Bible Study—Noah, the Ark, the Flood & Voting

Noah, the Ark, the Flood & Voting

Fred R. Coulter—October 20, 2012

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Let's see what the Bible says about the Bible. This is important. What we have with this Faithful Version translated into English, we have built upon all the good, accurate scholarship of Godly scholars. There are atheistic scholars who study the Bible and want to change it because they don't believe that it's the Word of God.

The story of Balaam, the prophet from Pethor, who was hired by Balak to come and curse the children of Israel. The reason he did was because he knew that his country was designated by God to be taken over by the children of Israel and their nation expelled. So, he sent to Pethor for the high priest, Balaam. Pethor is another variation of the word 'peter.' All the high priests of the pagan religions were called peter. There's a carry-over into Catholicism. That's another whole different story but it is essentially a repeat of what we have here.

A lot of people say they don't believe the Bible because men wrote it. But the story of Balaam is very interesting. Here is a pagan high priest from Pethor, a big religious center right on the River Euphrates in Mesopotamia, which became Babylon.

Of course, you know what the Bible says about Babylon and Babylon the Great. Balak hired him and Balaam even communicated with God to find out whether he should go or not. God told him not to go and Balak increased the amount of money so much that he just said, 'Oh, God, I've got to go. Let me go.'

Then he got his donkey and was on his way to go to Balak. You know the story that the donkey saw an angel in front of him and bucked Balaam off. Balaam got mad and after he beat the donkey the donkey talked back to him, and said, 'Why are you beating me?'

Balaam got there and Balak was happy that he came. Balaam told Balak when he said, 'You're here to curse the children of Israel.' He says, 'I've talked to the Lord and I can only say what the Lord wants me to say.' Now, here's a man dedicated to Satan coming as an adversary to curse the children of Israel whom God is about ready to bless. Balak doesn't want to lose his country because he knows it is going to the children of Israel as part of the coming territory of Israel. So, they get up on a mountain where they can look down and see the children of Israel camping in the valley and they bring the bullocks and they bring the offerings and then they slay them.

Balaam gets up, looks down on the children of Israel and blesses them. Balak is about ready to go nuts. He came back after blessing them and said, 'I hired you to curse them. Why did you bless them?' He said, 'I told you I can only do what the Lord will allow me to do. Let's go over on this hill,' on top of the mountain, several little hills that were there. They did this seven times and he blessed seven times, and Balak was beside himself. Why do I bring this up? I bring it up for this reason: God used converted, inspired men filled with His Holy Spirit to write what became the Old and New Testaments.

A lot of people say it is filled with errors. The truth is when you get back to the original Hebrew for the Old Testament or the original Greek for the New Testament it is not filled with errors. Why? If God is able to make a dedicated, pagan liar tell the truth when God wants him to tell the truth, don't you think that God is able to inspire humble men with His Spirit to write what He wants them to write? The answer is Yes!

Another fact concerning the Bible—and that's why we have the commentary in the front of the Bible, we cover a lot of this—is that only 40 men were involved in writing the whole Bible. Eight of those were the New Testament. That was it!

You can read the commentary about the canonization of the Old Testament and you'll find it interesting, that is a summary. Canonization means the official, approved text. God used the priest Ezra, after the Babylonian captivity, and he had an assembly of 120 priests and Levites. They went through all of the writings. There are other books in the Bible mentioned, such as the book of Jasher, the book of Enoch, the Chronicles of the Kings, and so forth that were not included.

Why? God wanted the truth! There some like the book of Enoch that had some things in it which may be historically accurate, but were not inspired of God or inspired to be put into the canon. So, of the assembly of the 120 men under the leadership of Ezra they put together the Old Testament. What they did with it was this. Because of rampant wrong Jewish-type religion coming out of Samaria—which you can read about in the commentary—Ezra re-wrote and copied from the text that they wanted to include. The original Hebrew text was long-hand. So he wrote it in block.

You know how you see the Hebrew letters? The block letters! This was distributed to all of the synagogues throughout the Persian Empire and wherever the Jews were scattered. They had the official Word of God.

Let's read this, 2-Timothy 3:14, he's talking to Timothy: "But as for you, continue in the things that you did learn and were assured of knowing from whom you have learned them; And that from a child you have known the Holy Writings... [that's referring to the Old Testament.] ...which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus" (vs 14-15).

Please understand, when the Church first began the only thing they had was what we call the Old Testament. Through Christ, using the Old Testament, plus the writings of the apostles, they could come to the knowledge of salvation. What this does, this knocks into a complete 'cocked-hat' the notion that the Law has been done away, the Law and the Prophets. Jesus said that they wouldn't be done away.

