Surge: To rise up and go forth with a powerful motion. Satan, the master of the sin surge, is in these last days sending forth his demons to entice men and women to defile themselves with ever-increasing types of anti-God behavior. His initial sin surge resulted in a large contingent of angels who followed him in rebellion against the Creator of the Universe. His second surge involved the generations that followed Adam and Eve’s fall. In the previous series of postings I reminded readers that after putting down the angelic rebellion and later the rebellion that took pace in Noah’s day the Lord sent a flood of water to cleanse the surface of the earth. From these examples we know that water is synonymous with cleansing. Anciently in the Middle East it was customary for hosts to provide water for their guests to wash their feet. To fail to do so was considered a social failing. In Luke 7:36-47 we find that a woman has followed Jesus into a Pharisee’s house where she began to wash the Lord’s feet with her tears. Seeing this the host mused that if Jesus was Who He said He was He would know that the woman was a prostitute and would not allow her to touch Him. Knowing what the man was thinking, Jesus reminded him that he had not provided water with which to wash His feet–a sign of total disrespect. The fact that the Pharisee failed to provide water revealed his attitude toward Jesus for all those in the house to see.

Not only were the feet to be washed ritualistically, so were the hands. At one point the apostles were chastised because they failed to wash their hands before eating. The importance of water for cleansing is brought out in Ephesians 5:26 where Paul, using a physical act to reference a spiritual act, instructed the church to practice self-cleansing “by the washing of the water of the Word.” Here God refers to His Word as spiritual water–the ultimate spiritual cleansing agent. To doubt any of God’s Words is to reject His commanded cleansing that is undergone by mentally ingesting and believing His Word. Refusing to believe–be cleansed by–His Word is admission that, not only is the Word-rejecter unclean (spiritually defiled), but he/she is determined to remain in that condition.

Going back in history we find that there was a time early on when “the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). At that time there was only one man who “walked with God” (vs 9)–Noah, whom God called “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). Not one person believed what he said. For this reason God destroyed the whole of humanity by covering the earth with water. Only Noah was found worthy of physical life. The members of his family were allowed to survive the flood in order to repopulate the earth. Only one person out of possibly millions believed and obeyed God. The percentage will probably be about the same at the time of the next world cleansing which, as the “season” indicates, lies in the not-to-distant future. Every precondition for the Great Tribulation, the destruction of most of mankind and the return of Jesus to earth have been met. The “signs of the times” are clearly understood by those having “eyes to see.” Mankind is truly in the midst of the “valley of decision.” To be continued.