Manariwa

WEEK 2 (17^th to the 23^rd day of Iyar, the 2^nd month of the Hebrew Religious Calendar)

What is a Miracle?

Yah closed the door of the Ark for Noah and his family on the evening of the 17^th day of Iyar. We consider this a miracle or, at least, something we cannot logically explain. We often give scientific and sensible stories of what may have happened. I, too, have my own – yes, you can have one also without feeling guilty or stupid.* (Even Ezekiel once complained about being commanded to cook his food with human waste; and he was allowed to use cow dung instead. Ezek. 4:9-15) So, you can try to explain how Yah parted the Reed Sea or how Yahusha healed the blind man with soil and saliva. True, secret things belong to Yah; but if humans stopped their curiosity or, at least, do not use their own minds to discover truths, we would never have built planes, invented mobile phones and cured certain diseases.

The creation of Havah (Eve) was a miracle; and the union of Adamah (Adam) and Havah (who were once separate) in order to produce a new human being was also a miracle. But do we consider the conception and birth of a human today a miracle? Scientists and theologians would say NO. Why? Because it is part of a “natural” process?

But where does the “natural” separate from the “supernatural”? Why should man and woman, who are products of supernatural events be considered only natural? Is it because physicists tell us the Universe came into existence due to a Big Bang and that it was a natural process of the forces hidden in physical matter? But what caused The Big Bang? The Big Crunch? So what caused this cycle of both events?

If we refuse to accept the supernatural because we know and see only the natural, then we limit ourselves to being finite and helpless creatures of chance or, at best, a cycle of existence that may allow us to reach perfection by our own capacity to learn, first as an insect, perhaps, then as an animal, and, finally, as a human in a “multiverse” seeking ultimate existence. The Great Flood caused global death and destruction. The only living things that would survive from that total judgment would be wicked spirits who were imprisoned in the dark abyss of the Earth. There is no hope for such spirits, only the Final Judgment. But the Flood also gave life, hope and renewal. The miracle in Creation allowed Noah and his family to accomplish a miraculous act we find hard to accept and believe and, thereby, consider as mere myth. And yet, here we are, alive and savoring our existence through the miracles Yah performed through Adamah and Havah and through Noah and his family. Yet through it all, we cannot wrap our minds around the thought of Yah closing the door behind Noah. Is anything too small or insignificant for the Creator of the Universe?

In the end, whether Yah did it through an angel or through a relative of Noah, it does not diminish His wisdom, might and glory. For in some sense, everything Yah does is a miracle, because that is the way He is. If He allows us to see Him, that would be a miracle based on our “normal” perception of our physical existence, although He already exists even if we do not see Him. If we do not see Him but we still believe He exists, that would be a miracle as well based on the powerful ability He gives us to understand His miraculous deeds, although He does not force anyone to believe Him and His miracles. It takes a divine act to believe in miracles. How can you genuinely believe a powerful Being using logic, intelligence, computers or theories alone? We are products of miracles; and what we do, in relation to His existence and His works, could also be – and IS INDEED — a miracle even if we think they are “normal” for humans to do. In the end, a person made in His image has real power to see, understand and perform miracles. The simple act of snatching a lost soul from the hands of Satan, too difficult as many realize that is, is in itself a miraculous act, not by our own doing alone but by some great, mysterious, divine manifestation.

Adamah and Noah lived beyond 900 years; would it be wrong to ask and try to find out how they lived that long and remained healthy enough to do great things? Would it be a grievous sin to find out how they preserved their youth and health through organic means, even though Yah has said that human life span will not go beyond 120 or 80? The least we can hope to do is remain strong and active in old age through some Yah-given gifts in Nature and in His word. We know we have made a lot of progress in that regard; hence, the resurgence of wellness centers and health gurus promoting organic food and supplements, Nature-dependent lifestyles and spiritual wholeness.

How Noah and His Family Planned for a Year-Long Lockdown

Noah probably knew they would spend a year inside the Ark; otherwise, how would he and his fellow workers know how much food and water to bring for themselves and the thousands of animals? Such a gargantuan project could not have been left alone to chance or miraculous acts by Noah or even by Yah. Yah might as well have brought them to Heaven while He flooded the Earth and brought them back after. But when Noah built the Ark, it involved building a stable and durable structure first, then choosing the right animal passengers, and, finally, storing essential sustenance for all living things in the Ark to survive. We are allowed to “work out our own salvation”. (Phil. 2:12) Yes, “with trembling” and through the mighty help of Yah.

