Noah's Obedience, God's Security and Prophetic Link

Intimacy preceded the judgment, and intimacy preceded his entrance into the ark. In Hebrews 11:7, "Noah moved with godly fear." Hebrews explains that Noah acted in faith concerning things not yet seen. I mean, he built the ark. He warned the people for 120 years and built the ark. So, he was preparing for the opportunity. His faith met that opportunity, and he was delivered, and everybody else drowned in the world. This is a powerful New Testament witness to Genesis 6 and 7. Noah obeyed before he could see the fulfillment of what God had warned him about. Very important. Noah obeyed. Abraham obeyed. They had to obey the ways of God, or they would not have been given the victories that Noah and Abraham were, or the promises of the covenants. So, this application is straightforward: faithful obedience does not require us to see the entire journey beforehand. Heshvan 17 is the day that the flood began.

So, wherever you may be at sundown, this is where we are on Heshvan 17 on the biblical calendar. In Genesis 7:11-16, this is where the teaching begins to become very personal for each and every one of us. "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, Heshvan 17, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." Notice the precision and detail. The scripture records Noah's age, the month, the day of the month, the opening of the fountains of the deep, and the opening of the windows of heaven. So, why does the Bible record and why did it preserve these details? The narrative allows us to follow the progression of the flood and recognize the timing of judgment, the preservation, the waiting, and also the restoration. The date was important enough to be recorded, and that's why it was recorded.

It is therefore worth understanding and also applying to our personal lives as well. In Genesis 7:16, this is the central verse. "So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in." So, Noah built the ark, but God was the one who shut Noah in. Consider the distinction. Noah was responsible for obedience. Noah was responsible for preparation. Noah was responsible for entering. But God Himself secured Noah and His family and the animals in the ark. It says, "And the Lord shut him in." There's something deeply personal in that statement. Noah's obedience brought him to that appointed place, and God's action secured him there. I'll say it again: Noah's obedience brought him to the appointed place, and God's action, because of Noah's obedience, secured him there. So, here's the invitation for all of us in the next 10 days: make a conscious decision to enter a deeper place of fellowship with the Creator of the universe who saved Noah from the flood.

Not because Heshvan 17-27 is a commanded observance, not because something catastrophic or prophetic must happen, but because the biblical account offers a meaningful opportunity to remember Noah's obedience and examine our own relationship with the Father. And on the biblical calendar and template, it provides an intimate opportunity for us to be shut in the door for an intimate 10-day experience with Yahweh. So, now let's look at the prophetic connection, as in the days of Noah. Matthew 24:37-39, Yeshua specifically connects the days of Noah with the coming of the days of the Son of Man. He describes people eating, drinking, marrying, and continuing their ordinary activities until the flood came. This is an important distinction. The problem wasn't that people were eating or marrying. The problem was that they continued doing all these activities without recognizing the seriousness of what was approaching in their time.