I believe we have been able to establish that the name of the original patriarchs from Adam to Noah which reveal the entire plan of God from the beginning to the end. It begins with man being placed in frail flesh, and it ends with the redemption of the body by the full anointing of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Holy Spirit into men is, of course, in two stages. The disciples at Pentecost received the “earnest of the spirit” (2Cor. 5:5), which is the “Earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14). That is, it is a down payment toward stage two, which is the full inheritance yet to come at the Feast of Tabernacles of some year.
THE TWO FLOODS: WATER AND SPIRIT
In the broader context of the patriarchs from Adam to Noah, we see that Noah is a type of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. The events in Noah’s life provide us with surprisingly detailed information about the manner and timing of the Holy Spirit’s work. No history of the Holy Spirit is complete without some knowledge of the prophetic life of Noah. The people in Noah’s day were wicked by God’s standard.
And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3)
The King James version conceals the real significance of this verse. So let us go to a very literal rendering of Genesis 6:3, in the concordance version.
And saying is Ieue Alueim [Yahweh Elohim], Not abide shall my spirit in the human for the eon, in that more-over he is flesh. And come shall his days to be a hundred and twenty years.
I don’t know which is worse, a poor translation or an ultra-literal one! But let us paraphrase the C.V. In plainer English, it tells that God’s Spirit would not abide (remain) in man “for the eon” (or age). In other words, God was telling Noah that he would soon remove his spirit from man for the duration of the age.
What does this mean? We know that this verse deals with the coming flood. Note the Biblical terminology at the time of the flood. Genesis 6:17 reads, “And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath [Hebrew ruach, “spirit or breath’] of life…”. In the words, God was going to remove his spirit from all breathing creatures, particularly man. This Hebrew play on words is significant, because it portrays a twofold level in which God was dealing with creation. On the physical level, God was going to remove the ruach-breath from all flesh. On the spiritual level, God was going to remove His ruach-spirit “for the age”.
This set up the need for the return of the Holy Spirit at the end of the age. Jesus came at the end of that age, and his work prepared the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But since Pentecost was only the down payment of the spirit, there was yet to be a greater outpouring at the end of this present age. Its timing is prophesied as well in Genesis 6:3, “and come shall his days to be a hundred and twenty years”.
Most people think this means that God was going to shorten men’s lifespan to 120 years. But this is not really the force of the statement. Bullinger and other commentators agree that this means man’s time of Grace was to be 120 years. In other words, the flood was to come after 120 years of opportunity to repent.
Jasher affirms this: For thus said the Lord, behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to me and forsake your evil was, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and I shall not exist, saith the Lord…11 And the Lord granted them a period of one hundred and twenty years, saying, if they will return, then I will God repent of the evil, so as not to destroy the earth. Jasher 5:8, 11
This is a very important detail, because God was not talking about the flood of water in Noah’s day; he was also talking about a much greater flood – a flood of the Holy Spirit. The flood of water occurred after 120 years; the greater flood is connected to the 120th Jubilee (1986 AD). The potential time when this “Flood” might have been poured out was in Israel’s day under Moses, when God told them to enter the Promised Land. On the occasion, the people refused they believed the evil report of the ten spies (Number 13-14). In the context, God spoke something very significant in Numbers 14:21, which tell us his purpose: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord”.
This was God’s statement of his purpose and plan. Man’s decision could delay fulfillment, but could not ultimately thwart it from coming. He went on to say that the generation would not see the fulfillment of this promise and would not inherit the glorified body because they rebelled against Him. In other words, theoretically, if the people had gone into their land Inheritance at that time-the Feast of Tabernacles in the 50th Jubilee from Adam – they would have returned to the inheritance that they had lost in Adam – the glory of the Lord, the glorified body, the “Land inheritance: of the highest order. They refused it. Thus, there yet remains a rest for the people God to inherit (Heb. 4:9).
This particular prophecy is mentioned five times in the Old Testament: Numbers 14:21, Psalm 72:19, Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 11:9, and Habakkuk 2:14. the prophet Habakkuk connects this prophecy directly to the flood of Noah’s day by saying, “For the earth shall be filled with this Knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
So the day is yet coming when the spirit of God will poured out upon the Earth in like manner as the water was poured out in Noah’s day. It is the fullness of the Spirit, of which have presently only received a down payment under Pentecost.
The flood of Noah’s day set up the problem by removing the spirit from man. The spiritual Food resolves the problem by putting his Spirit back into man. The flood of water occurred after 120 years; the Flood of the spirit occurs after 120 Jubilees. As we said earlier, the fall of 1986 was the 120th Jubilee. This was the beginning, the hinge point of the outpouring of the spirit. You must know this foundation in order to appreciate what God has been doing since that year to prepare the hearts of the over comers to receive his fullness.
But, of course, we are getting ahead of ourselves. You cannot understand the significance of 1986-1996 without an understanding of the foundational prophecies and time cycles leading up to the present time. May the Lord bless you and give you understanding. Shalom!