Verse 16 also includes New Testament Scripture. I'm going through this before we discuss what we're going to discuss concerning the Flood. There are many theories, many different things about the Flood.

Verse 16: "All Scripture is God-breathed..." All Scripture means each and every word and that is in the original. There are two forms of original:

• 'apograph'—written by the one whose name is listed

That's where we get autograph, very similar

• the copy

The copy, if faithfully copied by the scribes, would carry the same weight of authority as the original. They have enough research to know that for both the Old Testament and the New Testament that the script that is used in the Received Text for the New Testament and in the equivalent text for the Old Testament are correct.

Then it's a matter of faithful translation. That's what we have done because there have been men who are not converted have been very unfaithful with the Word of God. "All Scripture is God-breathed."

What does God-breathed mean? It actually in the Greek means God-Spirited! In other words, the Spirit of God inspired the writer to write what God wanted to be written—is God-breathed. So therefore, when we look at some of these accounts, these tell us an awful lot more than the guesses of atheistic historians, archeologists, paleontologists, and so forth.

Verse 16: "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine... [teaching] ...for conviction... [When you know the Truth you can have conviction. You know it is God's Truth, you can stand by it, you know it's right.] ...for correction... [we all need to be corrected] ...for instruction in righteousness... [how we are to live] ...so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work" (vs 16-17).

Let's see what Peter writes about this. Very interesting. This is when Peter was old and he knew he was ready to die. What happens when you don't have anything written down? This is why God never used oral tradition. Those who say, 'It was orally transmitted' are entirely wrong. It was never orally transmitted. Why do they claim that? Because if they really understood that every word was God-breathed and it was written when it was written and that's why in the commentary we have the most accurate—based upon the best Godly scholarship. What do I mean Godly scholarship? Scholars who believed in God and believed in the Word of God vs scholars who were atheistic and didn't believe in the Word of God and wanted to change the Word of God. That's the difference right there.

We now know that the whole New Testament was written and canonized before the death of the Apostle John. The Apostle John was the one who did the final canonization, probably with Andrew and Philip with him. You can read all of that in the commentary. I think you'll find it very interesting.

2-Peter 1:12: "Therefore, I will not neglect to make you always mindful of these things, although you already know them and have been established in the present Truth. For I consider it my duty, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by causing you to remember these things" (vs 12-13). He wrote this epistle because they needed to have the facts that are in here.

Verse 14: "Know that shortly the putting off of my tabernacle will come, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has signified to me. But I will make every effort that, after my departure, you may always have a written remembrance of these things in order to practice them for yourselves" (vs 14-15).

I want you to see the wisdom of God in putting together the Word of God, to preserve it. Look at all the different interpretations of the writings of men and laws of men that have nothing to do with God.

How many people go to court and argue over it? fight over it? Look at this latest thing that we have with the latest debate. It is known that Barack Obama did not call what happened in Benghazi a terrorist attack. He used a generic term to introduce his speech on the 12th of September to say that 'no act of terror will defer us from finding out who did it.' That was a generic statement. During the debate what happened? Mitt Romney said, 'You didn't call this an act of terror.' He said, 'Yes, I did, on the 12th in the Rose Garden.' Mitt Romney was incredulous and said, 'You called it an act of terror on the 12th?' Yes, I did. Wasn't it interesting, Candy Crowley just happened to have the transcript? Taken out of context he did use the word act of terror.

Look at the big controversy that this has already caused. Can you image the controversy over religion versus the Truth of God if God allowed it to be transmitted verbally by oral transmission. This is why the Catholic Church says it was 200 years before it was written down, and 'we canonized the New Testament.' No, they had nothing to do with the New Testament because John canonized it before he died around 99-100A.D. That was 225 years before the Roman Catholic Church was formed. Hello! That's important.

What has the Catholic Church done because of that claim? They have reams and reams of their own traditions, many of them contrary to the Word of God. Even in some of their catechisms they say that 'we could preach the Gospel without the Bible.' Why even have the Bible then?

You see why it's very important that we understand what is going to follow here and why God made sure that it was written. You go to the book of Revelation, in the first chapter Jesus tells John, 'Write.' God wants it written.'

It's just like if you have a dispute with someone and you have a contract and you don't have it written down and there are no witnesses and you go to court and say you have a claim, what will the judge say? 'Do you have it written down? No, no, I don't. 'Do you have any witnesses?' No, no, we don't have any witnesses. To the plaintiff, 'What do you say?' He tells them. To the defendant, 'What do you say?' Opposite! This is why God did it the way he did. Notice what Peter wrote because Peter was also involved the Gospel of Mark and 1st & 2nd Peter.

