The Days of Noah and Lot

Just as unprepared men were destroyed by the Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overtaken by destruction when Jesus arrives.

Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days before the Great Flood. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be” when the “Son of Man” returns. In the account in Luke’s Gospel, Christ also equated this future period with the “days of Lot.” Both analogies stress the same point - (Luke 17:26-30).

Since no one except God knows the timing of that final day, we must remain vigilant and prepared for its sudden arrival – “as a thief in the night”. The comparisons with the “days of Noah” and the “days of Lot” illustrate this. The point of the analogy is not a return to the gross immorality of Antiquity, but that the unexpected return of Jesus will bring destruction to men who are unprepared for it.

[Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash]

Men will continue in their daily routines right up until the moment of Christ’s arrival - “Eating, drinking, marrying, planting, building, buying and selling” – a description of everyday life, not chaos or egregious sin. Men and women will go about their business as if nothing unexpected will ever occur despite the testimony of preachers of righteousness and the lessons of history:

• (2 Peter 2:4-9) - “For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the Pit and committed them to chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment; and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked <…> the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment.”

The problem in Noah’s day was the failure of humanity to heed the call for repentance, just as men and women today ignore God’s gracious offer of salvation provided by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We live as if the judgment will never come.

Christ’s analogy pictures our foolish indifference to warnings of inevitable judgment. Only Noah and his family believed God “about things not yet seen,” and therefore, Noah prepared the ark, and he and his family were saved - (Hebrews 11:7).

UNEXPECTED JUDGMENT

But the Flood did arrive for the rest of humanity, just as judgment fell on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Men did not listen to warnings by Noah and Lot. Instead, they chose to close their ears. Likewise, the sudden arrival of the “Son of Man” will take many men by surprise. The conditions described by Jesus portray normalcy, not chaos. Our pursuit of wealth and anxiety over the cares of this life lull us to sleep – (Genesis 19:24).

In Luke’s account, Jesus declares that the Kingdom will not come “with observable signs” (‘paratérésis’). This translates the Greek word used by medical practitioners for diagnosing diseases by observing symptoms, and for making careful observations of the movements of stars and planets.

We cannot calculate the timing of Christ’s return by watching for cosmic signs. When he does come, it will be like “lightning flashing out of the one part under heaven and flashing into the other part under heaven” - sudden, unmistakable, and visible to all men.

Before the “Son of Man” arrives, people will conduct their regular affairs, “eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage, buying, selling, planting and building,” just as the men of Sodom did until fire fell suddenly from heaven and destroyed the city. So, also, it “will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

[Roman ruins- Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash]

Regardless of how long it takes or what transpires in this life, the Day of the Lord and the return of the Son of Man will come, therefore, we must strive to prepare ourselves for the inevitable:

• “Lest at any time your hearts are overcharged with drunkenness and the cares of this life, and so that day comes upon (‘ephistémi’) you unexpectedly (‘aiphnidios’). For just as a snare, it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch, therefore, and pray always to be accounted worthy to escape (‘ekpheugō’) all these things.” – (Luke 21:34-36).

The Apostle Paul uses this saying of Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians to make a similar point:

• (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3) - “For yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. For when they will say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then unexpected (‘aiphnidios’) destruction comes upon (‘ephistémi’) them as travail upon a woman with child, and they will not escape (‘ekpheugō’).”

• “Love not the world <…> For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away <…> but he that is doing the will of God abides forever” – (1 John 2:15-17).

The Greek term translated as “unexpected” (‘aiphnidios’) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in these two verses. The “Day of the Lord” will arrive when it is least expected, “just like a thief in the night.” A homeowner does not know when a thief will strike! So, likewise, Peter warns us of the coming time when:

• “Scoffers walking after their lusts will scoff; Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation! <…> But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up” - (2 Peter 3:2-10).

During global catastrophes, even atheists believe something “apocalyptic” is imminent, but during times of peace and prosperity, we assume that life will continue as normal. Whether the final days before Christ’s return will be characterized by chaos is not the point of his analogy, but our need for preparedness.

Jesus paints a picture of normalcy for the period leading up to his return. The unprepared will be overtaken by his sudden and unexpected “arrival,” and they will consequently reap their own destruction. We must remain ever vigilant.

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SEE ALSO:

• His Return - (The arrival of Jesus will mean the resurrection of the dead, the commencement of the New Creation, and the final judgment)

• The Final Assembly - (The saints will be assembled before Jesus on the Last Day, and the wicked will be collected and cast from his presence)

• The Day of Christ - (Jesus will arrive on the Day of the Lord at which time the dead will be raised, the wicked judged, and death will cease forevermore)

• Coming on the Clouds - (The whole planet will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of Heaven when he comes to gather his elect to himself –Mark 13:21-27)