Messiah In The Old Testament Episode 20
Impending Judgment Part 2 Hope and Deliverance
Welcome to Messiah In The Old Testament. This is the second part of our episode which we have entitled, the whole episode is, Impending Judgment. We’re talking about the run up to the worldwide flood. And in our last episode, we went into some exquisite detail as to the conditions that were on the earth. And if you want to know about that, watch our previous episode and get brought up to speed. So, we’re at a point right now, where we know that there are sinful men filling the earth. Violence is filling the earth. The earth is not full of righteous people who are calling on the name of the Lord and living in the presence of Elohim. They are people who have rejected Elohim, that are living the way they want to live, doing what is right in their own eyes, and I'm going to have what I want, to do what I want to do and it doesn't matter what anybody says. And I will make it happen through murder, through stealing, through death and destruction. I will make it happen for me. It's all about me, me, me, me, me.
Now we read our Tanakh reference at the end of the last episode. I’m going to start this episode by reading that same reference to you. This is our base Scripture, Genesis 6:1-4:
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
So, the sons of God are referring to angelic beings. Those angelic beings looked down on the daughters of men and saw some really beautiful women. And they decided they wanted to have them. And we said that this likely is talking about lust and we’re going to get into that detail here shortly. They went down and married any of them chose. They just went and grabbed them. They didn't get the father's consent. They didn't
court them. They didn't fall in love. They just took them and had them and had children with them. We talked about possibility of rape.
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
So, the lifespan was shortened from 900 and something to 120. Of course, shortened from infinity before.
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward —when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
This is our base Scripture.
Now I'm bringing in the book of Enoch 6:1-6 which really parallels the passage in the Tanakh. It just gives some extra details. So, I’m bringing in those extra details. I'm not saying that these details are canon or dogma. I'm just saying this gives us a better idea of what was going on in the earth. Book of Enoch 6:1-6
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born to them beautiful and comely daughters.
In other words, very gorgeous women.
And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, Which we felt was consistent with the words in the Tanakh.
They said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’
So, the angels wanted to have children with these beautiful women.
And Semjaza, who was their leader, said to them: ‘I fear you will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone will have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then they swear they altogether and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; (200 angels) who descended in the days of Jared (whose name means to descend or come down) on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual implications upon it.
So, let's do our thing. Let's put ourselves into this story. And this was the thing I was telling you about. The violence and stuff, yeah you can really visualize what was going on. And killing each other to gain things.
But now, let's stand on the top of Mount Hermon. At the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. As we said, there’s probably no rain or snow. So, there’s probably just bare rock or possibly even vegetation at that time, we don't know. So were standing at the summit. Currently, the summit measures 9,232 feet. We don't know what was [then] it was pre-flood. So, we are standing here.
We’re watching two hundred angels descend from heaven. Now a lot of us have an idea that angels are clothed in white from various references that that we been told to the years. Madeleine L'Engle and her book Many Waters pictures these fallen angels as being very beautiful, very colorful, having these iridescent multiple color wings. And I kind of like the way she described the fallen angels. So, these angels come down. They set foot on Mount Hermon.
As they set foot, there is one of them who is maybe a foot taller, but definitely taller, maybe bigger, definitely the leader of the bunch. And his name is Semjaza. And Semjaza says to all these angels who are now standing around him on Mount Hermon. “I want you to take a knee and
we’re going to make an oath.” And they all raised their hands and they swear this oath saying that they are going to go down. They’re going to take daughters of men and make them their wives. And their going to do this act. Even though they know that this is a sinful act. Even though they know this is a rebellious act. Semjaza understands that. He’s thinking that he is going to be left holding the bag unless all these guys make their oath together. And then they can all hang together instead of hanging separately. So, they make the oath.
Now, the name Hermon which is in Hebrew Chermon. That means a place of consecration, or a consecrated place. So, Mount Hermon, the meaning of the name Hermon is a consecrated place or a place of consecration. It comes from the root charam, which means to devote to destruction. And it says specifically in the Book of Enoch that Hermon was named Hermon because that was where the angels swore their oath and they dedicated themselves to their plan.
So modern-day Hermon, there's not a lot of talk about it, but I have heard that Hermon is referred to as the Gateway of the Fallen Angels. I've actually seen a sign that said Mount Hermon with its altitude then ‘Gateway of the Fallen Angels.’ So, there is this concept, and is all based on the Book of Enoch, that Hermon was a gateway where the fallen angels came. And then the fallen angels do later face judgment.
