The Return of the ‘days of Noah’

When asked about the signs of the end times in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus drew a parallel between the ‘days of Noah’ and the days prior to His return – effectively Jesus was saying that there would be a repeat of the situation that led to the flood:

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)

This means that it is critical that we truly understand the ‘day of Noah’ if we are to understand the days ushering the return of Christ. We often blog on this topic and recently unpacked a familiar prophecy in 2 Timothy 3 that provides horrifying detail of the last days that is playing out before our eyes – the worst part of all of this is how this attitudes will infiltrate the mainstream church.

We also have blogged on this video produced by Ray Comfort which is a great resource.

For now, we want to unpack this notion that history will repeat itself and these ‘days of Noah’ will be symptomatic of the days immediately prior to the Lord’s return. There are a number of unique features of our time that we believe increasingly point to this and should act as a sober warning for us all:

1. The preoccupation and obsession with fleshy desires and materialistic appetites are a key feature of society and this goes hand-in-hand with having little concern for God either in belief or behaviour. We are seeing the complete list of behaviours outlined in 2 Tim 3:1-7 been played out in front of our eyes – everyone doing what seems right in their own eyes and there is extreme intolerance for anyone who suggests otherwise. This is very similar to the ‘days of Noah’ mankind which became increasingly lawless to the point where ‘the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’ (Genesis 6:5)
2. The removal of the sacredness of marriage and explosion of illicit sexual activity is a key feature of Noah’s day. Jesus referred to the ‘marrying and giving in marriage’ – this phrase implies a careless attitude or trivialising of marriage and there can be no question that a ‘redefining’ of marriage in the UK fits this description perfectly. The unique union and the sanctity of marriage was instituted by God to represent the relationship between Christ and His Church and this has been polluted in every way possible. Even the parameters of gender are now under severe attack despite God creating us ‘male and female’ and this will create even more distance and ambiguity with human relationships as defined in God’s Word. We have opened the door for an unrestrained rejection to God’s design of marriage and as a society, we are hastily perverting this is every way possible.
3. Rapid advances in various forms of technology are another key indicator of Noah’s day. The use of science and maybe particularly genetic ‘innovation’ to defy death and defy God’s plan mankind – maybe even to rid ourselves of this ‘image of God’. Furthermore, we suspect there could be a link between this technology and the strange hybrid ‘nephilim’ that was a key factor in Noah’s flood – the genetic identity of mankind had been so affected in Noah’s time that complete destruction was the only option. A repeat of this is not far-fetched as we continue to push the boundaries of what it is to be human while the dabbling in all forms of the occult is on the increase.
4. Massive increase in violence and corruption – we will live at a time when ‘evil’ is called ‘good’ and ‘good’ is called ‘evil’. We believe the most overt example of the massive increase of violence in the world is the dramatic increase and acceptance of abortion. What could be more violent (and corrupt) than murdering an innocent baby in the belly of its mother on a massive scale that is legal, sponsored and socially encouraged in many countries across the world? It is unspeakably evil. Without mentioning abortion, there are plenty of other indicators that violence and corruption are on the increase, but we see abortion as a particularly nasty example of this.

It is important to stress that we are highlighting key societal shifts above – individually, we have ALL fallen short of the above in some way. We are all victims of being told that what is an affront to God is actually OK, and acted on this. Complete forgiveness and restoration are available for anyone and everyone, whatever the sin – having said that, it’s important to call things out for what they are and not legitimise what God calls wrong.

Things really do look bleak but there are many reasons to be positive. Firstly and most importantly, this all demonstrates that Christ’s return is nearer than ever – this should be our greatest encouragement and hope. Secondly, although it is increasingly difficult not to stand out as a Christian, the false church will increasingly be exposed for what it is. Being taken out of our comfort zone is never easy, but it is of great value to us and although there is a cost to following Christ, we can be assured that great rewards await those who refuse to deny His name and follow in obedience.

Finally, notice that God gave people ample opportunity and warning to turn and repent in Noah day – it must have taken Noah decades to build the ark (don’t think he would have been given much help!) and he would have spent this time desperately warning of what was to come. You imagine building a boat hundreds of feet long to protect the few faithful souls from a catastrophic rainstorm – they have never seen rain and we can be sure that the scientists of the day would have said a flood was impossible! The ridicule Noah would be faced would have been relentless. God is very patient but time must be getting short. The days we live in are no time for compromise – we must fix our eyes on tough times ahead and warn others of the judgment will come, just as Noah did. Noah would have been mocked in his day and we will be mocked too – it doesn’t matter…our job is to be faithful and obedient to God and use Noah as a great role-model.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! (Isaiah 5:20-23)

Print