We have two different passages in this lesson, each carrying its own message. Let’s deal with Matthew 24:37-39 first because it is well known and more easily understood. “And as the days of Noah, so also shall the coming of the Son of Adam be. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Adam be.”

Who is the “Son of Adam?” In Parashah B’reisheet, lesson 2, we stated that Yeshua was the “second Adam” and that He will do what Adam failed to do. He will rule as a completely righteous King and restore dominion of the earth to mankind. Here in Parashah Noach, lesson 5, Yeshua is called the “Son of Adam,” which is a reference to the fact that He was born as a human so He could qualify to be Adam’s delegated “firstborn” and our “brother’s keeper.” Yeshua is the One promised in Genesis 3:15 where Elohim tells the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.” At the crucifixion, Yeshua dealt with the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to sin and stole dominion of the earth from us.

Now that we know who the Son of Adam is, let’s find out about His coming. Essentially this passage is saying that most people would not be looking for or recognizing the signs of His coming because they were too busy with their lives—eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage—to see how their behaviour was guaranteeing disaster. Anyone who did recognize the signs would be getting prepared, like Noah and his sons did. Many people were looking for Yeshua the first time He came as a Servant, but not the majority. The same will be true when He comes again as a mighty King, only next time His army will “take them all away” like Elohim did at the time of Noah’s flood. Surprise! Evil people do not get to inherit the earth, only people who do things Elohim’s way. This is not at all to say that it is sinful to eat, drink, or get married; these things are necessary as long as we do them according to Elohim’s instructions. It is to say that we must eat permissible things, drink without debauchery, and marry approved mates—not unbelievers, or fallen angels or Nephilim. We must not be doing any of these things as part of idol worship. We must always be doing whatever it takes to qualify for the Resurrection.

Yeshua deals with the serpent in a multi-step process. The first time He came, He allowed the serpent to crush His heel via His crucifixion—fooling the enemy into believing he had won. But the second time He comes, Yeshua will put an end to the false religions and worldly systems and give people a chance to learn the truth. Then at the end of time, when the enemy comes up against the New Jerusalem with all the unbelievers for a final battle, Yeshua will crush the serpent’s head and throw him into the lake of fire.

Now let’s look at 1 Peter 3:13-22, the key verse of which is the reason why the passage is usually used as the Brit Chadashah portion of Parashah Noach. Verses 19 and 20 say, “In which also He went and proclaimed unto the spirits in prison, who were disobedient at one time when the patience of Elohim waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight beings, were saved through water....” This makes one want to ask who were being disobedient—and why use the word “beings.” The prison referred to here is a compartment of Sheol, where the spirits of beings go after their deaths. They are being held there until it is time for them to receive their reward for the way they lived their lives on earth. The fact that it is referred to as a prison indicates this is a bad place, which is proven by the statement that these are the spirits of beings destroyed by Noah’s flood—in contrast to the eight beings that were saved in the ark. Yeshua went and preached to those beings, took back the keys to Death and Sheol (Revelation 1:18), resurrected, and went “into heaven where He sits at the right hand of Elohim, messengers and authorities and powers having been subjected to Him.”

We also want to ask who Yeshua proclaimed to, and why. What did He proclaim? Since it is “appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment” (Hebrew 9:27) it seems that preaching to dead people about sin and salvation would be a waste of time. If He gave them a second chance, that wouldn’t be fair to people who have died since that time—unless a second chance is also offered to them via a resurrection to live in the Millennium with a test to follow when the enemy attacks the New Jerusalem. But then why not give a second chance in the same way to those who died in Noah’s flood? Questions to ponder!

We have a better theory involving the use of the word “beings” in this passage. We’ve talked about Nephilim in previous lessons, but not yet about their death. Genesis 6 tells us how they came to be and how, just a few verses later, Elohim is grieved about the great wickedness of men. The eight beings that were taken aboard the ark survived, but none of the beings outside the ark did. We cannot call Nephilim human beings because they are not fully human—they are hybrids that were not meant to exist and so they are not offered repentance and salvation. (There is much debate about whether these hybrids actually could be forgiven and saved, but we think it is highly unlikely that they would repent—so the question is moot.) When these evil beings died in the flood they became evil spirits. It is thought that about 90% of them were sent to Sheol to be reserved for judgment and 10% were allowed to continue tempting (testing) people. Yeshua dealt with a number of these demons when He walked upon the earth. They knew exactly who He was and were terrified that He would send them to the lake of fire before the scheduled time. We believe that when Yeshua proclaimed to the spirits in Sheol, He was telling them He had won and their time was short. It is also likely that He proclaimed to the spirits of godly people awaiting their Resurrection in a different compartment (not a prison) of Sheol that He had won and their Resurrection to eternal life was guaranteed. What good news!