Verse 15: "But I will make every effort that, after my departure, you may always have a written remembrance of these things in order to practice them for yourselves."

One other caveat here before we go any further. Peter did not know how long it was going to be until the return of Christ. He did not realize how significant it was that this be written down and that God was inspiring him to do so. Here we are, almost 2,000 years later. Look at Christianity in the world. What have they done in 2,000 years by adding the traditions of men and the practices of men? Total confusion because they don't believe the Bible and they don't follow the Bible, though they quote the Bible.

Verse 16: "For we did not follow cleverly concocted myths as our authority, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His magnificent glory… [What is he talking about here?] …because He received glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, 'This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.' And this is the voice from heaven that we heard when we were with Him on the Holy mountain" (vs 17-18)—Matt. 17.

Have you had something happen in your life that was so powerful, that was so sure, that was burned into your mind, that you knew that you would never deviate from that.

Matthew 17:1, this is exactly what he's talking about here: "And after six days, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and his brother John..." What does God say about witnesses? We've already covered this—haven't we? You can't convict anyone or prove anything by one witness. The Bible says two or three witnesses. What did Jesus take with Him? Three witnesses!

"...and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them..." (vs 1-2). We'll see this is a vision. Just picture if you went up with Christ, up on the mountain, and here this great transfiguration took place. Wouldn't that make an absolute lasting impression to you? Yes, it would!

"...and His face shined as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. Then behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him" (vs 2-3). Moses represents the Law. Elijah represents the Prophets. Peter was there; he was the only who spoke. The other disciples were too afraid.

Verse 4: "And Peter answered and said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You desire, let us make three tabernacles here: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'"

Stop and think about this for a minute. How many shrines have different religions made because of certain events or vision? A lot of them! Did Jesus say, 'That's a good idea, Peter; that's what we need to do; you're right on, that's a good thought'? No, He didn't!

Verse 5: "While he was speaking, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, 'This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I delight. Listen to Him!' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces in extreme terror" (vs 5-6). This was an absolute life-moving, life-changing experience!

Verse 7: "But Jesus came and touched them, and said, 'Arise, and do not be terrified.' And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone. Now, as they were descending from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, 'Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man has risen from the dead.'…. [they didn't tell anyone] …Then His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Elijah shall indeed come first and restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come...'" (vs 7-12). That was John the Baptist. So, this also tells us there's another Elijah to come at the end time as well.

"'...and they did not recognize him... [That is the authorities did not recognize John the Baptist as Elijah.] ...but they did to him whatever they desired. In like manner also, the Son of man is about to suffer from them.' Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist" (vs 12-13).

How many disciples were there altogether? Twelve original disciples who became apostles! Judas the betrayer was replaced with Matthias.

2-Peter 1:18: "And this is the voice from heaven that we heard when we were with Him on the Holy mountain.... [What does he say this gives them authority for?] ...We also possess the confirmed prophetic Word..." (vs 18-19). What is that? What is the confirmed prophetic Word? That's the message of Christ, as recorded in the Gospels. That is telling us that what we have with the New Testament is confirmed and inspired by God.

"...which you do well to pay attention, as to a light shining in a dark place... [The world is in darkness—right? The Word of God is Light—correct? The confirmed prophetic Word, which is written.] ...until the day dawns... [until Christ returns] ...and the morning star arises in your hearts" (v 19)—you're resurrected.

This also tells us he didn't know when any of these things would be, because Christ didn't tell him. How much enthusiasm would you have if someone said, 'Here, go ahead and do this and you really work hard and you go to all the nations and you preach the Gospel. Oh, by the way, it's going to be over 2,000 years before I come back. Farewell, lots of luck, I'll be with you.' How much enthusiasm would you have? Notice how he finishes this because this is tying in with the authority to write the Scriptures and to canonize the Scriptures.

Verse 20: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture originated as anyone's own private interpretation." In other words, it's not: 'I think this, I think that, I think the other thing.' God put the thought in their brains. If you believe that God is all-powerful. If you believe that God creates everything, can you then not understand and believe that God is capable of putting the words, though using the personality of the writer into the mind of the writer to write what He wants written? Yes!

See how he ties it in with Scripture, v 20: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture... [that which God has inspired] ...originated as anyone's own private interpretation; Because prophecy... [That doesn't mean a prophetic message. That means what God is giving to you to speak or write.] ...was not brought at any time by human will, but the Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (vs 20-21).

This is interesting—moved. The verb here has the meaning of like a sail. The writers were like a sail on a boat and the wind comes and moves it.

