Matthew 24:35-39
We can know what the last days will be like because Jesus said, “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37; emphasis added).
What did the days of Noah look like? And how did those days compare with today?
Secular Philosophy
“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” (Genesis 6:5).
In Noah’s time, the faith that was delivered to Adam was receding. We live in a day like that—secularism has taken over the arts, the sciences, and education.
Scientific Progress
In Noah’s day, Man had been driven from Paradise because of his sin, and he was now trying to create an artificial paradise of wit and wisdom. If you think they were plowing with sticks, consider the ark—an engineering miracle!
In the twentieth century, we went from horses and buggies to splitting the atom. We have so pushed back the frontiers of science that we’ve lost all ability to be surprised.
Social Plagues
In Noah’s day, they had not taken this scientific knowledge and turned it into good. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).
Today, there is war after war. Rebellions and upheavals, skyjackings, kidnappings, needless murders and assaults. The social engineers have done their work. We substitute “Thus says the mind of man” for “Thus says the Word of God.”
Sexual Perversion
Jesus gives us further insight when He links the days of Noah with the days of Lot. (Read Luke 17:26-30.) Lot lived in Sodom. From Sodom we get the word sodomy. How does God feel about sexual perversion? Just read Leviticus 20:13 and Romans 1:26-27.
When people approve sexual perversion, “God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24). Judgment is built into these sins. (See Romans 1:27.)
Where do these urges come from? They come out of the heart, which is wicked and sinful. People say, “I was born this way.” Yes—we are born sinners.
Selfish Prosperity
America is an island of prosperity in an ocean of need.
It was the same in the days of Lot and Noah. The Lord said, “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49).
At the height of their prosperity, the fire and brimstone came. God left Sodom in smoking ruins, Peter tells us, “making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6b).
Solemn Preaching
God never sends judgment without first sending warning. “God said 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’” (Genesis 6:13).
2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. But the preaching did not penetrate the people’s hearts. They saw themselves as rich, in need of nothing.
Our generation has been warned too.
Sudden Panic
The round of life went on. Then God said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household” (see Genesis 7:1).
Suddenly the Earth rocks, the heavens open. Water begins to rise. Those who have been laughing at Noah now beat upon the door of the ark and say, “Noah, let us in!” But it was too late. God had shut the door. (See Genesis 7:16.)
Today, there is an ark of safety for you. His name is Jesus.To read more on this topic, click here.