If you read you in the book of Enoch there is a description of the judgments. And we know like our reference in the book of Leviticus that one of the fallen angels, who was actually a leader within the group of angels one the leaders of 10. He was still around in the book of Leviticus and he was the one that took the goat that had the sins of Israel written on it and he was specifically mentioned by Moses. So obviously, the book of Enoch was familiar to Moses and to those throughout history.
Now, the act of coming down was a sin. The act of lust, and the fulfilling and acting out on that lust was sinful. So, these angels were judged. And these angels then lost their place in heaven. And lost their, I
assume, all their powers and all their abilities. So, let’s fill out our picture just a little more. So, we got this group of angels standing on the top of Mount Hermon. And they're all standing around. They just took their oath and they’re all wanting to go down and fulfill what they said.
So, the book of Enoch 7:1-6 says:
And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, So, they went down off the mountain and I imagine that they had already picked out the woman that they wanted. And then they flew down and they chose a woman for themselves.
And each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them,
So, having sex with the daughters of men was an act of defilement.
and they taught them charm and enchantments,
So now here is an introduction in the book of Enoch of evil into the world through the fallen angels.
they taught them charm and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and make them acquainted with plants. And the women (the daughters of men) became pregnant, and they bear great giants, (the Nephilim) whose height was 3000 ells: who consumed all the acquisitions of men.
It would be an easy thing to imagine that you get this giant baby, who turns into a giant child, who turns into a giant adult that they're going to have a voracious appetite. And they're going to eat all these families out of house and home.
And when men could no longer sustain the Giants (the Nephilim). The giants turned against them and devoured mankind.
So, they were hungry, so they started eating men.
And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish,
So, they ate unclean animals. And they defiled by just eating them without cooking them. Eating them alive.
and to devour one another's flesh and drink the blood.
So, this is, of course, a picture cannibalism. A picture of these giants eating the men, eating each other. You can imagine that this was not a good situation. The final line in Enoch chapter 7 says:
Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.”
I assume the lawless ones are the Nephilim and the fallen angels, possibly we’re talking about all of mankind. The earth laid accusation. Judgment is coming. So, we don't know a whole lot about these Nephilim. And there have been your fictional books written about the Nephilim and there's all kinds of interest in this whole idea of giant filling the earth. Did it happen exactly like the book of Enoch said? No idea. I think it just gives us a little bit of flavor and detail to get a sense of what was going on.
So, let's look at the word Niphilim. It's translated in the Tanakh as giants, heroes, men of renown. It comes from the root nephal. And if you read into this subject, you’re going to find varying opinions of what the root is from. Is it from this? Is it from that? I think it is from nephal and it means to fall or lie down. I think with the idea of these angels falling and sinking down into sin. And the result of that sin is the Nephilim. And it is referring to this whole idea of sin and defilement and falling down. So, the entire civilization now it is basically defiled and therefore
cursed. And I think it was in the midst of this whole thing with the angels taking the women by force, getting them pregnant, having these giant babies, birthing the generation of the Nephilim. This was the point at which God said specifically,
“My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be one hundred and twenty years.
That is Genesis 6:3. Now let's pull out our chronology of Adam’s line. The chart that we looked at before. Let’s pull it out again. And let's look at these lifespans.
So, at the beginning we’ve got Adam and remember he lived 930 years. So let me get out my chart here and I will go over it with you. So, Shem then lived 600 years after the flood. So, before the flood you got Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared. You see they all have 900 and some year lifespan. Enoch, of course, his was cut short because he only lived 365 years. Because he was carried away by Elohim. Methuselah was the longest-lived patriarch. He lived 969 years. And then you’ve got Lamech. And those two died just before the flood. So now you got Noah who lived through the flood. And then Shem who was born before the flood, but lived after the flood. His lifespan was shortened to 600, compared to Noah’s 950.
And then they just keep getting shorter. Arphaxad 438, Shelah 433, Eber 464, Peleg 239, Reu 239, Serug 230, Nahor 145, Terah 205, Abraham 175 and if you keep looking at the lifespans, you get to our good friend Moses. Moses lived 120 years, the same as what God said in Genesis 6:3 His days will be 120 years.
