As the Days of Noah
Today’s Verse:
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. ~Luke 17:26
Jesus was asked by the Pharisees about when the kingdom of God should come. He proceeds to tell them what will happen leading to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Second Coming must precede the start of the millennial kingdom. He takes them back to the days of Noah in order to understand what to expect.
We see the careless.
“They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” The days of Noah was a time when the wickedness of man was great in the earth and the imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. The people were living carelessly. Constant partying, gluttony, drunkenness, and immoral living pretty much sums up how people lived. They had a disregard for the Lord and the things of God. People were at ease, idle, and only interested in satisfying the lusts of the flesh. They were careless.
We see the compelling.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness for 100 years while he and his sons constructed the massive ark that God told him to build. He preached to his generation that judgment was coming. He told them that a flood was coming of epic proportion that had never happened before. The ark became a testimonial to Noah’s generation that they needed to repent and believe on the Lord. Noah preached with urgency. Noah tried to compel people to come into the ark. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men,” said Paul.
We see the condemnation.
“...Until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” The day came when the ark was finished, and God told Noah and his family to come into the ark. After Noah’s family entered in, God shut the door to the rest of the world to prevent them from coming in. Men and women had the opportunity to be saved, but they rejected the invitation. When the door was shut, the Lord sent a torrential rain for 40 straight days and nights that led to immense flooding and the total loss of life of everyone on earth. The world’s inhabitants perished in the flood because they rejected God’s opportunity to be saved.
We see the comparison.
Jesus uses the days of Noah to describe what to expect during the days leading to His Second Coming. The judgment of God during Noah’s day is a picture of the judgment of God on the world during the seven-year Great Tribulation. Before the Lord sets up His kingdom on earth, there will be a judgment by purging. Jesus is teaching these Pharisees to look back at Scripture and that what happened during the days of Noah gives an idea as to what He will do before He sets up His future kingdom.
We see the caution.
We must be careful and circumspect in our living. The Lord will come for all true believers at the Rapture. We must walk as children of the day and not as children of the night. We must abide in Him so that we have confidence and are not ashamed at His coming. Be careful of a false sense of security and being surprised when our Lord comes. Let us be found faithful when Jesus comes.
Have a sober-minded God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Corinthians 10-13