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UT as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)
There was never so great a Teacher as our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught in the simple terms of the people, and He taught by example. Every word He taught us was absolute Truth from the very Author of Truth itself. Moreover, He taught from the simple to the complex, the known to the unknown, and never got these two opposites reversed. Our Lord taught, as well, from the established and historical Truth of and extant Old Testament historical perspective – The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10) Unfortunately, even as the wise Solomon observes, we too soon forget history and are thereby blinded to future failures. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. (Ecclesiastes 1:11)
Our Lord Jesus Christ warned us of a future time when the wickedness of men in the days of Noah would be starkly repeated, and a similar destruction would be brought upon them and their children. As the evil days wax more and more Godless, mankind will be as blind to the coming destruction as were those who mocked righteous Noah. They will forget history and all that is past. In fact, attempts will be made to erase it.
What lesson in wisdom was the Lord imparting by His remarks about Noah? I believe that lesson is simple enough for a child to grasp if given a proper respect and reverence for biblical truth. Far more simple and dramatic than a fairy tale is the story of Noah and the old world. There was no regard for the marriage bonds, no limits on the exercise of wicked desire, and every man lived as if there was no tomorrow – ‘eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we shall all be dead!’ and so they were!
Noah labored on building the Ark for one hundred and twenty years; but the building of the Ark was not all for which Noah labored. He preached at the same time to those who would ridicule his seeming folly. In a sense, Noah was attempting to build faith in the counsel of God by laboring for an Old Testament Church that was yet to materialize until Abraham.
The Ark of Noah has its properties in the modern-day Ark of Christ that is the Church. The true Church bears little resemblance to most so-called churches of our day. The true Church, like Noah, is ridiculed for its ‘blind’ faith day by day. The truth of the two witnesses of the Old and New Testament lie dead on the streets of modern skepticism and unbelief. In Noah’s day, only eight souls were saved out a world filled with multitudes of sinners. Because Noah had lived up to his parental responsibility in teaching his family the righteousness of God, his entire family alone were saved from the deluging waters.
On the day of final judgment, God commanded Noah to ‘Come into the Ark’ not ‘Go into the Ark.’ Why? Because God is always in the place of security for His people, so He invites them, Come! Not only did God tell Noah to come into the Ark, but He also sent the multitude of chosen beasts into the Ark behind Noah. (unlike the fanciful movies of Noah rounding up the animals and leading them there – There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. (Gen 7:9)
The Ark today is the Body of Christ. That is the place of security. The true Church is our place of security. As the terrible destruction foretold in Holy Writ is brought upon the earth, those and their families who are securely ensconced in the Ark of the true Church will rise higher above the terror and desolation – the more terrible, the higher will that Ark rise. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Only our Lord Jesus Christ has authority to close the door of salvation of that Ark just as only God could close the door of Noah’s Ark on the wicked of his day. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16) Friends, pray that you and your loved ones, too, will be among those whom the Lord shuts in from the coming destruction.
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