It took generations to get there. The lifespan was still long and vibrant because they're all seeds of Noah. And as they go down further and further and further from the source, their lifespans shorten up. Now if you look at some of the modern-day research looking at the senescence of cells and how many generations of cells can we divide before you get
to the point where we can't divide anymore. And life then ceases because the metabolic processes cannot continue. And there's several sources that say that a hundred and twenty years is the theoretical lifespan. Now if you look at people that live over 100, not many get into the teens and I don't even know if there's any that have been documented to be hundred and twenty or over a hundred and twenty. But it seems that is the benchmark now that we have. We can live 120 years and not beyond.
The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
This is Genesis 6:5&6. So, let's pause and take a look at the state of the earth. Men are worshiping false gods according to Maimonides. Men are doing what right in our own eyes. They are stealing, killing, destroying to get what they want.
The fallen angels have come down and they have taught the daughters of men enchantments, charms, other teachings. And we said there are other angels mentioned, and if you go read Chapter 8 in the book of Enoch, it talks about these other angels which teach them astrology, constellations, information about the clouds. They teach them how to use makeup and the working of metals. And the whole world is now full of false teachings and of all this violence. So, we don't know if the conditions were all that bad. But we do know that the conditions were bad enough that Elohim was grieved, that Elohim was feeling pain in his heart because of what was going on in the earth.
Now let's read Genesis 6:6&7.
So, the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”
So now we are at a crucial point in history.
So, let's go back to our Chronology of Adam. Noah was over 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. So, let's look at where Shem lies on our chart. Shem is 1558 years after Adam began counting and this happened before the flood which came in 1656. So, we know that that there was a period of time you may be like 100 years or less where the sons of Noah were born and to when the flood happened. Now we know that there is a tipping point here. So, who is left on the earth at the time that Shem is born. So, we see Adam is dead. Seth is dead. Enosh is dead. Kenan is dead. Mahalalel is dead. Jared is dead. Enoch is dead. All we have left are Methuselah, Lamech, Noah and his three sons. So, this is a very thin thread, compared to all the other lives that were present on the earth. These were the righteous remnant, the righteous thread. Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, his boys Shem, Ham and Japheth, everyone else is gone. There will be no more talks with Adam. There be no more prophetic revelations from Enoch. There will be no more righteous people that have been there since the beginning. Tiny, tiny, tiny thread.
This all gets summed up in Genesis 6:8 which says:
“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
So, this is against…
“I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth— men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”
To…
“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”
The whole of mankind would been wiped out but for Noah. The Messianic Line would have snapped in half, wiped out, but for Noah. Reconciliation between Elohim and man through Messiah would never happen, but for Noah.
Now this verse and this picture of the tenuous thread of righteousness, Noah finding favor and then God tipping from I going to wipe everything out to Noah found favor in my eyes so I'm going to rescue him and this righteous remnant. When Messiah comes, we’re going to find the world is in the same chaotic mess, full of sin. Men doing what was right in their own eyes. Men ruling over other men to steal, kill and destroy. Violence, evil, corruption, but Messiah will find favor in the eyes of Elohim. But Messiah, but for Messiah. Messiah will bring redemption to mankind. Messiah will continue this whole Messianic Line of Righteousness. Messiah will continue this line of righteousness; he will then set up his kingdom and live forever in this righteousness. And we will be able to live with him.
The reconciliation between God and man will happen because Messiah found favor in the eyes of God.
This is the account of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
That’s one single verse Genesis 6:9. We’re describing the man, Noah.
And there are three Messianic Prophecies that were just mentioned right there. Messiah will be righteous. Messiah will be blameless among the people of his time. And he will walk with God. Now Noah sounds a lot like his great grandpa Enoch, right? Enoch, righteous man, blameless among the people, walked with God, taken away at the end of his life. So, Messiah is going to be righteous, blameless among his people and he's going to walk with Elohim.
Now reading on in our text.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
This is Genesis 6:11&12. And we developed up until now this whole amazing, crazy picture of what the earth was like.
So, God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.
We just went through that whole thing painting the picture of all the violence and evil that was filling the earth.
I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
So not only was God destroying the men and the animals but he is also going to destroy the earth as well
So, make yourself an ark of cypress wood;
And the word Cypress, translated from the Hebrew word gopher, gopher. We don't know what wood gopher wood was. But the translators translate that as Cyprus Wood. And that's likely because Cyprus was the more common wood to build boats out of.
make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
So, Noah is getting specific instructions on how to make it waterproof.
This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.
