The same atmosphere in Noah’s day is the same as the day in which the Lord returns. Though we know that the generation was wicked, perverse, and violent, Jesus was referring to something much deeper which he then clarifies in the next passage. It was the mindset, the attitude of the heart that those in Noah’s day had, despite the coming disaster. If there is a disaster on the horizon, if a crisis is amassing in the distance, then you will be paying attention and will be aware. You’ll be willing to disrupt your life, your plans, your future in order to respond accordingly.
Examples:
- Katrina
- Coronavirus
- The Recession
The church responded accordingly as well. The irony is that though the disaster was imminent, all the people cared about was their stomach and their sex drive, up till the very moment Noah stepped inside. The same mindset and lifestyle they had back then will be the same as when Jesus returns. People will be filling their stomach, satisfying their flesh, and living for their sexuality. Little do they know that their judgement is coming for them, and is right around the corner. If only they knew!
If only they were aware! If they could see the endless years spent in eternity, separated from God burning in hell, they would not hesitate for a second to adjust their life and allow their plans to be inconvenienced! If only they knew that Jesus is returning with a sword in his mouth to bring judgement upon the earth! Though I wish I could say this is only the problem which those in the world had, the same thing plagues the church.
Matthew 24:36-39 (NET)
“But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone. For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man.”
1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 (NIV)
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:17-21 (NIV)
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
