Gen. 9:18-19

This short summary of Noah and his sons, and the naming of one in particular, is given by the Lord to begin to explain what happens next.

First, it’s important to note that these three families would eventually overspread the whole earth, which is actually quite easy mathematically and genetically, with life spans only slowly declining. Please let me pause to give a couple good reference books, the first being available as an Internet edition. In “After the Flood" by Bill Cooper, we see a good summary of how some of them – especially the sons of Japheth – did so. There is also “Life in the Great Ice Age” by Michael Oard (also available at Amazon) for a discussion at the end of the story of how the Great Flood impacted people and caused, among other things, people with very bad cases of rickets to look to modern people like a different species because they don’t understand the situation from the Bible. No, the Bible doesn’t mention an Ice Age, but it all fits together well, and we have to remember that the Bible isn’t a book to tell everything about every situation and every fact in the universe. It is, however, absolutely true in what it says, and what we take in must be analyzed as accurate or not based on the Bible.

Back to our study, before Noah’s kids spread out around the world, though, they were all in the same general area. They’d begun to have families and repopulate the world, but they tended to remain in the same place rather than replenish the earth as they were told.

Had Noah's sons and their families begun to spread out like they were told to, what happened next would not have happened, and there wasn't any been as many to take part in the evil which would come at Babel. We need to remember that when the Lord tells us something, He knows the future and every possibility that can come from each of our choices, and is doing what He does for our benefit, in this case to protect them from themselves.

It's like the warnings in the previous section, where I diverge from the talk of the rainbow to discuss something which may or may not be very close, but which will have crucial ramifications for those who live through it. God shows in His Word, the Bible, that he cares about us and only once what is best for each of us.

Notice, finally, that Canaan is referred to as Ham’s son, but no other designation is given. This means it is likely that Canaan was not his favorite son as when Joseph is referred to as Jacob’s – Israel’s by then - favorite. Another time God points out something special about a person is when Jacob’s attitude toward his wives, Leah and Rachel, is pointed out. Since Shem had Arphaxad soon after the Flood, and the young people after all needed time to be born, much less to grow, Noah likely saw some tendency in Canaan already which would  foretell big problems. But, file that away for a moment until we tackle the rest of this, and simply remember that – given what would come of the descendants of Canaan, and how wicked they would be – God knew the future already, and the choices people would make.

Gen. 9:14-17 (and what to do if millions disappear at once? IMPORTANT)

A smaller first part is about these verses in particular and God's covenants, how this one only requires God to act and not man. The latter part is very important and touches on His promise of salvation, but also His warnings about things to come.  It will likely end up on another blog of mine, too.

Rainbows are beautiful. You can actually create a rainbow by spraying with a hose and swishing the hose back and forth really fast as water comes up.

God uses the simple things of this world to confound the wise. In this case, He uses a simple law of nature to testify to His divine promise.

This rainbow has seven colors, they are red orange yellow green blue indigo and violet.  God uses this to show just part of the entire spectrum of colors. It has been said that the best eyes can detect many more colors than that, and that there are millions of hues within the entire color spectrum. And that's only with our worldly eyes; those in heaven will be able to see much better and more vividly.

The fact that God chose to use the color spectrum to help us to remember His mercy shows that we should recognize the diversity that He created us for. It is diversity within God's law. Yet, there can be great diversity within His rules, just as those millions of colors exist within the spectrum, but numbers, for instance, are special in their own way but are not colors. They had a special, unique use, and "3" is not a proper color, just as you would not reply to "how old are you" by answering "red."

Notice, too, that God makes this covenant without us having to do anything. I fact, just as witht he ark, he promises to protect us from His wrath when He finally judges the earth. We don't know when this will be, but we know that "in the twinkling of an" we will "not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."(1 Corinthians 15:51-53,1 Thess.4:13-18)

Here is the part which is vital. Nobody knows when, exactly, God will snatch us up, or what we will have to go through before then. However, He is faithful to sahre in His Word, especially in revelation, but will happen int he end.

In the meantime, it's a good idea to have things set aside for those left behind whenever that happens. This video is a perfect summary of what to do. It's for a pre-Tribulation rapture. We don't know if the Tribulation of Revelation - called the "Time of Jacob's Troubles in Jeremiah. Please copy the link and have it stored away just in case.

