Bobservations Column
Titled - "The Rapture of Noah"
Written by: Pastor Bob Lawrenz
In 2 Peter 3: 3, 4, we read of scoffers that mock the Lord’s promise to come again after His ascension to Heaven. They shall appear in the last days, full of themselves and their wisdom. “Where is the promise of His coming?”
The scoffers grew impatient, noting that everything continues as in the days of their forefathers, and as it has been since the days of Creation.
Since the Apostles heard of the second coming of Christ, as spoken by the Angels to them in Acts 1: 10, 11, it had been many years. They had taught the people that Jesus would return the same way they saw Him depart. He left in clouds, so we understand He would return the same way.
Jesus’ Second Coming is described in detail in Revelation 19. Jesus comes back with the “armies” of Heaven (Revelation 19:14). Not just the host of Angels, but armies, in the plural! The phrasing is a strong indicator that the Church is counted among those armies. The rest is logistics. Study 1 Thessalonians 4: 14-17 where we read of our gathering together to Him, with those who have died in faith. Their graves will open. Continue reading through 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11. Believers are taken off the Earth, literally snatched away to Christ in the air.
Just as Noah and his family were invited into the Ark, The Apostle John is told by a voice from heaven to “come up hither,” in Revelation 4:1, joining the source of that voice that sounds like a trumpet from on high. Revelation 1: 10, 11 describes the same voice, as a trumpet, saying “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” The voice came from behind the Apostle John, the Apostle who Jesus loved. From verse 10 through verse 18 of that first chapter of Revelation, Jesus gives John instructions of what John was to do, and He reveals himself to John, while He was in His glorified, heavenly body. This vision is very similar to what Daniel saw in his chapter 10, and what John saw a second time in Revelation 2: 18, and He identifies Himself as the Son of God.
As with the Flood of Noah, the Rapture of the Church raises Believers up, above the destruction occurring on the Earth below, keeping us from destruction, and the wrath of God. God sealed Noah in. The Holy Spirit seals the Church.
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Bobservations' Column: Audio Version
Sunday Morning Message:
Genesis 6:5-15; 7:1-12 - "The Rapture of Noah" - Part 8
Summary/Additional Commentary & Definitions:
"As in the days of Noah" is a biblical phrase from Matthew 24:37-39 and Luke 17:26-27, where Jesus compares the time before his return to the pre-flood era. It describes a society marked by extreme corruption, violence, and utter disregard for God, with people living in normalcy—eating, drinking, and marrying—unaware of impending judgment.
Jesus used this comparison to warn that his second coming will be sudden and unexpected, catching a worldly, distracted society off guard. The parallel suggests a future, rapid judgment, similar to the suddenness of the flood, emphasizing the need for spiritual readiness.
Noah's Ark is frequently interpreted as a "type" or shadow of the Rapture, symbolizing believers' protection from divine judgment while the world faces destruction. Parallels drawn from Matthew 24 suggest that, like Noah's sudden removal into safety, the Rapture will occur unexpectedly, leaving the wicked behind.
God is characterized in Scripture as a perfectly righteous and impartial judge who evaluates individuals based on their actions, hearts, and hidden motives rather than outward appearance. His judgment is equitable for all, rendering to each person according to their deeds—rewarding righteousness and punishing evil
Those safe from eternal judgment are individuals who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. They are considered "born again," adopted into God's family, and possess eternal security. These believers are not condemned (John 3:18) and have passed from death to life.
The biblical account of Noah and the Flood serves as a direct parallel to the end times, warning that those who do not believe or prepare will be caught off guard by sudden, divine judgment. Jesus referenced this, stating that just as people in Noah's day were consumed with daily life and ignored warnings until the flood came, so will it be at the return of the Son of Man.
Looking at the great principles that govern human society, those principles which produce straining social problems, such as war, crime, poverty, unequal distribution of food, improper use of leisure, and urban blight. These all arise when men who are made in the image of God, but have lost the likeness of God, seek to fulfill the original command of God to master the earth and fill it, but without the Spirit of God within. As is so evident in our day, man succeeds only in darkening the skies, ravishing the ground, poisoning the water, setting men against each other in violence and cruelty, and in spreading death, fear, and hatred throughout the earth. But all this is done in the midst of increasing comfort and luxury and the technical brilliance that builds impressive cities and produces astonishing gadgets of incredible complexity and power. The seeds of all this are found in the first five chapters in Genesis, as we have been seeing.
