The Extreme Mercy of God's 120 Year Warning!

I often speak of the judgement of God, and for good reason. Most churches these days portray a God of love and grace who wants you to have all the good things this life has to offer, a God who is much like Santa Claus in the sky, ready to grant your every wish.  Rarely, if ever, do you hear in the modern church that God is a judge and that He will judge you for what you have done since you got saved. A quick read of the Old Testament reveals a God of great justice and wrath. In the New Testament we see another side of Him, the loving side, the merciful side, the part of God that longs for His children to come to Him, to receive their free salvation.

The Bible tells us that God never changes, so we must assume that He is both loving and merciful and yet a God of wrath against sinners. Everyone in the Bible who came face to face with the Living God fell flat on their faces, trembling. Even those who were intimate with Him.  

Recently I read the Book of Jasher. It's one of those extra-Bibilical books like Enoch. (which I highly recommend).  Before you click away, Jasher is quoted in the Bible in 2 Samuel 1:18  and Joshua 10:13 . Also I have yet to read anything in either Jasher or Enoch that contradicts anything in Scripture. 

Jasher goes into great detail in the account of Noah and the Flood. I found it fascinating, but it also reminded me of the incredible grace and patience of our God.

In Jasher 4: 4-5,  long before Noah was even born it tells us that in the latter days of Methuselah, the sons of men turned from the Lord, they corrupted the earth, they robbed and plundered each other, and they rebelled against God and they transgressed, and they corrupted their ways, and would not hearken to the voice of Methuselah, but rebelled against him. 5 And the Lord was exceedingly wroth against them, 

Later in that same chapter, the Lord decides to blot out man from the face of the earth... then in verse 20 it says, And all men who walked in the ways of the Lord, died in those days before the Lord brought evil upon man which he had declared. 

So God was waiting until all the righteous men and women died before he brought judgement. Wow.  (Another proof of a Pre-trib rapture) Then in Chapter 5 we learn more about Noah. Still,things on earth aren't looking any better. Verses 6-8 says

6 And after the lapse of many years, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the life of Noah, when all those men, who followed the Lord had died away from amongst the sons of men, and only Methuselah was then left, God said unto Noah and Methuselah, saying, 7 Speak ye, and proclaim to the sons of men, saying, Thus saith the Lord, return from your evil ways and forsake your works, and the Lord will repent of the evil that he declared to do to you, so that it shall not come to pass.8 For thus saith the Lord, Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and it shall not exist, saith the Lord. 

The only righteous men who are left are Noah and Methusalah and God tells them that He's giving the world 120 year warning!  Noah and Methusalah are supposed to preach to these people in the hopes they will turn from their evil ways. 

Time passes and Noah and Methusalah do as God commanded but it didn't do any good. We see in verses 24-25

But the sons of men would not hearken, neither would they incline their ears to all their declarations. And it was after this that the Lord said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, on account of their evil deeds, and behold I will destroy the earth.

In Verse 34, we see that Noah is 595 years old when he begins to build the Ark and it takes him 5 years. During this time his grandfather Methusalah died. 

In Chapter 6, verse 6, we see God commanding Noah to gather the animals into the ark. The method of gathering them was very interesting, but I don't have time to go into that here. You can read it for yourself. 

What is your point, MaryLu?  I'm getting to it!  So the rain starts. In verse 11 we see 
And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun darkened, and the foundations of the world raged, and the whole earth was moved violently, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared, and all the fountains in the earth were broken up, such as was not known to the inhabitants before; and God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the sons of men, that there might be no more evil upon earth.
12 And still the sons of men would not return from their evil ways, and they increased the anger of the Lord at that time, and did not even direct their hearts to all this.
13 And at the end of seven days, in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

My point? God gave these people 120 years to repent, but then in His extreme mercy and grace, after the rains started (remember, they had never seen rain before) He gave them an additional 7 days to repent, during which he made the earth shake, the sun grow dark and the waters come up from under the ground. You would think that this would have really caused these people to fall on their knees before God. BUT IT DIDN'T!  

You can read the rest of the chapter for yourself.  God closed the door of the Ark, and the people suddenly found themselves being flooded. They pounded on the Ark and begged Noah to allow them in, but Noah said they already had plenty of time to repent.  They actually tried to break open the ark but God sent animals to attack them and keep them at bay.   You can read the account HERE. 

What I'm trying to get across is that God is a God of Love. He loves ALL of His children.  He doesn't wish anyone to perish and go to hell. He would do anything to save them, even send His own Son to earth to die a horrific death and rise again, just to save us!  He is a God of extreme mercy and grace.  He gave these people not only 120 years, but then 7 full days in which He revealed Himself and His power!  I'm sure if even a portion of them repented, He would have not sent the flood. 

Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezekiel 33:11

But God cannot change the will of man. Only man has the ability to choose God. 
Which brings me to our present day. 

Jesus said For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.  Matt 24:37

Did God give us a 120 year warning before the Tribulation? I believe He did. I believe that started in 1900.  Will God grant us a 7 day warning before the Tribulation? I don't see why not?  I sure pray He does, because I know a ton of family and friends that I will be pleading with!

I love our Father in Heaven! He is so patient with us! He loves us so much! If you've been praying for your loved ones and friends to get saved, don't give up. God hears your prayers! He wants them saved even more than you do!  He will continue to try and reach the lost, and when time is nearly up, He will provide signs and wonders, earthquakes and darkness, anything and Everything to get their attention!  Your job? Remain faithful to Him, keep praying, follow His lead, and finish the task He has assigned to you. 

We are almost home!