AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

The Coming Again of Jesus The Christ

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" Matt. 24:3

Jesus had just got done telling the disciples that the temple and the city would be destroyed. So naturally, the disciples wanted to know “when” would this happen. But they tagged along two other questions… When will the temple and city be destroyed, What will be the sign of your coming, and What will be the sign of the end of the age? Of course, the temple and the city, as well as around 600,000 Jews and other peoples in the city, were destroyed in 70 AD. Any of the Jews who escaped or were taken prisoner were scattered throughout the lands. Today, the Jews have no means of sacrifice and, therefore, no “sacrificial” means of salvation.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.” Matt. 24:37

Jesus gave His disciples an answer that must have seemed enigmatic to them. But He also gave them a very specific answer… “I don’t know.” Jesus said only the Father knows. Who can really know how things were in the days of Noah? Well… scripture tells us a few things; and the disciples had their Old Testament to “dig” into…

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:5-9

[Noah and Enoch are the two antediluvians of whom it is said that they "walked with God" Genesis 5:24; 6:9. Enoch, "translated that he should not see death" Hebrews 11:5, becomes a type of the saints who will be "caught up" before the great tribulation; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 3:10; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21. Noah, preserved through the Flood, is a type of the “Israelitish” people who will be preserved through the tribulation, Jeremiah 30:5-9.] ~Scofield Notes

So we read God’s own commentary on man… “great wickedness” and “continual evil thoughts.” Elsewhere we can read of specific continual evil behavior. So God regretted the creation of man. Imagine that. The Hebrew word for “repent” there is very interesting…being used also in Gen. 24:67… Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. And also in Gen. 5:9; Gen. 27:42; Gen. 37:35; Gen. 38:12; Gen. 50:21. It’s a word that really means, “being sorry.” The sorrow in God’s case that He had created man, was over sin.

Elsewhere we read that “in Noah’s days” they were eating, drinking, marrying…

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matt. 24:38-39

That would seem like “normal” living… same old same old?
You must understand that up to Noah's time IT HAD NEVER RAINED ON EARTH! ...Let alone floods. What's a flood? 

So what do we have today…

We certainly have GREAT wickedness! We also are doing the same old same old… eating, drinking, marrying, working, having kids… LIVING. Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. No different today.

But there is one other point in the narrative of Noah’s days. God saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 1:5. Noah preached righteousness for hundreds of years. He was 600 years old when he entered the ark.

Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9

God did not tell Noah to preach repentance…or at least, we are not told in scripture of any such instructions. But God was specific in saying to Noah.

“The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Gen. 6:13

And again…

“And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.” Gen. 6:17

So judgment had already come. As it has in our time...
The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23

Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. Gen. 6:22

But Noah, no doubt (to me), preached with the intention of converting anyone who would listen. I think the verse above which says Noah was a preacher of righteousness testifies to his life as a witness to holiness. God Himself says Noah walked with God…he was perfect. His life alone would testify to righteousness and condemn the wickedness around him. All those years… most of his life, and NO ONE responded.  No one responded.

Noah’s family (8 souls) only were saved.

...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

I don’t think we are there yet, that is, no one responding. But I will say I see fewer and fewer responding. Not only that, but the hostility toward the Gospel increases. The elect are safe, of course persecution does not fall under that umbrella of safety… neither does chastisement. As Peter wrote…

If anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the house of God, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:16-17