And so, we assume when Yah called all of them to enter the Ark, the food and water had already been inside the Ark as Noah, his family and the animals entered. And when Yah closed the door for them all, the time for the judgment would come right on schedule, as it did that night of the 17^th day.

My book Noah’s Ark and the Earth Re-Built: How the Earth Expanded During the Great Flood (2020 Edition)* goes through a rather tedious calculation how much the Ark weighed and how much water and food Noah had to bring in order to survive for a year and then many months after the Flood. (The reason they brought 7 pairs of clean animals was because they had no more plant-based food to eat when they went out of the Ark. It would take Noah a several months to a year, perhaps, to grow plants, including wheat and grapes, to enjoy them, particularly bread and wine. The six pairs of clean animals were now ceremonially clean meat commanded by Yah for them to eat. Previously, humans — the “clean” humans, that is — were vegetarians since the time of Adamah and Havah. Gen. 9:1-5)

Why Yah Closed the Door

So, Yah closed the door of the Ark. Why make that statement at all? First, because Noah could not do it from inside the Ark. Second, it needed to be so strong and secure that the force of water and any hard object against it would not damage it. Third, the act of sealing the Ark meant it was by the authority of Yah that the Ark should be built and that its launching as well was by His will. When the 12 gates of Heavenly New Yerushalem will be closed, no one can open it; and when it is opened, no one can shut it. (Rev. 3:7) Noah’s work and his authority to command his crew and do Yah’s will mean the whole world to every person who came after them. Those who refuse his words and his example today will find out the consequences of doing so.        

Noah’s name means “rest”. His grandparents and parents knew he would bring rest to all humans – that is, rest from all the corruption and violence that had engulfed the Earth. As we all pray we can have rest from all the wickedness and rebelliousness in the present world. The burden of building a huge vessel, for Noah and his family, was nothing compared to the judgment that was reserved for those who had rejected the call from Heaven. Does it not give us some relief and satisfaction that the present degradation of nations brought about by their unfaithfulness and unrighteousness will be ended by the coming return of Yahusha? That in spite of our desire to convince many to turn back to Him, we know that many will never accept His call to repentance and redemption?

The Sound of Many Waters

The Ark passengers, at the moment they finally entered and were enclosed, found great peace and assurance that the righteous justice of Yah made Him so grieved as to destroy all unclean life on Earth and save only a few to refresh the world for the coming generations. Certainly, they also felt sorrow and pain for all the people they knew and left behind who did not see the coming judgment. As the sudden pour of heavy drops of rain fell from the Water Canopy above and as the rivers deep within the Earth released their waters, the passengers must have heard and felt a noisy rushing of angry waves that is often used to describe the voice of Yah. (Rev. 1:15) It is the same sound of wild waves churning and bouncing around the hapless army of Pharaoh, their chariots and horses, as the parted sea collapsed violently upon them as they pursued Moses and the freed Hebrews. It is also the same sound heard by the apostles and disciples when Ruach Hakodesh was poured out upon humans for the first time upon the converted Israelites on Pentecost Day.

Certainly, the sound of great waters from above and below meeting upon the surface of the Earth and surrounding and slowly lifting the Ark at that moment must not have been the only sound they heard. There were the thousands of volcanoes all over the world erupting at the same time, causing such thunderous chaos and lightning storms as electric energy and geophysical forces battered the whole surface of the world, uprooting and burning trees and plants in the forests and the fields, as well as killing instantly so many of the animals, fishes and humans that had no way to escape the catastrophic force unleashed by Heaven.

As the Ark broke loose from its foundation and scaffoldings and floated above the Earth, it must have trembled and tossed to and fro and caused the people and animals to groan, scream or shout from the sudden upheaval. Perhaps, Noah and his family must have peered through the window built “a cubit below the top” of the Ark and felt terrified as they saw for the first time how rain and flood caused massive destruction upon the Earth. And they must have also seen many of their relatives (all people were practically their relatives, being all children of Adam and Eve up to the 10^th generation or so, as Noah was) cry out to them and then drown helplessly in the growing flood. Yes, even the sound of humans dying and suffering the judgment of Yah oppressed the ears and souls of our brave Ark crew.

For one week (and 33 days more), the rain would pour angrily like it never did before and will never pour again on the Earth. How many days it took for humans and animals to settle down and get used to the rain, the noise, the rolling and pitching of the Ark and the gloomy, moist interiors of the Ark, we do not know. Or do we? Did we not go through 2 or more years of lockdown forced upon us? Yes, we had food and water, somehow, as well as virtual and real entertainment; and we survived. But it was nothing compared to the Ark lockdown.