The Flood, the Ark and Noah

All of this is a prelude to looking at what is written concerning the Flood, because there are many theories. How many have watched the History Channel about Noah's Ark and how it was supposed to be on top of Mount Ararat? That's not where it landed. The Bible tells us something different, so let's look at it here. We're not going to go through why the Ark. We're not going to discuss that, but we're going to look at the Ark and the Flood when it came and what kind of disaster this was.

The next time you travel, especially if you get up in the mountains, look at the cuts where the highways are and look at the strata. Ask yourself: How did it become that way? God did it! If you want two interesting books to read, these are not going to be God-inspired books, but it's the examination of all the upheaval within the earth and using ancient historical writings to try and put it together. Those two books are called:

• Ages in Chaos
• Worlds in Collision

Just to give you a little tidbit to chew on, they found a strange rock in Antarctica. It wasn't like anything that was around there. So, they brought this rock to test it because at Antarctica they have a big facility that they have going all the time, testing everything. They also have a telescope down there. That telescope was the one that discovered that mother cluster of galaxies I told you about that was spewing out two new galaxies everyday. I still can't figure out how to me to be on the bottom of the earth and yet be right-side up.

They found this one rock and since they brought back soil from the moon they had something to compare what this rock was because it wasn't like anything that was there. Lo and behold, here is a rock from the moon—or was it from Mars—I forget which. It was from one of the two.

Immanuel Velikovsky is the one who wrote these two books and he says that the solar system has been in chaos from time to time. This is why the Calculated Hebrew Calendar is the way it is today in order to keep the seasons intact.

Let's see what happened with the earth. The Ark was built, finished, they got into it. God sent all the animals. Genesis 7:11: "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up... [great huge earthquakes under the ocean] ...and the windows of the heavens were opened."

What does that mean? We don't know! This was a flood that covered the whole earth. It's not like the atheist archeologist say, 'It was just a local flood.' If it was just a local flood, then how do you account for the genetic study, which comes back and they find that all human genes that there was a real narrow window through which they passed. That had to be the family of Noah and then it spread out from there.

Verse 12: "And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights." This just wasn't a little misting, this was heavy rain, thunder, lightning, wind storms, upheaval of the earth. When the fountains of the deep were opened up, the continents sunk. We don't know what they were. This is why we have now you can go to the top of mountains and you can find fossils. Where did they come from? That was quite something.

Verse 13: "On this 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 into the ark. They went in..." (vs 13-14).

Verse 17: "And the Flood was upon the earth forty days, and the waters increased and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark floated upon the face of the waters" (vs 17-18). This had to be a big barge, not with a round bottom because those big waves would overturn it. It had to be a flat bottom, had to be a big barge that could survive all these waves. I'm sure that God put some protection around it as well.

Verse 20: "The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered." No place left for the people when the Flood started to run. You know they all ran for higher ground. You know they all struggled to get to the top of the highest mountain they could get to. So this covered everything.

We don't know all that took place. We don't know if when the fountains of the deep broke up that the mountains sunk down. Then after the Flood was over God raised them up again, changed the continents, but everything was changed. We don't know what this did to the earth and its orbit.

I bring this up, I'm ready to answer the question: Where was the Ark? The reason I've taken this long is so that we can have trust in the Word of God to answer the question here.

Fifteen cubits—that is 22-1/2 feet at 18 inches a cubit. Do you think that would kill everything? Yes, indeed!

(go to the next track)

Most of the things that are presented, like on the History Channel, they show the ark coming down right on top of Mount Ararat, kind of on the side. There would be no way to get everything safely out of there with Mount Ararat way up here. Let's examine the Scriptural description of it and see what happened:

Genesis 8:1: "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals which were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth... [A wind specially to cause the waves to come and go to bring the water down.] ...and the waters subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters receded from off the earth continually..." (vs 1-3). That means gradually, continually going down, going down.

 "...and at the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters had gone down. And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat" (vs 3-4)—plural, not mountain. Here's Mount Ararat, but there are other mountains around it too and between them are nice little valleys, nice easy place to land.

I watched the special that was put out by Ron Wyatt when it first came out in 1987. After seeing all the evidence there, I would have to say he's correct in finding the Ark. They know that there was metal that held it together and they excavated enough to see where the Ark was and how it fell down in time. But after finding it, the Turkish government ran them out, closed it down, and then they built a tourist center so they could make money off of it and people come up to see it. Where the Ark landed was in the saddle between two mountains, not on the top of a mountain.

