Bible Study Seattle

“And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.” Genesis 6:19-20

“You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.” Genesis 7:2-3

“On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.” Genesis 7:13-15

It is not clear, but it appears Noah had seven days to get everything in the ark. How did he get all those animals in there? Were they trained? Did Noah keep a giant zoo while building the ark? Or did God somehow communicate with the animals to go into the ark?

The wicked are described at least a hundred times in the bible. God promises to destroy them. He also promises to destroy death itself.

“The last enemy that will be abolished is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26

If death is gone, aren’t malice, envy, and all other evils also nonexistent? And wouldn’t evil persons also be gone? God has no reason to suspend Satan in torture. It is out of his character. Indeed, the Law of Moses only allows restitution or death, but no jail, and certainly no torture.

Jesus made a fairly large purchase:

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Revelation 5:9

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28

“And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” Revelation 14:2-4

It’s pretty clear that Jesus purchased his bride with the most expensive present possible – his own life. The bride-price shows up in the bible with Jacob:

“Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Genesis 29:18

“So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.” Genesis 29:30

Jacob paid for Rachel with seven years of his labor! That’s a lot of money. But this raises some questions. Did Jesus only purchase his bride and not all of humanity? Do the sacrifices of Jesus’ bride count in purchasing the rest of humanity? Is Jesus’ sacrifice enough to redeem the world, or are the church’s and the world’s sacrifices also necessary?

“For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:25-26

The last enemy is death. If death itself is destroyed, doesn’t that make all remaining immortal? We assume death will be destroyed after the little season when Satan is released for a last temptation of the world. But who knows? It may be further ages until death is completely abolished. Wouldn’t death even be still possible for the bride of Christ until death is abolished? She may be protected, but Ezekiel tells us that the righteousness of the righteous man will not save him from death if he turns from it. Isn’t this referring to the Millennium? And what of Aaron’s sons?

“Now it came about on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a calf, a bull, for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without defect, and offer them before the Lord. Then to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the Lord will appear to you.’” Leviticus 9:1-4

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.” Leviticus 10:1-3

Nadab and Abihu died for offering unauthorized fire in the presence of all the people on the Eighth Day. Will this be repeated at the second coming? Jesus will descend and stand on the Mount of Olives:

“Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!” Zechariah 14:3-5

Here is The Lord appearing before all the people! And this time he will not be a lowly servant, but a mighty warrior! When the offerings are started at Ezekiel’s temple (see Ezekiel 40-48), will some priests offer unauthorized fire and die? Possibly. This will be at the start of the Eighth Day, or Jubilee which starts Tishri 1 of the Sabbath year or Millennium. We don’t know exactly how this will go:

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Death is still possible up through the little season of Satan’s release at the end of the Millennium.