Significance in the Present times

True, millions died during the so-called pandemic; perhaps, the same number or even more than those that died during the Great Flood. But was it necessary? Was it a justifiable protocol? The debate remains as noisy or even more engaged. In the case of the Ark, it was necessary for the application of divine justice and the eventual renewal of the Earth. Has the present world been rested and refreshed through the past lockdown and medical emergency? No, the threat of more “pandemics” remains. It is business as usual for the inheritors of pharmekeia (sorcery) and alchemical (biochemical-genetic-engineering) angelic knowledge.  And the question whether it was an intentional medical crisis remains unresolved in the minds of so many. But for the many who denied the scientific basis for it, the plan is all clear and obvious.

Yes, it may not seem obvious to many still; but the times of Noah remain in force today. The angelic beings ruling the governments of the world have perfected their dark, impressive and addictive magical skills so that they now own and control the economic, social, political and technological tools to impose their will and plans upon the whole world. The moral, religious, political and social decay of the rich nations slowly undermine developing nations that have endeavored to remain true to their traditional and cultural foundations for a just, humane and moral society. Moral, spiritual and social values, like thin wine glasses that contain sweet, vintage wine, are slowly being tossed against the wall and shattered by those who have drunk of the goodness of the Creator but have rejected His ways and have made up their own ways of worship and life directed by Satan.

Do you hear the screams and shouts of unbelievers in the dark night, desperately calling for help or groaning for the lack of help for their souls? Many have given up their faith in their Creator; but when the tide of suffering and coming judgment comes, as it comes to everyone, rich and poor, like the drowning Flood-naysayers they will look up to the Ark or to Heaven for whatever help they can get. But it will be too late for many of them.

The door will close upon those who have been given the chance to enter the Kingdom today. It is Yah who will decide when to close that door for us all. While it is open, enter in now – today is the only time. There will not be a window opened as a final chance. The Ark’s window is but a window to see outside and down upon the world. It is like a window in Heaven that we cannot reach, unless one is already inside His Kingdom. We are given a chance to peer through that window today, as Noah may have done so. But we do have a window of chance given to all every now and then.

Every time you hear the Gospel preached or read it on your phone screen, it is a window to Yah’s Kingdom. Each time you hear a song praising Yah and His grace, the words and music invite you to join the thousands who now relish the rest and refreshing that Noah long ago promised and accomplished through his own faith and obedience.

Noah is our Father by blood and by faith. Unless you reject that truth. Unless you reject the over 200 or so traditional stories about the Flood found in many countries. The Koreans, Indonesians, Chinese and many Asian nations have one; so do the Inuits and American Indians, the Welsh and the Irish, the Aztecs, Mayas and Incas of South America, as well as people of Siberia, Egypt the Pacific Island nations. We call them “myths” or “legends”. That is because we lost our spiritual connection to the original written records of Enoch, Noah and Moses, These 3 serve as witnesses to the prophecy and the fulfillment of the Flood Story. The last and final witness is Yah. He spoke it and brought it about. Yes, He even closed the door behind Noah. It was His job to do, no one else’s. He planned it and He finished it.

The purpose of the Ark was to condemn the world for its sins and to save Creation for the coming generations. We now live again in the “days of Noah”. Judgment is coming. No, final judgment is coming! Do you rejoice at the rising of the Sun and the cool, clear morning? Do you savor good food, the company of family and friends and a peaceful night’s sleep? Good! All that comes from the Creator. But thousands and even millions do not have the same blessings. For them, the works of darkness only bring suffering and despair. They all come from Satan.

People were feasting and enjoying before the Flood came. When the fiery judgment of Yah comes, many people will also be feasting and rejoicing all over the world. The good and bad all come by Yah’s will. He gave the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, remember. Our choice is so simple. Savor the good coming from Him. We do not need to have the evil as well.

Noah and his family did all that was good and necessary to please Yah. He saved them through the Ark, along with all the animals. Those who did not do good or heed Noah’s words, lost their lives in the Flood. How tainted was the world then? The answer is easy. Read the news. Browse the Internet. How bad is it? Or is it good enough for you? Then you do not really know what good is. Most likely, you would have been one of those who remained outside the Ark when Yah shut the door.

*Please visit my blogs to read the first 5 chapters of this book and to purchase a digital copy. Click here for easy access: Noah’s Ark and the Earth Re-Built: How the Earth Expanded During the Great Flood (2020 Edition)