If you want to take a little experiment, get yourself a little kiddy swimming pool about 16 inches deep, one you can put a hole in. Put a pile of rocks that are just below the surface of the water. You get it 16 inches of water and then you have about 6 inches of water up here, over the rock. Then put some soil in there or you can put some rocks that are like a little saddle that is kind of flat. Then rock it so you can get some waves. At the same time you have a hole and you're letting the water drain out. Purposely get the ark right over where that stack of rocks is and see if it will land on top of the rocks. As you rock it to simulate the waves, it isn't going to stay on top of the rocks because the wave will come up and knock it down. It'll settle down again, the wave will come up and knock it down.

Gradually it will be brought over to the saddle and that's where it will rest. This has to be what happened because what they found where the Ark was, was that very thing.

Verse 5: "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month... [2-1/2 months] ...and the tops of the mountains were seen in the tenth month... [3-1/2 months] ...on the first day of the month. And it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made" (vs 5-6). The Ark was this big barge and there was a little raised area where apparently the people lived.

What about the animals? Verse 7: "And he sent forth a raven, and it kept going out and returning until the waters were dried up from off the face of the earth." He sent out the raven and it would come back. Sent out again, the waters were still going down, going down.

Verse 8: "He also sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had gone down from off the face of the earth; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and pulled her to him into the ark. And he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters had gone down from off the face of the earth. And he waited yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return again to him anymore. And it came to pass in Noah's six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were drying up from off the face of the earth…." (vs 8-13).

Being up there where the mountains were they could probably look out and see that there was still a lot of water around. But first before you can let the animals out, you've got to let it dry off enough so they don't come off and get stuck in the mud and die. You can't have the animals that you're saving get off and get stuck in the mud. So, it had to be between a saddle of the mountains between the mountains and the water was running down. This would be the first area to dry up. That would gradually spread all around so that the animals could be let out of the Ark and they wouldn't get stuck in the mud or get into areas where there was still a lot of water.

Verse 13: "…And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and, behold, the face of the earth was drying! And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the land was fully dry…. [around them] …And God spoke to Noah, saying, 'Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you—of all flesh, of fowl, of livestock, and of every crawling thing that crawls upon the earth—so that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.' And Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every animal, every fowl, and every crawling thing, all that crawls upon the earth after their families, went forth out of the ark" (vs 13-19).

During the Flood I suspect that God caused the animals to hibernate. Some few had to be fed, but most of them hibernated. That way they wouldn't be wasting energy; they wouldn't have a lot of food that they would need to feed them. Just think if you had to have all the hay and all the food to feed all those animals. What are you going to do with all the manure? You got to think of practical things. You can take, for example, bears hibernating. Their body metabolism comes down to where nothing processes except several weeks before hibernation is over, for the females, the cubs are born. That's it! Then when they get out of hibernation, then they've got to go you know what.

I think this is probably what happened here too. What happens when there are seeds floating in the water? I'm sure God caused grass to grow, little shrubs to start growing. Didn't we have the olive tree with the leaf? Was it growing? Yes! God was out there preparing everything for them when they got out of the Ark. That thing by Ron Wyatt with the Flood and the Ark is quite correct.

Sodom and Gomorrah

The other thing he had was with Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19 is quite interesting. Sodom and Gomorrah were down in the Jordan Valley near where the Dead Sea is. Remember, different geographical things have happened. The Dead Sea is way below sea level, but in that area in the Jordan Valley was one of the richest places for growing things. You had an early growing season, you had an extended growing season. When Lot chose to go to the right hand—and Abraham went to the left hand—and went down towards Sodom that was a beautiful place. Now it's not! Where it was is an absolute burned out desolation.

Here's what happened, Genesis 19:24: "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire... [the Hebrew there is 'sulfur'] ...from the LORD out of heaven. And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground" (vs 24-25).

In this area the way they discovered the area of where Sodom and Gomorrah was, down in the valley beyond the Dead Sea it's desolation. There are sulfur balls everywhere. In the presentation we saw they took the sulfur balls, put it on a spoon and lit it. It became so hot it burned right through the spoon. Then they said they took the shots of what looked like the cliff all around. Those were the burned stone buildings that if you go up and do much poking on it, it falls down in ashes. You could look and you could see the outline of the buildings. Everything was burned up, even the buildings. But not burned up to disintegrate. Some of them were still standing along the cliff here. But these sulfur balls were everywhere.

How many places on earth do you find sulfur balls on the surface of the ground? I believe that what he found was Sodom and Gomorrah, and was correct. Was in the right location and that's the only evidence that you would have, because the cities were consumed.