So, Noah got specific instructions on dimensions, on how it was he was to build it, in different decks. And he was given all these details. And I would imagine he got way more detail than what the account in Genesis is giving us. Because he had known how to make the spars, how to bend the wood to go around the ark to make the prow of the boat. He had to know how to join the beams together. And how to make the pitch so that the pitch would coat it properly. There are all these details we don't know, but I'm sure Noah knew those details. And then he reveals the flood. He says
I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
So, all humanity was to be destroyed. All the animals were to be destroyed. All vegetation, all the earth, everything was going to be destroyed. It was only Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives. So, there’s a total of eight souls that were to be saved. Nobody else. Not Methuselah, not Lamech, not any of the other extended relatives, only Noah's immediate family.
You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
This is Genesis 6:13-22. Now this is the revelation of Elohim’s grand scheme to deliver mankind. He gave Noah specific instructions. He gave him something tangible to do.
Something he could do with his hands to bring about God's plan of salvation. He was to build this massive ark, make it out of Cyprus wood, coat it with pitch inside and out. He gave him the dimensions. He gave him the design on how to build it. The coming deluge was going to destroy every creature on the earth that had the breath of life in it. Elohim made a covenant with Noah to rescue a remnant of both men and animals.
The most important verse in this whole passage that we just read was Genesis 6:22
Noah did everything just as Elohim had commanded him.
This is a Messianic Prophecy because when Messiah comes, he will also do everything that Elohim commanded him to do. In fact, Messiah would only do the things that Elohim commanded him to do. He would only say the words that Elohim gave him to say.
So, let's look at the Hayashar and its book of Genesis, the section called Noach. Noah and Methuselah teamed up to preach for a hundred and twenty years. Reading:
And the Lord spake unto Noah and unto Methuselah saying: Say it and cry it out aloud among the sons of man saying: Thus saith the Lord, turn ye from your evil ways and abandon your wicked actions, and the Lord will repent of the evil which he hath resolved to do unto you in the earth, and it shall not come to pass. And thus saith the Lord: Behold, I give you one hundred and twenty years' time. If ye completely return unto me and abandon your evil ways, then I too will return and repent of the evil which I have concluded to bring over you, and it shall not come to pass, saith the Lord. And Noah and Methuselah proclaimed all the words of the Lord unto the sons of man; day after day did they go about and repeat them through all that time. But the sons of man would not hearken unto them, and would not incline their ears to their words, and
would only become more stiff-necked. And the Lord appointed for them a time of one hundred and twenty years, saying: If they will return within that time the Lord will repent of the evil, so that the earth be not destroyed.
Noah and Methuselah were preachers of the words of Elohim. They gave a message of hope. They gave a message of deliverance, “You just turn back to Elohim away from your wicked ways. Elohim will not destroy you.” But they would not hearken to their words. We know that Noah was a righteous preacher as was Methuselah according to Hayashar. This is a type, remember Noah is a type of Messiah, so Noah preaching righteousness is a prophecy. Messiah will come and preach righteousness to the people about the coming destruction. The day of the LORD that is going to come, but repent and turn.
So, let's look at all Messianic prophecies that we've now elucidated in our two episodes, well actually one episode. But Noah found favor in the eyes of Elohim. So will Messiah find favor in the eyes of Elohim. Noah was righteous. Messiah will be righteous. Noah was blameless among the people of his time. Messiah will blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with Elohim. Messiah will walk with Elohim, just like Enoch. Noah was a righteous preacher. So will Messiah be a righteous preacher. Elohim gave Noah specific instructions for the salvation of mankind and he did everything just as Elohim commanded him. Messiah will do the same. Just as Elohim commands, Messiah will do it.
Now to finish out I’m going to read from my book Messiah in the Old Testament:
Noah was part of the righteous thread that extended from Adam to Seth and down through each successive generation to righteous and blameless Enoch who was carried away by Elohim to heaven and then to his righteous son Methuselah who preached alongside Noah. He was taken away by death just before the flood. The Messianic
genealogy then reached Noah. Noah was a very unusual man, not only for his own time, but also for all time. He was righteous and blameless among his people. It is not difficult to see why he stood out in Elohim’s eyes from all the wickedness covering the surface of the earth. God chose Noah for a spectacular task because of his moral character, his moral fiber. Noah answered the call, fulfilling his father Lamech’s prophecy which was given to him at his naming. This is a picture of Messiah who will be righteous and blameless among his people. He will answer the call just like Noah. The earth was corrupt, full of wickedness and violence. All man thought about was doing evil all the time. Elohim was so grieved and hurt by men’s utter rejection of him that he decided to wipe out every living thing from the earth. He would have carried it out.
