In Matthew, Jesus made a reference to the days of Noah when he was talking about the end times. This daily devotional looks at what we could look for in the end times based on what occurred in the days of Noah.
Nuggets
- God saw that wickedness was widespread on the earth.
- Being godly is an individual choice that starts with the heart.
- Jesus only mentioned two things about the days of Noah: eating and drinking; and marrying and giving in marriage.
Devotions in In the Days of Noah series
When we were doing the How Do We Know If We Don’t Know series, I saw a verse and thought, “Oh, that is a series in and of itself.” The verse was Matthew 24: 37. “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt. 24: 37 ESV).
To read a devotion in the How Do We Know If We Don’t Know series, click on the appropriate button below.
Ooo, baby. That gives us pause. The days of Noah were so ungodly that God destroyed almost everything.
And we are going to get that way again?
What are we to look for if this is a sign of the end times?
Let's Put It into Context
There are two parts to the definition of ungodliness, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The first part is that it is “contrary to moral law.” This was qualified by the words sinful and wicked.
That is the definition that is probably thought of first. It is the do-the-do’s-and-don’t-do-the-don’ts aspect.
The first definition listed, though, is “denying or disobeying God.” It qualifies this by the words impious or irreligious.
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We have looked at piety before. That is defined as the persistent application of moral virtues to our lives.
Most of us probably think of being devoid of religious doctrines first. We can be moral without being religious.
I think ungodliness is all of that wrapped up in one package. The major emphasis is on denying God.
What were Noah’s contemporaries doing that was considered sinful, wicked, impious, and irreligious?
What Was the Widespread Evil in Noah’s Day?
“When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth … (Gen. 6: 5 CSB)
God saw that wickedness was widespread on the earth. What this is talking of here is people were living corrupt lives.
I think we can look at this as society fosters the spread of evil. At a minimum, society allows the evil to take hold. At maximum, that hold is encouraged and even fostered.
Think of it this way. Look at these two definitions of society from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
- a voluntary association of individuals for common ends
- a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests
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The members of the group are likeminded. They have pretty much the same outlook on life.
We gravitate to people who think and act like we do and are comfortable with what we are comfortable. If we don’t like where we are at, we move.
All that says is that it allows a breeding place for certain ideas to flourish. Good can flourish in some places. Evil can flourish in others.
We like to think that just the non-believers are corrupt. Unfortunately, this described believers and non-believers alike. Hastings wrote, “But, to bring the matter home to ourselves, for with ourselves the great concern lies, are not men still full of envy, murder, debate, deceit? Is not the state of society lamentably corrupted and depraved?”
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Job put it this way. “What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?” (Job 15: 14 NIV).
You really think that question can be answered yes?
Think again. Light wrote, “When a question is asked in argument and left unanswered, it is the strongest possible form of denial. It is more than saying no man is clean or righteous. It represents such a supposition as man’s priority or holiness to be preposterous and absurd.”
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Believers are still part of mankind. We are still in our sinful bodies.
We are navigating the Sanctification Road, trying to become godly. We aren’t perfect yet.
Glossary
How Were Hearts Corrupt in Noah’s Day?
“… and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time” (Gen. 6: 5 CSB)
Being godly is an individual choice that starts with the heart.
We’ve talked about the heart so many times over the last two years. But that is because the heart is so important.
Glossary
In the days of Noah, people’s hearts were corrupt. Boston noted that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
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Really, though, if we think about it, Simeon is right. It was their hearts, thoughts, and imaginations that were evil. It was the whole package.
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That brings up a couple of points. That makes the wickedness an individual thing. We can’t blame our ungodliness on society. It is our own choice.
If it starts at the heart, it must be the whole package. Gray wrote that “the heart includes ‘conscience and consciousness, will and desire, intellect and emotion, understanding and affection.’”
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So, when God says He want our hearts, He means all of us. We can’t say we are His child and then not live that way.
Let’s stop a second. When a thought flies into our minds that we know is evil, we have not sinned just by having the thought pop in. It is more likely than not Satan tempting us to sin.