He had two other things. These two I do not believe are correct. The first one is that the Exodus, they had to cross clear all the way across the Sinai Peninsula and cross the Red Sea over in what we know today as the Gulf of Aqaba. Then Mount Sinai was in Arabia. Not true! Physical impossible to do it! So later this spring when we get toward the Feast of Unleavened Bread we'll go through and I'll give the Scriptural account of where they went and what happened.

The Ark of the Covenant

The other one was that he supposedly was able to dig under the temple mount area and he saw the Ark of the Covenant. I do not believe that to be true. No one knows where the Ark of the Covenant is. It's a mystery! When all of the treasures from the temple were taken back to Rome they had the big candelabra. They had other utensils from the temple, but they did not have the Ark of the Covenant.

There are several things we need to consider. Who alone could handle the Ark of the Covenant? The Levites and the high priest! How were they to handle it? Through the staves that were on the sides of the Ark of the Covenant! What happened to Uzza when they put the Ark of the Covenant in a cart to take it back to Jerusalem during the days of David? The Ark of the Covenant was kind of jostling around and Uzza reached up and touched it and he was killed instantly! No man was to touch or handle the Ark of the Covenant.

David figured out, 'We have to have the priests carry it,' so they sent the priests and the Levites down to carry it up. So, based upon that Bible evidence, I do not believe that Ron Wyatt saw the Ark of the Covenant. I think he may have seen a demon apparition, because everything in his life went crazy from that time forward. If the Ark of the Covenant is buried in the subterranean areas beneath the temple area, then if it's going to be found, I think God will lead the modern-day priests and Levites who are the direct descendants of Aaron and Levi to find the Ark of the Covenant. They could bring it out and put it into the coming temple. No one else could

Scenario #2: The Ark of the Covenant was taken to heaven before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586B.C. Why do I say that? Here's the other possibility: It could be in heaven; we do not know. How many have seen the History Channel, Where's the Ark of the Covenant? It's in Ethiopia! Why couldn't it be in Ethiopia? Because if an Ethiopian touched hey would not be alive. They couldn't get it from Palestine down to Ethiopia. That's completely false.

Revelation 11:19: "And the temple of God in heaven was opened... [in this vision] ...and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple..."

• Did He bring it back up to heaven?
• Why would it be important to bring it back up to heaven?

Think what men would do if they found it, even the Jews, the Levites.

• What would they do?
• They would want to set up a temple right now ahead of time.

The temple is going to be rebuilt when God's time schedule will make it possible. Then they will build it. I don't know if they will find the Ark of Covenant buried in the archives under the temple area. It may be in heaven.

Scenario #3 is this: Since there is no Ark of the Covenant, would it be possible for men in secret to rebuild a replica of it for the sake of claiming they found it so they could put it in the third temple? The reason being is this:

Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months" (vs 1-2). All of that is prophetically interpreted, we won't get into that.

There has to be a temple built. We know that from Matt. 24, as well. In order to give a semblance of authority to this temple, they've got to have an ark in it—maybe not—but just suppose. I'm supposing so don't say this is dogmatic and I'm saying that this is absolutely true. We know that at the end-time the sacrifices are going to be cut off.

• There has to be a temple.
• There has to be an altar.
• There has to be the beginning of sacrifices because you can't stop them unless you start them again.

If you're curious about this, go online to the Temple Institute. Do a Google search for Temple Institute and find out they've got a lot of things all ready to go for the temple. The Jews are going to build it and the Levites who are called kohens today will be the ones who will be running it.

IF they are going to have the Ark of the Covenant there, if it is not in heaven (v 19), then they will have to find it down in the archives of the temple buried. If they find it, if they think it is, they are only going to have kohens do the excavating of it because they will know that if anybody else touches it he's going to die.

How many saw Raiders of the Lost Ark? Remember the last scene when the Germans finally got the Ark of the Covenant and they opened it up? What happened to the Nazi colonel or general who was looking at it? He said, 'Now we have power for the whole world.' The top came off and I don't know how they did it in the movie, but they could do it, all of his flesh fell off his bones. That's what I think would happen to anyone who touched the Ark of the Covenant.

That's why I don't believe that Ron Wyatt saw it or he got near it. If they do find it down there, they will just have the kohens excavate it and bring it up.

This brings up scenario #4: If it isn't there and they want to stage an operation that looks like they're finding it, then they could have it manufactured and buried and then discovered and dug out. I don't know. Someone is going to say, 'That's a conspiratorial theory.' In this whole thing we're dealing in suppositions. We don't know. We don't know how it's going to work out, but we know it will be there.

That's the sum of the things with Ron Wyatt's four findings: Noah's Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, crossing of the Red Sea, and the Ark of the Covenant.

