7But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
What is interesting about the disciples question is that they were really trying to find out when their teacher was going to destroy their enemies and eventually rid their city of the filthy Roman rulers. What they wanted to know was when are you gonna stop teaching, and get busy. When are we gonna kick some Roman tail. For in their understanding of the last days, there would be a Hebrew King that will return to Jerusalem and destroy all the nations that seek to oppress Israel and all those that resist his rule.
Jesus answers them differently and describes the conditions of the land that will mark his coming. He compares the attitudes of his people to the attitudes of the people during Noahs day. For a brief description of the people in Noahs time lets look at a passage in Genesis 6
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Lets give a brief synopsis then of the conditions
* the people seemed to glorify men and their achievements over God
* harbored wicked thoughts
* corrupted lifestyles: a free for all I can do what I want without any repercussions
* violence
* even nature had become corrupted by the lifestyles of man
It is against these things then that Noah preached as he spoke of the judgment of this God, and yet what was the peoples response?
Jesus tells us that the went on eating, drinking, partying living it up with no fear of God. In fact they openly mocked his message.
It is amazing when I searched for messages about the end is near how many parodies were made. Though some were clever, they were essentially mocking and scoffing of the idea that there will be a day in which we have to give account for our deeds. By no means am I into date setting, but simply as scripture speaks we need to have an attitude of expectation.
We live in a world that has no fear of God. It is full of violence, sexual perversion, with extortion, rape, human trafficking, slavery economically, and socially where we have triumphed the achievements of man, and praise our men of renown, whether they be intellectuals, athletes, politicians, entertainers, over the worship of the true and living God.
Where are the Noahs of this generation? Who will stand up and say repent for the judge is at hand? Who will risk ridicule mocking, scorn, persecution, marginalization? Who will preach the judgment against rebelling against our creator?
Sadly as Jesus warns some of us are also caught up a lifestyle of eating and drinking, and being merry, not realizing that the Judge is at the door. Come out I say come out. To everything there is a time and a season, repent lest you be swept away, because the Judge is coming soon.
One of the observations about those who died in the tsunamis in South Asia in 2004 was how rapidly the waves came. Many were just hanging out casually on the beach, swimming, drinking enjoying their day, and though they noticed the water ebbing, they thought nothing of it, only to see 30 foot waves and greater rushing toward their way in moments. So it is with Gods judgment it is coming and it is here. Christ is coming soon, and he has set things in to motion.
It is my hope that those who happen to read this article and who are living in sin will repent and call out to God to save them and have mercy on them. You see the greatest danger we have is not the destruction of our bodies, but the destruction of our souls. It just so happens that if are bodies die before our spirit is renewed we will be destroyed. You see the primary thing God saves us from is not some cataclysmic destruction of the earth, for we will all die physically anyway, but he saves us from our sins. That is why the savior was named Jesus; God saves from sins. It is also my hope to arouse us to pray and to watch. Some of those reading God is calling you to take up the mantle and preach, others to help build the ark; the body of Christ.
May the God of all Grace keep and watch over you until his coming. Grace and Peace from the Herald.
excerpt from blog post
http://heraldinthewilderness.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/as-in-the-days-of-noah/
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