95. This text should be carefully remembered in view of the common notions concerning the signs before the last day. Then, some declare, there will be eclipses of I know not how many days duration. They say foolishly that for seven years not a single woman will bring forth a child, and the like. But this text declares that neither day nor night, neither summer nor winter, shall cease; therefore these natural changes will go on, and there will never be an eclipse which will rob human eyes of an entire day.
96. Nor is it a phrase devoid of meaning when he says, "While the earth remaineth," for he gives us to understand that the days of this earth shall sometime be numbered, and other days, days of heaven, shall follow. As long, therefore, as the days of the earth endure, so long shall the earth abide, and with it the rotation of seasons. But when these days of the earth shall pass, then all these things shall cease, and there shall follow days of heaven, that is, eternal days. There shall be one Sabbath after the other, when we shall not be engrossed with bodily labor for the purpose of gaining a livelihood; for we shall be as the angels of God, Mk 12, 25. Our life will be to know God, to delight in God's wisdom and to enjoy the presence of God. This life we attain through faith in Christ, in which the eternal Father may mercifully keep us, through the merit of his son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, by the ruling and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.
CHAPTER IX.
| I. | GOD BLESSES NOAH AND THE RACE. | ||
| A. | MARRIAGE STATE BLESSED [1-5]. | ||
| 1. | Why this blessing necessary [1]. | ||
| 2. | Wedlock established twice [2]. | ||
| 3. | Evidence of God's love to the human race [3]. | ||
| 4. | Did this blessing pertain to Noah [4]. | ||
| * | Bearing of children a special blessing of God unknown to the heathen [5]. | ||
I. GOD BLESSES NOAH AND THE RACE.
A. Marriage State Blessed.
V. 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.