The story of the preservation of Noah and his family through the awful Flood has been recognized by Bible students as an analogy of the final days of earth's history. The closing of the door of the Ark marked the close of probation for all the antediluvians who refused God's invitation. The subsequent Deluge, which covered the earth with water and destroyed all land-based life as well as massive destruction of marine life, lasted one year.
"And the Ark rested in the seventh month on the seventeenth day of the month upon Mount Ararat." Gen. 8:4.
The landing of the Ark on Mount Ararat opened a door for Noah and his family to a new world, almost a resurrection experience.
It is interesting that a similar experience occurred at the time of the first Passover when the Children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage. On the fourteenth day of the seventh month the avenging angel passed over the camp of Israel. As a result the Israeli slaves were released, and again God delivered His people on or about the seventeenth day of the seventh month.
At the time of the first Passover, the Jewish calendar was changed so that the seventh month became the first month (Ex. 12:2), and so thereafter the Passover was observed on the fourteenth day of the first month (Abib; Nisan). Jesus Christ was sacrificed on that day (John 19:14), and He rose from the grave the third day. Thus Jesus was resurrected on the seventeenth day of the first (erstwhile seventh) month, again an anniversary of the landing of the Ark.
Because of these two anniversaries, would we be too bold to suggest that there is a third anniversary at the second coming of Christ? When the wicked have filled up their cup of iniquity, Jesus will stand up and declare, "It is finished," and probation will close as it did when the door of the Ark clanged shut.
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be burned with fire." Rev. 18:8.
If we follow the standard interpretation of prophetic time, this text indicates that the seven last plagues last one year, just as did the Flood. And so we come to the third anniversary of the landing of Noah's Ark when, on the seventeenth day of the first month of the Jewish year, Jesus will come and deliver His people "as it was in the days of Noah."
