Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 294, Matthew 24:37-39 — The End Times: Days of Noah Matthew 24:37-39 (NASB1995) “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Context Matthew 24 contains Jesus’ detailed discourse about the end times and His second coming. He spent extensive time answering the disciples’ questions about when He will return and what signs to expect (v. 3). Throughout this discourse, we find detailed descriptions of these foretold apocalyptic events (vs. 15-28). In the end, Jesus will return and bring judgment upon the wicked and salvation to the righteous (vs. 29-31). While we can recognize these signs of the end to know the nearness of His coming (vs. 32-35), we cannot know exactly when it will happen (v. 36). Review Yesterday, we continued Jesus’ end times discourse and read about the unpredictable nature of Jesus’ return and explored His divine nature. Jesus makes certain that nobody knows exactly when He will return—only the Father in heaven knows exactly when this will happen. To better understand, we must acknowledge Jesus was fully God and fully human while on earth—a relationship called the hypostatic union. Because of this union, Jesus relinquished the divine foreknowledge of His coming. This does not mean He was not divine or all-knowing. However, for whatever reason, only God the Father has knowledge of Jesus’ second coming. Because of this uncertainty, attempting to pinpoint the exact moment of Christ’s return is a hopeless waste of time. Nobody can know. Thus, Christians should not pursue predictive conspiracies regarding the timing of Jesus’ second coming. It could very well happen in our lifetime, or in another two thousand years. Until then, Christians must remain faithful to Christ and in a constant state of readiness, as we can know that the time is near when we see the signs. In the end, one who discerns the signs might know a range of months or years, but no one can ever know the exact day or hour. Discussion Today, we continue Jesus’ end times discourse and read about the days of Noah. Jesus just explained how the day of His second coming is unknown to all other than the Father. However, Christians can recognize the time of His coming is near when they see the signs He spoke about. In the period leading to His second coming, Jesus says, “37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.” This is a reference to the story of Noah and the flood narrative recorded in Genesis 6-9. In Genesis 6:5-7, God grieves over the great wickedness of man, leading Him to want to destroy His entire creation. However, there was one man found righteous and blameless before Him within a world full of evil (Gen. 6:8-9). Thus, God showed mercy to His creation and promised to save Noah and his family. He told Noah to build an ark because He was planning to destroy the earth with a flood (Gen. 6:13-17). Jesus makes this analogy about the time of His coming and the time of the flood because the wickedness of the world and its carelessness will be similar. Jesus adds, “38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.” In Noah’s day leading up to the flood, the rest of the world mocked Noah during his construction of the ark. Yet, he remained faithful and trusted God’s covenant promise to him and his family and continued building it. There is no exegetical evidence of how long this took, but most scholars agree it took between 75-100 years for Noah to complete its construction. While Noah was busy preparing for the flood, the rest of the world continued living without regard for God’s warning of judgment. For those 75-100 years, they were eating and drinking and marrying until the very day Noah entered the ark. In the same way, Jesus says the unbelieving world will be completely unprepared for His second coming and even mock the idea of His return (2 Pet. 3:3-7). However, Christians who know Jesus and know the truth of His word will recognize the signs of the times and be prepared for His coming. Conversely, those who reject Christ and disregard the warnings of judgment will be caught by surprise when Christ’s judgment comes. The world will be eating, drinking, marrying, and simply living life without care, unknowing of God’s coming judgment that will come upon them. Jesus adds, “39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” If the time of Jesus’ coming is unknown, then it will catch people off guard—especially unbelievers. The similitude connection to Noah’s day suggests that God’s judgment is a major theme of Jesus’ second coming.[1] Jesus makes this connection to reveal the importance of being prepared for His coming. The wicked will not know or care or understand what is happening until it is too late. Perhaps this is why the nations will ‘mourn’ at the sight of Christ in the sky (v. 30). Notably, the main implication of this statement is not about the pronounced sin and wickedness of the world in the end but the suddenness of God’s judgment. When Jesus returns the unbelieving world will realize it is too late to repent while believers will be caught up into eternal glory. It will happen quickly. Thankfully, Jesus’ warning allows believers to remain watchful and prepared, knowing the end is coming rather than living blind. We will continue Jesus’ end times discourse tomorrow and read more about the judgment of the wicked. Application Before studying for this post, my understanding of this passage missed its point. I always understood this passage to reveal the wickedness of the world before Christ returns. While the societal decay is pronounced and will continue to grow until Christ returns, the main point of this passage is about the contrasting preparedness and unpreparedness of believers and unbelievers. Amplified wickedness is a sign that God’s judgment is near but that is not the point. Jesus wants His disciples to be prepared for His coming not blind to the reality of its happening like those who will perish in their sins. Another point is that it is possible to prepare for Jesus’ second coming, not by attempting to pinpoint its date, but by living in a constant state of readiness. The believer of Jesus should know how to remain watchful and recognize the signs of the end. While we cannot know when it will come, we can know the time is near and warn unbelievers of the coming judgment. Sadly, many will mock this reality as they mocked Noah. However, this should not stop us from remaining prepared and continually warning others. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 24:40-41. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] R. T. France, “Tyndale Commentaries.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
WRITTEN BY
|