19 September 2022
Moses did a massive work during the time Israel camped at Mount Sinai. In roughly 1400 BC, he pulled together the documents and oral lore of his day, and his manner in telling the revelation from God included influences from Mesopotamia (Abraham's heritage), the Aramaic lore carried by his father-in-law Jethro, and his Egyptian upbringing in Pharaoh's court. All three of those tend to show up in how Moses explains things.
He carried all of this with him up onto the Mountain of God and, during that forty days, winnowed out all the stuff that was impertinent to his mission. In the Presence of God, there was a lot of editing of the various inputs he had to work with, and the result was Genesis, among other things. In Genesis, Moses recounts the story of Noah and the Flood.
So far as anyone can tell, there was nothing in writing from prior to the Flood. It appears there was only oral lore from that time. We believe we have run across some sources not included in Genesis, but it's all records of oral narratives. Those oral narratives do conflict with what Moses wrote in Genesis, so we give them less weight. Still, they do tell of a massive destruction from the Flood, and the radical reduction of human population.
In more recent times, we connect the Flood with geological records of a global catastrophe that struck the earth roughly 6000 years ago. The face of the whole planet was changed by displacement of land masses and flooding. Analysis indicates that this event was a harmonic, a lesser manifestation of a far greater catastrophe that occurs regularly every 12,000 years. We have consistent geological indicators for this, running back 12K, 24K, 36K, 48K, and 60K years ago. The next event in the cycle is about now.
Again, the Flood of Noah was relatively minor, a harmonic of this cycle. The one we are due for now is the full catastrophe. If, as appears to be the case, human written records did not survive the Flood, what is the prospect for keeping written materials when our big one hits sometime during the next 25 years or so? Do you suppose there is something in this that signals God will be starting nearly from scratch again with His revelation?
I'm not suggesting a new Covenant and another Messiah coming. Rather, I'm pointing at how folks do religion in pursuit of genuine faith. Seems to me that the current system of Christian religion is what God intends to remove, among other things. My convictions say that churches have wandered too far away from the New Testament model. I believe our Lord intends to perform another big reset to push things in another direction.
By no means could I speculate what will arise from the ruins of civilization somewhere down the road. You can bet a lot of what's fashionable right now will be forgotten. Reducing life to survival in Stone Age conditions tends to do that; we have small scale examples of that over the centuries. It will be a different world entirely. It will be the task of survivors to build what follows.
My sense of calling and mission sort of tapers off out there in that time frame. If I'm alive, I'll know what God requires of me, but for now, He's given nary a hint of what my mission might be. All I know for sure is that I must press forward the claims of His Covenant. That's the burning flame for the time between now and that end.
This document is public domain; spread the message.