Reading this before millions have disappeared

JD Farag's updates are great at sharing why we may be close to the Tribulation period, but regardless of how close we are, we are told not to worry about it but to simply be aware of the signs of the times(just like when you can tell a storm is coming) and otherwise to "occupy till He comes."(Luke 19:13) This means to share the Gospel, grow in Christ and help otehrs grow, and essentially to do His work and be the light and salt of this world.

It's vital, of course, to know Jesus Christ as Saviour first, That must be heart knowledge, not just head knowledge. Just calling oneself a Christian doesn't matter. This is because Jesus Christ died to take the punishment for your sins, he is God in flesh. He stepped out of His home in Heaven to live a perfect live and die for us, the just for the unjust, because our sin keeps us from God's perfect heaven. He bridged the gap between us and God, so  you could have that relationship with God restored. (Here is a good PDF explanation, this a good short video, and this a good written summary to explain it.)

It's not about anything you do, for it is "by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph.2:8-9) All that's needed is to simply;
Admit you're a sinner - that you've said, thought, or done things that displease God - and because of that you deserve separation from God forever  and don'tdeserve God's perfect Heaven where there can be no sin, no pain, no suffering;
Believe Jesus Christ is God in flesh, that He lived a perfect life and died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, and then He rose fromt he dead; and,
Call on Jesus to forgive and save you from the penalty of your sins, Choosing to repent of (turn from) your sins and inviting Jesus into your heart and life. He'll come live in you and make you new inside.

You don't have to know what all your sins are right away, when Jesus saves you He begins a good work in you(Phil 1:6) that will keep going till you get to Heaven. Youb ecome a new creature in Him.(2 Cor. 5:17) But, your flesh nature will still battle the Spirit in you.That's why it's vital to be filled with (controlled) by the Holy Spirit, which is God's promise that He will keep you saved.

That's why I'm going into all this now. Because, Salvation is just like that covenant above. It's a free gift(Rom. 6:23), all you have to do is receive it by simple faith, and He is able to keep you saved.(John 10:28-30,Rom.8:36-39,Jude 24, etc.)

We are in the Age of Grace. God will still save people afterward, but the conditions will be very different. There is great persecution in some places now, but overall it's much easier than it will be during the Tribulation period.

Reading this after millions have disappeared

If you read this after millions have vanished, what's above is vital about being saved from your sin.

However, it will be much more difficult for you to live, and in fact you will most likely die a martyr's death.

The penalty for sin is still the same - spiritual death and separation from God forever in a  horrible place called Hell which was only meant for the devil and his angels. However,God will start to pour out His wrath on this fallen world because of the sin in it. It's like when you're caught out in a driving rainstorm without a covering, and everything gets soaked.

Here is a good longer summary of what will happen. Raptureready also has a bunch of good stuff, including "Left Behind Letters" for others.

The main point is to never, *never*, NEVER  take the mark of the beast. The one-world system will make you swear allegiance to it - either to the system or to the person - and nobody will be able to buy or sell without the mark. It may be voluntary at first but will eventually be mandatory. Remember that you will seal your fate if you take this mark - you will be swearing allegiance to the devil himself and sentencing yourself to a devils hell forever. Some people ask how a loving God could send someone there, but there you can see that He is not the one sending people there, they choose t6o go, and right here you can see in Revelation that He warns you specifically not to do it.

(I should note that the King James, which was the Bible in English for 250 years, says this mark will be in the hand or forehead, modern ones say on - well, just make sure you don't take either, to be safe. These "modern Bibles" are from the Alexandrian texts, which are corrupted from the earlier Antiochan ones. similarly, Daniel 9:27 in the King James and the original Hebrew of Srong's Concordance says the antichrist will confirm a covenant with many, insted of simply making one, a term which implies strengthening it. But,the important part is, that there will be a 7-year covenant signed, and the antichrist will break this covenant with Israel halfway through.))

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that many people can view videos(like the one above and this, a more specific one with much specifics and 1-2 bitts of speculation that we don't understand the exact meaning though we know what will happen, like a covenant with many with the antichrist), etc. which tell about it. You can help others to understand. Share this blog, videos, these pages, etc., with everyone.