Voting

With the coming election, what do we do? We are citizens here. It's not wrong to participate in civil affairs where you're trying to help establish order and have a better government. Read Prov. 29 about righteous rulers and wicked rulers and things like that.

• Should we vote?
• Who would Jesus vote for?

That's really a foolish question because Jesus has already been appointed as King of the coming Kingdom of God. It does tell us that God rules in the kingdoms of men.

• What do we do then concerning voting, if you vote?

There are some people who in conscience won't vote. That's up to them. What I do, I vote for lower taxes always. If you vote for a man, then you have to determine if in the letter of the law this man meets the quality of being just, of being honest. If you feel that you should vote for him, then vote for him. You're not going against the will of God.

How this election is going to turn out? Let me just say a couple of things this way: If Obama is voted back in, be prepared for about 40% taxes. By the way, he claims that he is not going to tax the middle class, but hidden in the 'Obamacare' bill is a tax on the sale of your real estate.

If you sell a house and make a profit, you're going to pay 3.8% tax on it, plus 22 other taxes. Be ready! If you're older, like I am, forget about any decent healthcare. They are going to say, 'We have our 'death panel'—they won't call it that—'we have our authorization panel and we do not authorize you to have thus and such treatment or thus and such operation because we have to ration it. Be prepared! Be prepared for a lot of difficult things to be coming down.

If Romney gets in, that's only pushing off the inevitable further in the future. If Romney gets in, I look at it this way: That is giving the Churches of God a space of time to preach the Gospel. The rest of the prophecies as we look at things in the world are not ready to come to the end, yet. If we get a space of time to preach the Gospel, my prayer is that God will stir up all of His different churches, here and there and everywhere, and that we preach about the coming return of Jesus Christ and the gospel of repentance the way we should.

We can't say, 'Oh, well, we don't know how to do it. Let's leave it to the two witnesses.' Then when our judgment comes God looks at us and says, 'I gave you a space of time to do something and why did you say to leave it to the two witnesses? My command was to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations. That's My command that I gave the apostles and you're not to stop and say we're not to preach the Gospel anymore.'

I don't know what the final judgment would be in that case, but we can't put ourselves in that position either. That's my answer as to what's to happen in the election. Be thankful you don't live in Syria. Be thankful you don't live in Venezuela. Be thankful you don't live in the UK, because the UK is really getting in deep, deep trouble for disobeying God and turning their backs on God. Now the punishment is coming right within the UK. There are going to be three geographical areas reserved for Sharia law. That, I think, is just the start.

A good comment was made by Dolores, which says she votes. What if all of those who are in the Sunday-keeping Christian world said, 'We're not going to vote.' Evil would take over and there would be no turning it back. After all, when this nation was founded, it entered into covenant with God: We the people, God our Creator.

It's not wrong to vote, but if you feel that you shouldn't vote, that's a choice you make. We don't know how the election is going to turn out, but I think God's hand is in all of this thing with Libya and Benghazi and the things that have been piling up on Obama here is more than just a coincidence and stirring up of the Republicans.

This is why you have to check out the person you vote for. You're not going to find a totally honest politician anywhere.

• Are they reasonably honest?
• Do they have in their proposal of running the government, are they proposing to run it according to principles found in the Bible?
• If so, then that's the one to vote for. You have to look at it.

I think God is going to honor the fact that there are more people standing up for the right of the unborn to try and turn back all this abortion. I think God will view that as trying to do what is right.

Let's look at one so we can understand that. You're not going to find a converted man running for office. You're just not going to, but can you find decent, honest, upstanding people in the society running for office? As we're turning back to Jer. 5, let's understand the general population of Jerusalem and Judah was sinful, worshiping other gods, even right in the temple of God. God warned them!

Jeremiah 4:1: "'If you will return, O Israel,' says the LORD, 'Return to Me. And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be removed.'" God didn't want to have to take them out. He gave them chance after chance after chance.

God told Jeremiah this, 'They are so evil. You do this,' Jeremiah 5:1: "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her open places, if you can find a man... [just one] ...if there is one who does justice... [Knows how to make good decisions based on the principles of God.] ...who seeks the Truth..." Doesn't say knows all the Truth, "…seeks the Truth…"

• Have we been told the truth of the financial calamity coming? Yes!
• Have we been told the truth of abortion? Yes!
• Have we been told the truth about how all of the lying politicians are there trying to take down the country? Yes!
• Are there people seeking truth as they see it in the world? Yes!

They're not called to salvation. God says: "...and I will pardon her" (v 1). In other words, God would not bring His judgment. He would pull back His hand of judgment to give the people time. Then Jeremiah would have to preach a little longer and help bring more people to understand.