Now no house built upon such a shaky foundation can long stand, therefore the record of history has been the collapse of one civilization after another.
Sunday Morning Audio Message:
Key Words and Definitions with Reference:
His Heart Was Only Evil Continually (6:5) - This is one of the strongest and clearest statements about man's sinful nature. Sin begins in the thought-life (see James 1:13-15). The people of Noah's day were exceedingly wicked, from the inside out (cf. Jeremiah 17:9, 10; Matthew 12:34, 35; 15:18, 19; Marke 7:21; Luke 6:45).
Grieved (6:6) - Sin sorrowed God who is holy and without blemish (Ephesians 4:30). Compare with Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11; Jeremiah 26:3.
I Will Destroy (6:7) - God promised total destruction when His patience ran out (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
Noah Found Grace (6:8) - Lest one believe that Noah was spared because of his good works alone (cf. Hebrews 11:7), God makes it clear that Noah was a man who believed in God as Creator, Sovereign, and the only Savior from sin. He found grace for himself, because he humbled himself and sought it (cf. 4:26), he was also obedient to God (v. 22; 7:5; James 4:6-10).
A Just Man...Perfect...Walked (6:9) - Compare with Ezekiel 14:14, 20; 2 Peter 2:5. The word order is one of increasing spiritual quality before God: "just" is to live by God's righteous standards; "perfect" sets him apart by a comparison with those of his day; and that he "walked with God" puts him in a class with Enoch (5:24).
Corrupt...Filled With Violence (6:11) - Compare with verses 3 and 5. The seed of Satan, the fallen rejectors of God, deceitful and destructive, had dominated the world.
I Will Destroy Them with the Earth (6:13) - Destroy did not mean annihilation, but rather referred to the Flood judgment, both of the earth and its inhabitants.
Ark (6:14) - This was a hollow chest, a box designed to float on water (Exodus 2:3).
Gopher Wood (6:14) - Probably Cedar or Cypress trees, both are in view, abundant in the mountains of Armenia.
This is the Fashion (6:15) - While the ark was not designed for beauty or speed, these dimensions provided extraordinary stability in the tumultuous floodwaters. A cubit was about eighteen inches long, making the ark 450 feet long. 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. A gigantic box of that size would be very stable in the water, impossible to capsize. The volume of space in the ark was 1.4 million cubic feet, equal to the capacity of 522 standard railroad box cars, which could carry 125,000 sheep.
Righteous (7:1) - Just, lawful, righteous. Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness. It's important to understand that we are made righteous in the sight of God; that is, that we are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done. He was made sin; we are made righteousness.
Seven . . . Seven (7:2,3) -The extra six pairs of clean animals and birds would be used for sacrifice (8:20) and food (9:3).
To Keep Seed Alive (7:3) - To keep the species alive. God could use them to replenish the earth.
Seven Days (7:4) - Still in God's mercy allowed another week for sinners to repent, but they didn't.
Rain...Forty Days and Forty Nights (7:4) - A worldwide rain for this length of time is impossible in post-Flood, atmospheric conditions, but not then. The canopy that covered the whole earth, a thermal water blanket encircling the earth, was to be condensed and dumped all over the globe (v.10).
Month...Day (7:11) - The calendar system of Noah's day is unknown, although it appears that one month equaled thirty days. If calculated by the Jewish calendar of Moses' day, it would be about May. this period of God's grace was ended (cf. v. 4; 6:3, 8).
All the Fountains of the Great Deep Were Broken Up (7:11) - The subterranean waters sprang up from inside the earth to form the seas and rivers (1:10; 2:10-14), which were not produced by rainfall (since there was none), but by deep fountains in the earth. Such a catastrophe would also easily explain why so many of the earth's mountain ranges give evidence of having once been under the sea.
The Windows of Heaven (7:11) - The celestial waters in the canopy encircling the globe were dumped on the earth and joined with the terrestrial and the subterranean waters (cf. 1:7). This ended the water canopy surrounding the earth and unleashed the water in the earth; together, these phenomena began the new system of hydrology that has since characterized the earth (see Job 26:8; Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 55:10; Amos 9:6). The sequence in this verse, indicating that the earth's crust breaks up first, then the heaven drop their water, is interesting because the volcanic explosions that would have occurred when the earth fractured would have sent magma and dust into the atmosphere, along with gigantic sprays of water, gas, and air - all penetrating the canopy and triggering a downpour.