It is what we do with that thought that counts. Remember, temptation is not only a suggestion in our mind that would lead us to sin rather than following God’s Will, but it is also that period of time between conception and execution of doing what is sinful.
Charnock put it this way. He wrote, “A simple apprehension of sin is not sinful. Thoughts receive not a sinfulness barely from the object. That may be unlawful to be acted which is not unlawful to be thought of.”
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We have to make the choice to allow that temptation to become a sin.
The people in the days of Noah had made that choice. It was a continual happening.
The people in the days of Noah were not trying to please God and simply failing. They had chosen to not please Him.
Well, Scriptures do acknowledge this. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17: 9 KJV).
What Did Jesus Say about the Days of Noah?
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt. 24: 38-39 ESV)
Jesus only mentioned two things about the days of Noah: eating and drinking; and marrying and giving in marriage. How we read verse 38 depends on whether we hook it to verse 37 or verse 39.
If we read in through the lens of verse 39, it would sound like it was business as usually. The world continued to spin as it did until the flood came along.
This seems to be the gist of it — especially if we hook on verses 40 and 41. “Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left” (Mt. 24: 40-41 ESV).
This described standard operating procedure. We are going to work right up to the time Jesus comes. There is not going to be any warning.
But what if we hook verse 38 to verse 37? “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark” (Mt. 24: 37-38 NIV).
What was wrong with the “… eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage …” (Mt. 24: 37-38 NIV)? If we look at this through the lens of the days of Noah were filled with ungodliness, what were they doing wrong?
Exell pointed out that “… marriage was commenced on a wrong principle.” “When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose” (Gen. 6: 1-2 NIV).
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Who in the world are sons of God? The Holman Bible Dictionary gave us this: “Divine beings associated with God in the heavens in what can be called the ‘divine council’ (Psalm 82:1 NRSV) or the ‘council of the holy ones’ (Psalm 89:7 NAS). In Job, the earliest Greek translation translated ‘sons of God’ as ‘angels of God’ (Job 1:6; Job 2:1) and ‘my angels’ (Job 38:7).”
I don’t think the issue is they were marrying. I think the issue was they were marrying someone they should not have been.
God has very specific laws and commandments about who we shouldn’t marry. These laws are found in Leviticus 18.
We talked about these in a previous devotion. There is a whole list of unlawful sexual practices. This includes unlawful practices with family member as well as same-sex marriages.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Exell contended that the purpose of marriage was to be supporting in our navigation of the Sanctification Road. It should not be a marriage that leads to ungodliness.
Instead of looking to God, mankind was proud at their growth outside of the garden. They were proud of their increased number and the life that they had made.
That is what eating and drinking could mean. They are absorbed in the life they have made that does not include God. Lewis contended that this meant they were not keeping the Sabbath holy.
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Bottom like was as Exell wrote. He said, “The degenerate world rejected the holy influences of heaven.”
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Making the Connections
I wonder if it is a combination of both? Jesus will come without warning because the world has slid back into the wickedness known in the days of Noah.
How Do We Apply This?
- We have to search for and seek God.
- We have to live pure, godly lives.
- We need to be obsessed with God, not absorbed in this world.
- We have to humbly submit ourselves to God and show Him gratitude for giving us life and eternal life.
- We have to walk in the Spirit.
We know the days of Noah had much wickedness. Wickedness in Scriptures is equated to sin.
We know there is much wickedness in the world today. Wickedness is still equated to sin.
While these verses may not detail exactly what the wickedness was in Noah’s day, we do have the Scriptures. They tell us exactly what God’s expectations are for our behavior.
It is up to us to choose to be like Him.
Father God. We do choose You. We want to imitate You by living pure lives. We know that, because we are in these sinful bodies, we will occasionally fail. Only You can change us to be like You. We pray that we continue to navigate the Sanctification Road to reach that end. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
What do you think?
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You clarified His Holy, life, transforming Word here in the Days of Noah. Thank You!
You’re welcome!