THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS

[2Pe 3:1-10 KJV]
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

“The world that then was”

In the world that then was, part stood in the water. Part stood out of the water. But the parts that stood out of the water, stood out no more. The land was immersed. In the world (age; order of things) that now is, some stand in the Word of God, some out. In due time, no part of this age will stand out of the word of God. All will be immersed. All will be put to the test. All that broils in the inner man of every man and woman, not wrought of the Spirit of Christ, will perish. The Lord said no man comes to the Father but by Him. This immutable truth is owing to the fact that the fullness of the godhead dwells in him, and without the Spirit of Christ, we have no part in him.

The world of old that perished contains many encrypted messages. One is the two Enoch’s. One Enoch was of the line of Cain, who was “of that evil one”, as said the Apostle. This Cain was “driven from the presence of the Lord” into the land of Nod. All of this took place without physical locomotion. Cain was not removed from one geographic location to another. The experience took place entirely within his being…his inner man. There is no place that the Lord is excluded from or not present in, with one exception. For omnipotence defines omnipotence. Not human perception of it. The Lord is, or is not, where He choses to walk…or walk not. “Nod” means “aimless wandering”. Again, Nod was not (and is not) a geographic location. It is (or is not) a condition of the inner man. Cain, with no fellowship in God, void of divine direction, produced a son, named him Enoch, and built a city, also calling it Enoch. Enoch means, “The place of teaching;the place of inauguration”. Cain’s fallen line spawned the movers and shakers of the course of humanity, manifest in those who (without any fellowship of Christ) both concoct and enforce their will of domination, upon the world about them. The mark of Cain, visible to this day, is seen in this.

Of the line of Seth, the figurative man of resurrection, was another Enoch born. This Enoch, the seventh from Adam, came into the world. It is written that he was 65 years old, and he walked with God after. For three hundred years he walked with God. And he was not, “for God took him”. What transpired between Enoch and God, in fellowship with each other those three hundred years, is known to Enoch and to God. But in those three hundred years, a number signifying complete separation, Enoch fulfilled his name. For the place where he was taught was within himself. And his teacher was the Spirit of the Lord. This condition and situation is available and attainable to all, by faith. We know a glimpse of what Enoch was shown and believed, for in the book of Jude, we read some of it:

[Jde 1:14-15 KJV]
“14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him”.

Enoch walked in the revelation of Jesus Christ, and spoke of Christ’s coming and the manner of His appearing. Enoch the seventh was born into a world that had a city bearing his name and identity. But he was not deceived by anything which did not come to him by the Teacher with whom he walked for three hundred years.

This prophetic picture is there for us to receive admonition by, to this day. The survivors of the age that now is, will have chosen wisely, preferring the hearing of faith, and the fellowship of Christ, to the cities, systems, religions, governments, societies, & et cetera, of this age. All of the device of man, conceived and implemented in aimless wandering, in the vanity of no fellowship with Christ, will be burned up, regardless of what name is hung upon it. Much is being done in Christ’s name, in which he claims no involvement at all. Here, we have no continuing city. There is nothing to join which will, by reason of membership, satisfy the incumbency upon each individual, to walk with the Lord.

This I say with love for all, and malice for none.

John