Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Maryah Yeshua Meshika (our LORD Jesus Christ) made a clear reference to a very particular time in the Earth, the days of Noah, in order to provide those who follow Him some understanding of how things would be at the time of His coming. Matthew recorded the Master's words this way:
But just as the days of Noah, so will the coming of The Son of Man be. For just as they were eating and drinking before the flood, and they were taking wives, and they were taking husbands, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not perceive until the flood came and took them all away, thus will be the coming of The Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken captive, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken captive and one will be left. Wake up therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord will come. But know this: if the house owner had known in what watch the robber would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
Jesus's reference to the "days of Noah" is commonly assumed to define a time of ubiquitous wickedness, when mankind was at his very worst. It is written:
The LORD saw that the evil of man increased in the earth and every inclination of the reasonings of his heart was evil every day.
Jesus saying that it will be the same at His coming would, therefore, contradict any notion that things are going to "get better" and that we can all "just get along." But was that actually the point Jesus was conveying to His disciples? In addition to the days of Noah, Luke included Jesus's reference to the days of Lot, Abraham's nephew, recording His words this way:
And as it came to be in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the Son of Adam: They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. And likewise, as it came to be in the days of Lot: They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building, but on the day Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all. It shall be the same in the day the Son of Adam is revealed. In that day, he who shall be on the house-top, and his goods in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it. I say to you, in that night, two shall be in one bed; one shall be taken captive and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding meal together; one shall be led away captive and the other shall be left. Two shall be in a field; one shall be taken captive and the other shall be left.
The days of Noah and the days of Lot shared something in common, something our LORD Jesus made clear to His disciples when they had asked Him when the world would end (Matthew 24) and the Pharisees had asked Him when the kingdom of God would come (Luke 17). We know that what provoked God's wrath prior to the flood was that every inclination of the reasonings of men's hearts were evil continuously. And we know that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their sin was very grave in the days of Lot. But this was not the focus of Jesus's message.
The sign of His coming and of the end of the world would not be how sinful men could get but, rather, how everyone would be living as though tomorrow was guaranteed. Instead of preparing their hearts, trimming their lamps and being watchful, people will be busy planning their next vacation and how to invest their wealth for the highest yields. Luncheons, bachelor parties, pre-orders, stock sales, gardening, new construction and remodeling... right up until destruction comes.
Our LORD Jesus clearly defined His own words, informing His disciples what it was, exactly, about the days of Noah that would be repeated at His coming. He said, quite specifically, that people were eating and drinking, making wedding plans and getting married, buying and selling, planting and building; in other words, doing all the things people do who have no idea of the level of sudden destruction that is about to come upon them!
Prior to His return, everyone has plans for the future, and no one is expecting imminent judgement (at least, not for themselves). So many are deluded in their thinking, instead wanting to believe a story that reads something like this:
...and Noah and his lovely family were having a delightful time living normal, prosperous lives of bliss right up until that blink of an eye event, where the ark floated them all away to eternal safety, luxury and ease... and when Jesus comes - well, not really "comes" - but when Jesus performs his pre-coming blink of an eye event in that last generation, He will snatch away all the Christians right off the face of the Earth, sparing them from any and all hardship. We are sorry to hear about all those Christians of previous generations who suffered extreme hardship, and many were killed, all because of that same faith. But we insist that the last generation, the generation filled with the most adulterous, idolatrous, blasphemous, wicked people of all time gets a complete pass.
They have it perfectly backwards. You turn things upside down!
What is actually written is,
...they did not perceive until the flood came and took them...
Take notice of the fact that the "took them away" of Matthew 24 is the "destroyed them all" of Luke 17. Re-read the two passages, printed above, if you missed that.
Who were the they and them Jesus referred to, the ones who didn't perceive and were taken? They were not the ones in the ark. Noah most certainly did perceive, as he was the one given all the advance warning (100 years worth). The they who did not perceive were the ones the flood took away. They were eating, drinking and getting married and they did not perceive right up to the point Noah entered the ark. Noah was not among the they and them that were taken away by the flood. Noah was left, they were taken.
As with the they who were eating, drinking and getting married right up until Noah entered the ark, there will be another they who are in bed together, or laboring in the field, or grinding meal together right up until the coming of the Son of Man. One will be taken, the other will remain, just like in the days of Noah. The they that will be taken will be taken just like the they that were taken away by the flood.
In Luke's account Jesus speaks of yet another they, the inhabitants of Sodom who were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. On the day Lot left town, fire and sulphur rained down upon Sodom and destroyed them. Only Lot, his wife, and his daughters remained. And Jesus continues the comparison to His own return by reminding His disciples of Lot's wife who turned to look back upon her home. She was turned into a pillar of salt. Jesus has warned us all regarding our affection for this world and the things that are in it. It does not get any clearer than His words,
He who seeks to save his life shall lose it.
When that day comes will you remain, like Noah and his family remained? Will you be spared, and remain alive? Or will you be among those who are taken, by death, just like those who were destroyed at Sodom and those who drowned in the flood.
Jesus had just told the disciples about those who had been taken in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, and He compared them to those who would be taken in the future, when He returned. The disciples specifically asked the Master about the they that would be taken when He comes, wondering what would become of them...
And they answered and they were saying to Him, "To where, Our LORD?" He said to them, "Wherever the bodies are, there the vultures shall be gathered."
