Matthew 24:36-44 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
These are wonderful verses of hope for all who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ. In Noah’s day they knew nothing about what would happen. They did not know their lives soon would be terminated. They assumed this rain would be temporary. However, God determined to rid the earth of their contaminated lives of wickedness and violence. Nature itself would suffer under this deluge of water. The rebellion of mankind to God’s authority would end in the destruction of mankind; only Noah and his family would be saved from this cataclysm. The violence of Cain had permeated the whole race of humans. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5) Even though the human heart was evil all the time, mankind carried on the necessary functions of life: eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. They assumed life was encapsulated only in these necessary activities. However, the Creator had made man more than just physical beings; He made man in his image. He gave them language to commune with him their Creator. We see in Noah’s time, man had forgotten God’s nature of goodness and love. Wickedness with its concomitant competitive and murderous nature supplanted God’s image within them of love, grace, mercy and goodness. God had given them language to express love to each other, to honor others as they wished to be honored, but instead language was used to divide and conquer the human spirit of unity and concern for others. God sorrowed over mankind’s spirit of evil. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. (Genesis 6:6) Mankind had forgotten his Creator. God’s nature of goodness and love was set aside in their spirits. Instead they lived self-indulgent lives, forsaking God’s will. Jesus said, the last days will be like the days of Noah. The people will be enthralled with their own lives—their thoughts and experiences will be centered on themselves. Now in our day, even in family or community activities, people have their computers out to feast on their own interests rather than participating in what is going on around them. They use their computers to dig deeply into their own self-interests. In all of these self-serving, selfish pursuits, they have set aside the primary reason for life: serving, honoring, and loving God. Jesus said, the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. When people become absorbed with their own selfish desires and activities and forget their Creator, they are not looking for the coming of the Lord.
Every day for millenniums people have been busy with activities to take care of themselves, to clothe and feed themselves. Marrying and having children is a necessary component in life. Participation in institutions such as government, schools and religion are also part of man’s existence. These functions help people exist in an organized community. In Noah’s time all of these activities were affected by wickedness and violence. Their self-serving lives blinded men and women to God’s anger against them. They mocked Noah for building the ark. They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. Jesus tells his followers not to get so caught up in perfunctory worldly activities that they forget that He will return for them someday. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. The world in the last days will assume that there is no such thing as Jesus returning. They will scoff at this assumption by Christians. Just as they have eliminated the truth of the miracles in the Bible, they will also eliminate the miraculous event of Jesus returning. You must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:4) Now, since two thousand years have gone by since Peter wrote those words, we have the fulfillment of the those words in spades. People are in the process of disproving everything the Bible says about miracles, so the second coming is within their disbelief. The miraculous return of Jesus will be unexpected. The hour will not be detected even by Christians because the mundaneness of life will be their primary focus. As with the man in Jesus’ parable who was fixated on accumulating wealth, so will it be at the end times. “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.” (Luke 12:16-20) To avoid the reality of the second coming is like this rich man. He thought life would go on for him as it had always been. But he was a fool. Of course for most of us Christians, we can be placed in that category of foolish people, for this life is the only life we know. It is reality to us. We can imagine no other life with any precision. But Jesus says, there is another life. When He returns, two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Those who are his will be taken suddenly from this life to another existence. He tells his followers to discern the times and to look for his returning. Paul told Titus to live a holy life, Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13 KJV)
How should we live in anticipation of his return? Are we to be as if we are in a state of sedation, merely sitting around looking for Jesus to return? Should we be lethargic in our approach to life? The Bible says, we are not to be idle; we must be about the Lord’s work while it is still day. “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5) What is the work of God? What should we be doing as we wait for Jesus’ quick returning? Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:26-29) We are to proclaim by words and actions that Jesus Christ the Redeemer has come to earth to restore mankind to God, and that his resurrection reveals that there is life eternal for all who believe in his name. The world should know that Jesus has taken the curse of death off mankind’s existence. He has paid the complete price for the redemption of men and women, placing them in the kingdom of God in righteousness, without one fault, pleasing to God as his children. Our message to the world is one of great hope. Jesus will return. We should be looking up, but if he does not return in our lifetime, we still have a message of him returning to the hearts of men every day by faith. Eternal life has come to men and women through and IN Jesus Christ. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5) No flood for the redeemed is in our future, but an exit to an eternal life is our destiny. In eternity, we will partake of the bread of life, fed by Jesus’ hands. On the road to Emmaus, two disciples of Jesus were walking home sad and discouraged after observing the awful events in the last three days in Jerusalem: Jesus’ arrest, abuse, crucifixion. To them, their hope of Jesus being the Messiah had been dashed. A third man joins them in their journey home. He talks to them about the Messiah as the scriptures reveal, explaining to them that the events they had observed in Jerusalem were in the plan of God. The two disciples invited this third man into their home to stay the night. While they were eating, the third man breaks the bread and serves the two disciples. Immediately, the disciples recognize the third man as Jesus. Jesus broke the bread and handed it to them because He is the bread of life, broken for them. When Jesus returns for us, we will consume his life, his eternal life, the bread of life, to the fullest. We will live forever in our eternal home. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV)
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