Seriously, What is the Point of Watching?
Days of Noah
Today’s Verse and Thought
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”(Luke 12:40)
Watching for what is coming. Ai image
From yesterday - So it was normal in the days of Noah? Is that what Jesus was pointing to? Normal?
Or was there something more?
Everyday Life
“They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”(Luke 17:27).
Jesus described to His disciples what the days would look like just before His coming. Everything He mentioned in Luke 17 would be considered just everyday normal life, right?
After all, people were just living - eating, drinking, marrying.
Jesus will come back when life is normal. This is how many Bible teachers interpret this passage.
Then they say that we don’t know when to expect Him.
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”(Matthew 24:4)
And further add:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.(Matthew 24:36)
In a nutshell - Jesus warned His disciples to keep watch even though life will be normal; we won’t be expecting Him; and we won’t have any clue when it will happen.
With this kind of understanding, it’s no wonder that ministers don’t teach eschatology.
What would be the point, exactly?
Anything But Normal
Jesus could have referenced 1000 other times in history, so why Noah’s day?
One obvious reason is the flood - of course.
That was different.
There was nothing “normal” about the flood.
But we know from God’s promise that He would never again flood the earth as He did in Noah’s day.
The rainbow is the sign of that promise. God made a covenant with all creation.
So we aren’t building boats today and neither were the Disciples.
“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds…”(Genesis 9:11-14)
Unrighteousness
Another thing that was taking place was a lack of righteousness. God’s Word tells us that only Noah was righteous - “perfect and just” in his generation. But, Elijah and Joshua were righteous. So was King David and Nehemiah. They too were righteous men in times of unrighteousness.
Granted, Noah’s day was the epitome of unrighteousness.
In about 1,600 to 2000 years or so, from Adam to Noah, scholars estimate that the population of earth was likely tens of millions (if not a lot more). By that time, Noah was the last man in good standing with God.
His family was the only one saved by God from the flood.
While it’s almost impossible to imagine today, in the days of Noah, Satan had almost corrupted the entire human race.
His plan to control the world almost succeeded.
“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”(Genesis 6:9 KJV)
In some Bible translations it states that Noah was “righteous.” In the King James Bible it reads that Noah was just and perfect, rather than righteous.
The use of the word “perfect” can throw us off. Lack of human moral perfection wasn’t all that was going on in Noah’s day.
The word “perfect” in the original Hebrew means - sound, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity. Noah was a just and sound man. He wasn’t impaired or corrupted.
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”(Genesis 6:5-8)
Is that how the end of days will be? Will the coming Kingdom be a time when men once again embrace evil to such an extent that eventually only one man will be considered righteous?
In a sense, in Jesus day this was a reality.
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”(Romans 3:9-11)
In the Disciples day the culture was morally corrupt and “none were righteous.” Their government was a worldly monarchy that promoted paganism. In fact, if you didn’t worship Rome’s pantheon of “gods,” you were the one who was corrupted in their eyes.
It made sense that the Disciples might have thought that their day would be the time of God’s kingdom; even more so after the resurrection and the persecution came.
As in the days of Noah, there was only one righteous man then, and in the Disciples day, Jesus was the only righteous one.
but the Kingdom hasn’t been established on earth yet.
Nearly 2000 more years have passed.
And we’re all still here.
So once again, why point back to Noah?
“They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”(2 Peter 3:4)
To be continued…
Today’s Question
Today’s Prayer
Father we love our lives here and all the opportunities you have given us. Even when things have been excruciatingly hard and sad, we keep going. Living this life and all that it offers drives each of us every day to want to survive and to make things better. But your Word tells us that a day will come when it will all change. I pray for each person here today that you will fill their hearts with glorious hope and excitement for that day. The world tries to shame us for looking forward to the time of the end, because for us, it is our salvation; for the world, it is scary. It is a time of wrath. It is proper that they are afraid. They don’t need to be if they know you, but those who refuse - they should be petrified. But people live in self-centered bubbles of ignorance surrounded by those who share in their worldview. So many today don’t see the need for you.
I pray for those we love who don’t know you today that you do whatever it takes to wake them up to the truth that their time is almost up. Give all of us a sense of urgency so that we will prioritize our resources, time and energy with things that matter. Give us the ability and the words to speak to people your words. Help us to be a blessing to those we encounter today. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and help us share your love with others. May all honor and glory be yours. Amen❤️