As It Was In The Days of Noah
by Joseph Hunting
A question that was uppermost in the minds of many who had heard Yeshua was, "When shall the kingdom of God come?" No doubt many down the ages, including myself, have pondered the same question.
The answer He gave made reference to two awful judgements on mankind wherein only a few survived. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
"Likewise as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:26-30).
A casual reader of the conditions which prevailed in Both Noah's and Lot's time could say, "So what's new! We still get married, buy, sell and build as mankind has ever done and will continue doing."
But if we turn to the book of Genesis and carefully note the conditions that caused both the Flood and the destruction of Sodom we find an alarming similarity with world-wide trends today.
In Noah's time, "the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air for it repenteth me that I have made them ... The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth" (Genesis 6:7-12).
In those far off days corruption and violence filled the then known world. No doubt civilization was then localized in the region of Mesopotamia. Today, by means of satellite communication we see civilization in a global pattern with violence and unrest in almost every area of the world's inhabited surface.
In the brief space of two decades not a day has passed without war and violence dominating the news media. The threat of violence has even invaded sporting events and the Olympic Games. In the drug scene heinous crimes are being committed, and corruption in high places has become commonplace. Indeed, we are in danger of being brainwashed into accepting this as the normal way of life as we approach the close of this century.
But Lot gets a mention too. Sodom was noted for two things. The most obvious was homosexuality. In Lot's day it was the accepted way of life in the city. The present trend is much the same on our modern society. The Bible also lists "abundance of idleness" as one of the sins of Sodom. Perhaps the shorter working week, longer holidays, enforced idleness due to unemployment, together with the easing of society's attitude to homosexuality are contributing factors that will set the stage for Divine judgement.
Only the future holds the answer to the warning given by Yeshua so long ago. Conditions that spelt disaster in both Noah's and Lot's situations and global trends today compare too closely for comfort.
The similarity should be a clear warning to this generation that Divine judgement will surely come. But in spite of the gloomy outlook God has promised: "Whoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved."