The End – Part One
And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man Luke 17:26
Days of Noah – In the days of Noah, people assumed life would continue as usual. They were unprepared for the shock of God’s verdict. Jesus tells us that they ate, drank and married. Their lives consisted in propagating of the species. Focused on their physical needs, they didn’t see the end coming. Tais hemerais tou Noe seemed quite ordinary – until the Flood.
Jesus says that the days of Noah are like the days of the Son of Man. That should give us pause. The Son of Man has come – and He will come again. If we aren’t aware of our circumstances, we will be caught off guard, just as all those citizens of Noah’s world were. So, we must ask, “What were the characteristics of the days of Noah and do they look like my days?”
Every day involves eating and drinking if you want to survive. There is nothing new or unusual about this. It is part of the human condition. Jesus did not mean to imply that the reason these people were taken by surprise is that they were not fasting. He meant that they were eating and drinking without regard to the true reality of life. They took care of themselves without considering Who was taking care of what they ate and drank. Paul understood their mistake. He proclaimed that those who ignored God’s sovereignty and refused to be thankful received what they deserved (Romans 1:21). They should have known better.
In the days of Noah, men married and women were given in marriage. They concentrated on the delights of intimacy. Their goals in life peaked in human relationships. This does not mean that they were sexually immoral. They simply forgot that God is also the God of sex. They did not acknowledge that God owns our bodies. They are not ours to do with as we please.
Jesus says that in the days of the Son of Man, things will be pretty much as usual. Men and women will be caught up in the process of daily living. They will seek sustenance for the body in food, drink and sex. None of these are wrong, but all of them are inadequate. Unless we live under the lordship of the sovereign God, all our efforts to maintain ourselves are nothing more than dangerous diversions. Unless we are constantly aware of the presence of the Son, we will eat, drink and procreate while we step into the grave.
Today life is very much like the days of Noah. Jesus calls us to see more than a world of food, drink and relationship. There is something else happening here. Do you know what it is? Is it changing your thinking today?