He would have carried out this plan. He would have destroyed everything, including Noah and his family.
But Noah found favor. But Messiah will find favor.
But Noah found favor. This is a picture of Messiah when he comes. The world will be filled with sin - evil, violence and corruption. Mankind will be heading to their destruction. All would be lost but for Messiah. There would be no reconciliation between Elohim and man but for Messiah. A single righteous man changed the course of history. Instead of complete destruction, Elohim saved a remnant to start over through Noah. Lamech was right. Noah was savior and redeemer of mankind and every living creature on the earth. Noah preached to men of the coming deluge asking them to repent from their evil ways. He was a righteous preacher. This is a picture of Messiah who will also come as a righteous preacher. He will minister to his own unbelieving generation. Elohim gave Noah elaborate instructions regarding the ark he was to construct such as type of wood, dimensions, design, etc. Noah did exactly what Elohim commanded him to do. This also is a picture of Messiah. He will be obedient and do everything Elohim will command him to do.
And there is. The burst of Messianic Prophecies that exploded when Noah came onto the scene. And it is just an amazing thing to see all of this explosion. And we know from this revelation, that Messiah is going to be just like Noah. He’s going to be facing an impossible situation. But he’s going to turn things around. He is going to be obedient. He is going to be righteous. He is going to be blameless. And he's going to do everything that Elohim tells him to do. This is an amazing revelation of what our Messiah, what your Messiah is going to be like. So, continue to follow Messiah in the Old Testament as we get into more and more revelation. And as we generate this bigger and broader picture of Messiah. I've said before, it’s like weaving a tapestry together. It’s a lot intricate little details. But as the tapestry gets more and more fibers woven into it, it becomes more vibrant, more beautiful and we get a complete picture of Messiah. So, join us next time as we look at the prophecies in the Old Testament and learn about our Messiah.
Thank you for watching our show today. We hope that you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. Now, after watching this episode you might be saying to yourself, “Who is this Messiah that Dr. Smith is talking about?
Is he talking about the Christian Messiah? Is he talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary. And then lived a blameless and holy life on the earth, And then was tortured and crucified. And after he died he then was resurrected from the dead after three days. Then after people witnessed this, he was then taken up bodily by Elohim into heaven from the Mount of Olives.
Or is Dr. Smith talking about the Muslim prophet Isa. Isa Ibn Maryam, the messenger, who was sent by Allah to bring a message to the people. The Quran says he that lived a holy and blameless life, was born of the virgin Mary. He fulfilled all the Jewish prophecies in exact accordance. But one difference, instead of being crucified, he then was taken up by Allah into heaven before the Romans laid hands on him. And he awaits
there now in the fourth heaven where at the end of days at the day of judgment he will be revealed to all.
Or is Dr. Smith talking about the Jewish Messiah? The Messiah who has not yet been revealed, that the entire Jewish world is waiting for his revelation. Now, the beautiful thing is that you can hold to any of these beliefs. And we can all still learn together about Messiah. We can learn about our Christian Messiah. We can learn about our Jewish Messiah. We can learn about our Muslim prophet Isa who will be revealed. It doesn’t matter what you believe. You can even be an atheist or agnostic and still learn from this program about Messiah. Now, I have to admit I am a Christian so I approach things, obviously, from a Christian point of view. And I promise you, as we reveal these prophecies, which I believe have all been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Or will be fulfilled when he comes back, returning in the clouds in the same way he was taken up. I believe that all of this is true, but I promise you I will do my very best to present these prophecies from a neutral point of view. And try to keep my Christian bias to a minimum. Obviously, it will pop up from time to time but I will try to stay only in the Tanakh and try not to get into the New Testament very often. Now, if you want more information about Messiah, we have resources for you.
We have a website which is findingmessiah.org. Now, on that website you are going to find several resources. You will find links to all the videos, all the episodes that we have created so far. You will find links to download the transcripts of any of these episodes. And then you will find a section where you can get more information about Messiah through frequently asked questions. And then there is a section for donation. If you want to come alongside our ministry at Finding Messiah.
Now, there’s going to come a time in this series where you are going to be confronted with the question: What are you going to do with Messiah? Who do you believe Messiah is? Which of these Messiahs do you believe Dr. Smith is talking about? And Messiah will become real to
you if you look at all the information presented and come to your conclusions. So, join us as we continue our journey through the Old Testament Scriptures looking for all the Messianic Prophecies. And join us next time as we reveal those to you.
