By Dennis Pollock
Some Christians suggest that truly spiritual believers do not pay much attention to the return of Jesus. They consider this a peripheral issue, not worthy of serious study. Jesus obviously did not feel this to be the case, since He taught extensively about His return and the last days that the world will experience just before He returns.
In Luke 17, Jesus was asked when the kingdom of God would come. He gave a lengthy answer, and we won’t be able to consider it in detail in this brief study, but I want to focus upon two different Biblical societies to which He referred. Jesus said: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man…” (Luke 17:26), and then He went on to say “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot…” (Luke 17:28).
Jesus chose two Biblical stories with which He knew His audience would be very familiar: Noah and the ark and the flood, and Lot and the fire and destruction that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Everybody knew those dramatic stories very well then, as Christians do today. Jesus said, “If you want to learn about the last days and how things will be, go back in the Scriptures to these two stories and read them carefully. They have much to tell us about how things will be in the last days of our world, just before My second coming.”
Why these two stories? What did the people of Noah’s Day have in common with the people of Lot’s Day? What happened in Noah’s time that also took place in the time of Lot? It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Jesus could not have chosen two more wicked societies to illustrate the nature of our world in the final days before His return. In Noah’s day, the Bible says: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So, God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth…” (Genesis 6:11-12). God told 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). Not a very encouraging picture.
In the story of Lot, we read: “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” (Genesis 13:13). And as with the people of Noah’s generation, God determined to destroy all the population in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is not a very positive picture Jesus gives us of the last days. Since Jesus chose the stories of Noah and Lot to illustrate the end times, we cannot draw any other conclusion than this: the people living in the times just before the return of Jesus will be wicked and offensive to God, so much so that God will pour out great judgment and destruction upon the world in those days, just as He did in the days of Noah and Lot. From God’s perspective, things must not be going too well.
There have been some Christian ministers and theologians who have suggested that, due to the positive influences of Christianity, our world will grow better and better as the years and centuries go by, until the Christians eventually convert the whole world. All false religions will cease, all crime and wars will end, and Christ shall rule over the world through His church for a thousand-year millennium of righteousness and peace. The name of this belief is “post-millennialism.” According to this view, when Jesus finally comes back, He will return to a world of peace and harmony, created by the church. Now I know that sounds outlandish to most of you. But there have been many Christians who once believed this bizarre doctrine, and even today, there are some who, despite all evidence to the contrary, stubbornly cling to the idea that the church will eventually prevail and bring peace and righteousness to the whole world.
But when Jesus tells us that the last days will closely resemble the days of Noah and the days of Lot, it is evident that this cannot be the case. Clearly, He is describing a wicked, rebellious, stiff-necked, hard-hearted world that has greatly offended God – it sounds kind of like where we are right now in America. And when you read the Book of Revelation, where John describes terrible judgment, misery, and destruction falling upon a wicked world, it all fits together.
Jesus tells us about certain things people were doing in Noah’s and Lot’s days, saying: (Noah’s generation) “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage…” (Lot’s generation) “They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built.” (Luke 17:27-28).
Clueless Sinners
Jesus could have said that these people were often sinning greatly, and it would have been true. But instead, He says they were eating and drinking. What’s so unusual about that? That is what people do in every country, city, and village. All over our world, people eat and drink daily. Why make a big deal about that? And He mentions other common activities, saying that these people were having weddings, planting crops, buying, selling, and building. Again, this is what people do, everywhere. Today, millions of people will be getting married and buying and selling various products. Nothing strange about that!
But in Noah’s generation Jesus says that they were engaged in these common, everyday activities “until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:27). In Lot’s Day, after talking about how people were eating, drinking, buying, and selling, Jesus says “but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:29). And then He draws the comparison: “Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:30).
What Jesus is saying here is that just prior to God’s judgment falling upon their wicked generation, people were doing normal stuff, oblivious that the wrath of God was about to be poured out to such an extent that none, but one family would survive. If I knew for certain that my world, my life, my family, and everything familiar to me would end tomorrow, I would not be outside constructing a new house. I would not be out in the fields, on my tractor planting crops.
Anyone with any spiritual sense, if they knew that God’s wrath was about to be unleashed upon their world or nation, would be crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness. But, of course, the people of Noah and Lot’s generation had no idea that the end of their world was imminent. And so, right up until the day of judgment, destruction, and their deaths, they were having weddings, planting crops, buying, selling, and acting as though they had many decades of living ahead of them. And Jesus tells us that our world, in the Last Days, the days just before His return, will be acting the same way: eating, drinking, building, planting, and having weddings… and offending the God who made them, breaking His moral laws, flaunting their sexual perversity, scoffing at God’s word, and mocking the people who take Him seriously.
The positive side of these stories is that in each case, there was a family that survived. Noah and his family were saved by building an ark and taking refuge in it. Lot and his daughters were saved by being led by angels to flee from Sodom. And in the final generation, just before God pours out His wrath, there will also be a family that will be saved. But it is an exceedingly large family! The family who became God’s children through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. They will be caught up to be with Jesus in a moment and will be safe and eternally secure.
And so, Jesus warns us: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44).
