From Genesis, Chapter 6, vs. 13 thru 22, American Standard Version:
“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. 6:14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 6:15And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 6:16A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. 6:17And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon this earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is in the earth shall die. 6:18But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 6:19And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 6:20Of the birds after their kind and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. 6:21And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 6:22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
We all know the story of Noah and the Ark. God caused a great flood to occur, killing every one on earth while only Noah and his family survived, with two of every animal, seven of certain animals.
Interestingly, the Jehovah’s Witness rag, The Watchtower, 4/15/05, page 4 says this of Noah:
”According to the Bible, the Creator will soon transform the earth into a literal paradise, which will favor long life. Bringing about that Paradise will involve drastic action, similar to that of the Flood of Noah’s day. Matthew chapter 24, verses 37 to 39, shows that Jesus compared our time with “the days of Noah,” in which people “took no note” of their critical situation. They also ignored the message that Noah preached. Then came “the day that Noah entered into the ark” and the Flood destroyed all who had rejected this knowledge. Noah and those with him in the ark remained alive.”
The Witnesses directly contradict the above Watchtower in another Witness publication, “Insight on the Scriptures” as regards Noah preaching:
The “Insight on the Scriptures” Vol 2, page 674 quotes Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says: “In I Pet. 3:19 the probable reference is, not to glad tidings (which there is no real evidence that Noah preached, nor is there evidence that the spirits of antediluvian people are actually ‘in prison’), but to the act of Christ after His resurrection in proclaiming His victory to fallen angelic spirits.” (1981, Vol. 3, p. 201)”
So did Noah preach a warning of the flood or not? Who knows? The Jo Ho’s say yes and no. As a side point you may wonder why I bring this up at all. Well, since Jehovah’s Witnesses the only organization on earth that understands the “deep things of God”, they shouldn’t publish contradictory views:
Watchtower 7/1/73, pg 402
Consider, too, the fact that Jehovah’s organization alone, in all the earth, is directed by God’s holy spirit or active force. (Zech. 4:6) Only this organization functions for Jehovah’s purpose and to his praise. To it alone God’s Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book. Many persons of the world are very intelligent, capable of understanding complex matters. They can read the Holy Scriptures, but they cannot understand their deep meaning. Yet God’s people can comprehend such spiritual things. Why? Not because of special intelligence on their part, but as the apostle Paul declared: “For it is to us God has revealed them through his spirit, for the spirit searches into all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10) Jesus Christ praised his heavenly Father for ‘hiding such things from the wise and intellectual ones but revealing them to babes.’ (Matt. 11:25) How very much true Christians appreciate associating with the only organization on earth that understands the “deep things of God”!
Sorry. I’m just “poking the Jo Ho’s” It’s my hobby. Hey, everyone needs a hobby.
The point here is that, early on, God gave Noah specific instructions on how to build the ark, how big it would be and what provisions to take on board.
God had already decided that only Noah and his family would survive the flood, and no on else. The plans he gave Noah had no room for anyone else. It’s likely that it took years to build the ark and yet the Bible indicates that Noah did not preach about the coming doom. Notwithstanding that the Witnesses say “Noah preached”, it would seem logical that of the thousands of people alive, surely some would noticed Noah building the Ark, asked him about it and wanted to join him.
The point, however is moot. God had already decided on the Arks dimensions, and thus it’s capacity to carry passengers. God had predestined the people of Noah’s day to die. He made no room for them on the Ark.
Sorry, no room for you. We only have so many suites. All booked.
So what was the point of the whole flood thing? Kill all the evil people and start over? Just kill them. Why the cataclysmic earth wide flood? By simple reasoning, by the fact that the Bible says only eight people survived and were in the ark and that God’s original blueprints called for the accommodation of just eight “souls” God already knew the outcome.
This raises the obvious question, “Has God already decided who will go to heaven/live forever/whatever?”
He obviously did in Noah’s day.