Vultures feed on carrion. Carrion is a nice word for dead bodies. Dead bodies are thethey who will be taken. How are they taken? By death. Those who died in the flood were taken by death via water (drowning). Those who died in the cities of the plain were taken by death via fire and sulphur (brimstone). If you have had this backwards, reconsider those who will be taken at His coming - they are not those who are alive and remain. Noah and his family were those who were alive and remained at the coming of the flood. Lot, with his wife and daughters, were those who were alive and remained at the coming of the outpouring of the wrath of God.
Paul wrote to the assembly at Thessalonica:
But this we say to you by the word of Our Lord, that we, those who remain at the coming of Our Lord, we who have life...Our Lord shall descend from Heaven with a command and with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet blast of God, and the dead who are in The Messiah shall rise first; And then we who remain, who have life...
Again I say: One will be taken, and another will remain... those who remain are those who have life! Noah, his wife, Noah's sons and their wives all remained - they had life; they were not taken away by the flood. Initially, Lot, his wife and daughters remained (as they were leaving, Lot's wife disregarded the Word of the LORD to "don't look behind you or stay in the plain lest you be swept away, destroyed, taken." She looked back and was taken by death via being turned into a pillar of salt). Lot and his two daughters remained. They had life; they were not taken by the fire and sulphur.
Jesus will return. Like a thief in the night. Not just unexpectedly, but unknown to those asleep in the house. His winnowing fork will be in His hand. According to Matthew 13:30, the tares are taken out first, then the wheat is harvested - not the other way around. One will be taken just like the flood did its taking in the days of Noah, and just like the fire and sulphur did its taking in the day Lot left Sodom. Please listen to me: you do not want to be among those who are taken.
The days of Noah and the days of Lot were the days of the clueless. History will be repeated at His coming.
A "days of Noah" teaching has risen to popularity, one that reaches well beyond what is written in the Scriptures. This teaching tells the tale of so-called fallen angels mating with women and bearing gigantic hybrids. Advocates claim this best explains two controversial verses of Genesis 6:
...that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose... There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The word translated "giant" in this verse is the Hebrew word נְפִילִים, transliterated in English as Nephilim. This word appears only twice in the Scriptures: once, in Genesis 6 and again in the book of Numbers:
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Referencing both the Genesis and Numbers passages for credibility, adding details garnered from extra-Biblical writings, returning to the Scriptures to apply some "jumper cable" theology by attempting to link together otherwise unrelated verses, and finally filling in the missing pieces with assumption and speculation, a fascinating story can be presented, worthy of a major motion picture franchise. Sadly, no mention of this tale ever occurs in the words recorded of our LORD or His apostles. In fact, the emphasis placed on this story as it is told today eclipses the actual words of the Scriptures in every discussion and presentation I have ever heard on the topic.
Let's look at an alternate translation of the events of Genesis and Numbers:
The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. So they married any woman they chose... The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, as well as later, when the sons of God slept with the daughters of men and had children by them. These children were famous long ago.
So they began to spread lies among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored is one that devours those who live there. All the people we saw there are very tall. We saw Nephilim there (descendants of Anak). We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that’s how we must have looked to them.”
So the men Moses sent to explore the land died in front of the LORD from a plague. They died because they had returned and made the whole community complain about Moses by spreading lies about the land.
Was the land of promise really filled with an entire race of half-angel / half-human giants, creatures that would have had to survive the flood? After David killed Goliath, where did all these creatures go? And, will they somehow be returning in the days just preceding the return of the King of Kings?
As of this writing I have no revelation regarding this teaching. But I reiterate: our LORD Jesus never mentioned this tale when He detailed what He meant when He referred to the days of Noah and Lot. In lieu of aliens, and giants, and fallen angels, and dimensional portals, Jesus said that men were eating and drinking, making wedding plans and getting married, buying and selling, planting and building right up until the moment destruction came upon them. And it shall be the same in the day the Son of Man is revealed!
Approximately 300-plus years after the flood subsided, another significant event occurred in a place that came to be called Babel (Babylon - see Genesis 10:10).
The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. As people moved toward the east, they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there. They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar as mortar.
Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the descendants of Adam were building.
The LORD said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them. Let us go down there and mix up their language so that they won’t understand each other.”
So the LORD scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. This is why it was named Babel, because there the LORD turned the language of the whole earth into babble. From that place the LORD scattered them all over the face of the earth. Genesis 11:1-9
H894 בָּבֶל bâbel (baw-bel')
From H1101; confusion; Babel (that is, Babylon), including Babylonia and the Babylonian empire: - Babel, Babylon.
H1101 בָּלַל bâlal (baw-lal')
A primitive root; to overflow (specifically with oil); by implication to mix; also (denominative from H1098) to fodder: - anoint, confound, X fade, mingle, mix (self), give provender, temper.
H1098 בְּלִיל belı̂yl (bel-eel')
From H1101; mixed, that is, (specifically) feed (for cattle): - corn, fodder, provender.
From the passage we just read, let me introduce an aspect of the days of Noah that you may not have been aware of; one that requires no extra-Biblical writings, jumper cable theology, mythology or story-telling; one that comes directly from the Scriptures: According to God Himself, in the days of Noah the whole world had one language with a common vocabulary.
Jesus spelled out precisely what He meant when He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man." Mankind will be all about simply getting on with their lives, busy making plans and living as though tomorrow was a sure thing. However, if you are want to expand "the days of Noah" to include additional time-relevant conditions, before leaping fully into the Tolkien-esque world of angel/human hybrids, you may want to consider the Scripturally-sound significance of the unification of words among all mankind. Consider the bona fide, worldwide effort(s) currently underway to unify the narrative, the message, the speech of all people, everywhere. Consider the technology that is now enabling such a feat. Consider the push to return to the days before Babel... the days of Noah.
Grace and Peace be with you,