also form the second heaven.
You also witnessed many wonders with your eyes and confirmed that the second heaven exists. Most of you saw the clouds swirling and disappearing. That is, for a thing that belongs to the second heaven to appear in the first heaven, a gate in the sky must open.
The Four Living Creatures are involved in the opening of the gates of the sky. When a thing of the second heaven comes down to the first heaven, it should be transferred between the spaces in different dimensions. And it is the 4 living creatures that have the authority over this transfer. You should not think the first and second heavens are like the upper and lower floors of a building. If you drill a hole between the upper and lower floors, both the floors are drilled through. But the second heaven and the first heaven are in different dimensions.
And the authority to open and close the gates of the spiritual realm between the 1st heaven and the 2nd heaven belongs to one of the 4 living creatures. It is the Eagle-like creature that has the authority. This Eagle-like creature took the main role when the water from the fountains of the deep in Eden came down to the earth for the Judgment of the Flood.
Now, Genesis 7:12 says, “The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.”To cause the earth to be covered with the water, God sent down the rain for 40 days and 40 nights. God could have the earth submerged under the water in just a day, but why did He make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights?
It is because the number 40 contains a special meaning. Before God created the earth, there was a great revolt by Lucifer in the spiritual realm. The archangel Lucifer that received the most love from God, rebelled against God along with one third of the angels.
Regarding this, 2 Peter 2:4 says, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.”And Jude 1:6 says, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”
As you can see, the revolt of Lucifer was soon repressed. But God the Father had to suffer in His deep heart because of this. And He felt a great sense of void.Around this time the spiritual realm was formless in state even for that moment. And it was described as “The earth was formless and void” in Genesis 1:2.
This formless moment in the spiritual realm was expressed in the time format of the fleshly world as number ’40.’ However, it doesn’t mean that the spiritual realm was formless and God was hurt in His heart exactly for 40 days after Lucifer’s revolt. When the number that corresponds to the time in the spiritual realm was expressed in the number of this earth, it was number ’40.’
According to the meaning contained in the number 40, God sent rain for 40 days and 40 nights for the judgment of the flood. Therefore, when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights during the judgment of the flood, the same pain of the heart that God suffered at the rebellion of Lucifer was contained in it.He began human cultivation to gain true children, but He had to judge all the people with the water; can you imagine His heart?He was hurt and His heart was burning, and it was contained in the incident that God sent rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Our Jesus also began His public ministry with 40 days of fasting. Before Moses the prophet received the Commandments, he also fasted for 40 days. I myself fasted for 40 days during the winter vacation in 1981, when I was a junior in seminarycollege. Back then, it was the coldest winter in 60 years, but I still went into a cave at the fixed hour, and I prayed kneeling down. God used to help me whenever I fasted, but He didn’t help me at all for that time.
Later when I was in prayer, God the Father told me why I had to fast in great agony all by myself.He said, “During the 40 days of your fasting, I didn’t turn away from you, but I trained you intentionally. Compared to the fasting that I helped you with, when you finished the fasting with your own strength and endurance, your ability became many times greater.”
That is; as I finished the fasting with my own strength and will, my will power and endurance could be stronger, and I would become able to overcome any trials or refinements.
For the last 4 years, I took the similar spiritual training like this. It was easiest for me to trust and depend on God and to obey His will, and I was happiest when I did that. To such a man like me, God the Father told me not to depend on Him, but to do it on my own. And then, it seemed as if God completely avoided me; it was so desolate and so very suffocating. It was a time period of 4 years that passed like this. For these years, I had to face very painful days.
But it turned into justice, and you could make amazing spiritual growth. Even when you filled only 10%, the 90% of justice that I filled was added to it, and so many of you came to the rock of faith and into spirit. Moreover, God laid the foundation to accomplish the providence of the end time for this church. As you can see, until the providence of God is fulfilled, the period of time and the numbers are not at all meaningless.
Dear brothers and sisters, There was another important reason that God sent rain for 40 days and 40 nights.It was to preserve the maximum traces of the earth that existed before the flood.
What would have happened if God had sent the tremendous amount of water down to the earth in a day or a few days?In Korea, when there is heavy rain in summer, it causes terrible loss in many places.
If the rain had been much heavier than this summer rain, how many more things would have been damaged? The remnants of the earth’s civilization would have been completely destroyed. Just as the water gradually fills up a glass, the water of Noah’s flood gradually covered the earth from the surface for 40 days and 40 nights.
That’s why the remnants of the civilization before the flood could be preserved. The Pyramid in Egypt is such a good example of this. Besides this, the remnants of the ancient civilization still remained in many parts of the earth. Through this, God allowed Noah’s descendants to discover the clues of the Garden of Eden and the spiritual realm. As you can see, the flood of Noah contains truly many meanings.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this lecture, you studied how the great flood began to take place. The heart of God the Father was so hurt when He executed the judgment of the flood.It is just as Ezekiel 18:23 says, “”Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?””
But the sin and evil in the days of Noah reached the limit where it couldn’t avoid the judgment by the standard of justice. Thus God the Father executed the judgment shedding tears, but He had another expectation anew. That is; He expected to gain ‘true children’ through human cultivation which would start again from Noah.
How much can you understand in heart this long waiting of the Father? The heart of the Father who has waited ‘a thousand years like a day and a day like a thousand years’ until He gains true children who can truly share hearts;I hope that you will understand such a heart of God the Father and quickly come into spirit and whole spirit. May you become a true child who can truly please in God’s sight, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
