Preceding the flood (a type of the Tribulation) in the "days of Noah" the Lord gave two specific warnings to Noah.

"And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

"For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

It is then obvious that the Lord warned Noah of the coming flood twice. The first warning was at least 120 years prior to the judgment of the flood, and the second warning was at least nine days before the flood.

Since the Lord Jesus Christ Himself stated, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming [parousia] of the Son of man be," then God's people living today have a Scriptural right to expect some similar warning to precede the Tribulation. Remember that the flood in Noah's time was a "type" of the coming Tribulation. The question is, "Has such a warning been given?" Let's see...

In 1878 an Amish minister named Noah Troyer, while deathly ill, prophesied that judgment upon America and the world would begin in 120 years. That figures out to be 1998. Count it out for yourself.

That same year, 1878, some Jews obtained permission from the ruling Turks to establish the first Jewish community that had been established in Palestine since 70 A.D. Their new Jewish community was called "Petah Tikvah," which literally means, "The Gate of Hope." Glory!

Thus the Lord gave humanity a 120 year warning of coming judgment. But wait a minute! Humanity did not enter the Tribulation in 1998 at the end of that period of 120 years. Why not?

I urge every reader to look closely at the text in Genesis 7:1-10. Since verse 4 plainly states, "yet seven days" and verse 10 plainly states "after seven days," then it is only logical to conclude that the Lord gave Noah the seven day warning nine days before the flood. Follow me...

The 120 year warning from 1878 brings us to 1998. But in April of 1997 the Hale-Bopp Comet (discovered by two Jews) made it's closet approach to the earth in modern times. According to careful calculations by professional astronomers, the last time Hale-Bopp visited our solar system was approx 4200 years ago in "the days of Noah."

Didn't the Lord say that there would be "signs" in the heavens preceding His return? Read Luke 21:25-28. Was Hale-Bopp a "sign?" You decide.

The fact is, counting the years from 1997 (not including 97) through 2004 is 7 years. Using a ratio of one year to a day (perfectly Scriptural...Numbers 14:33-34; Ezekiel 4:4-6) this perfectly fulfills the 7 day warning. But there is something else...

It means that we are now typically in the 9th day; the day after the 7 days of warning; the day the flood began.

Since all of these time periods in "the days of Noah" are now in perfect harmony with end-time prophecy, then why should we not expect "the flood" of God's judgment, the terrible Tribulation, to begin this year? Well?

And remember, the same day the flood began (not 7 days before as some teach...Matthew 24:37-38; Luke 17:26-27) Noah entered the Ark and the Lord Himself "shut the door."

Folks, the rapture of God's people is staring us in the face. Praise the Lord! Glory to God! Hallelujah!