Casting Lots

Voting is not the same as casting lot. Casting lot is there were two men. However they put the name in, they shook it up—here's how the priest would do for the goat for the Lord and goat for Azazel. They had two things that they put into a container that the priest could not know which lot was marked for the Lord and which mark was lot for Azazel. They put in the two names, I'm sure shook it all up, prayed about it. Said, 'Lord, whom do you want?' I think Peter then reached in and pulled out the lot and it fell to Mathias rather than to Joses. That's not voting.

However, when selecting elders they conferred with the people to know the character of the ones who were being put forth as elders. If you don't do that, then mistakes can be made in ordaining people because you don't know certain things about the individual. That's not a form of voting. That is a form of confirmation or consensus. If you get a bad report, then you have to say no we can't go with him.

Recall the Democrat Convention. They took the reference to God out of their official statement for what is called the party platform. Some people got upset about it so they had this phony voting three times. Even the guy conducting the vote, he said, 'All in favor of changing the plank, that is putting back in the name of God after they took it out. God knows their heart, so if they removed God out of it, God doesn't want anything to do with them.

I want you to think about the events that are taking place now in light of what went on when they were bragging about Osama ben Laden is dead and al Qaeda is done and GM is alive. Consider that now with putting God back into the plank at the Democrat Convention.

They said, 'All in favor say aye.' Aye. 'All opposed say No!' No! Two times the no's were a little more than the aye's. He stood there and he was perplexed. So, he says, 'Let's do this a third time. All in favor say aye.' You heard it. 'All opposed say No!' The no's were higher that time than the other time and he says, 'In the opinion of the chair the measure has passed.'

What happened? All who opposed it booed, booing God! Yet, what did they do? They opened with an invocation prayer and they had Cardinal Dolan come out and give a closing prayer where he corrected them for their abortion plank.

When he gave his final decision concerning the ayes have it, that was already on the teleprompter. There was no vote. There was no choice. It was just put back in because there are still a lot of Democrats who believe in God and they don't want to get rid of God.

There are some people out there who don't understand the real differences in the parties. In some ways they are the same. In other ways they are entirely different. Even at that, this is the government of the world. We have to live here.

Daniel 4
This is a whole sermon so I can't get into that. God rules the whole earth

• through His angels who carry out His will,
• through Satan and the demons who get permission from God to do what they do.

Where men choose evil, then God will give them more evil. Where men repent, God accepts it on the level that they repent. If someone stops doing sin, God honors that. That has nothing to do with conversion. That has to do with how God deals with people individually and nations together.

This was especially to King Nebuchadnezzar. You can read the whole chapter. Actually, I think this is very important because you go to chapter two you have the head of gold, chest of silver, brass, iron, iron and clay. Starting with the first king of the Babylonian system down to the return of Christ was Nebuchadnezzar. God dealt with him directly through dreams, personally through Daniel the prophet. This is an epistle from Nebuchadnezzar, which is also prophetic and carries down to our day.

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king... [that's the one who wrote it] ...to all people, nations, languages, that dwell in all the earth..." That carries right on down through the whole system of empires as pictured by that great image.

"…'Peace be multiplied to you. It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me'" (vs 1-2). This is after his experience of losing his sanity for seven years and eating grass and being out with the cattle.

Verse 3: "How great are His signs! And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation."

Verse 17: "This matter is by the decree of the watchers... [God has angels who are watching] ...and the demand by the word of the Holy ones... [the ones who are in charge—Gabriel, Michael, the other angels] ...so that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets up over it the basest of men."

We'll leave matters at that. That's why the Kingdom of God has to come because

• the only true rulership is through Christ
• the only true laws are the Word of God
• the only true leaders and rulers will be the kings and priests of the resurrected saints

What is needed most in rulership is character. Character is what God has called us to develop now so we will be ready to rule in the Millennium when Christ returns!

Scriptural References:

• 2-Timothy 3:14-17
• 2-Peter 1:12-18
• Matthew 17:1-13
• 2-Peter 1:18-21
• Genesis 7:11-14, 17-18, 20
• Genesis 8:1-19
• Genesis 19:24-25
• Revelation 11:19, 1-2
• Jeremiah 4:1
• Jeremiah 5:1
• Daniel 4:1-3, 17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 24
• Proverbs 29

Also referenced: Books:

• Ages in Chaos by Immanuel Velikovsky
• Worlds in Collision by Immanuel Velikovsky

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 10-29-12
Formatted: bo—10-30-12

Copyright 2012—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.