“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all. And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (NLT)
Luke 17:26-30
I don’t think it is coincidence that Jesus refers to people enjoying banquets, parties and weddings. I like the way this translation picks up on the settings from the previous string of parables and stories. I am sure it is linked. Interesting that the earlier element about the coming of the Son of Man was looking to one of the days of the Son of Man. Here we have literally, “as it was in the days of Noah”. Not the day of Noah, but the days. This is a general reference to what was happening in Noah’s lifetime. As described to us in the text of Genesis, in the days of Noah before the flood, mankind was only evil all the time. That is a shocking statement. That should arrest us in our tracks and make us think about our actions. I am sure there is a link here to what we have seen in the rich fool and the development of the description of the abuse of riches, with the culmination in the Lazarus story and the selfishness of the Rich Man. It’s not by chance that suddenly Jesus is talking about the End Times on the back of such behaviour. Noah’s life time is characterized by people who had lost the plot in terms of living as God intended, over a 120 year period. At the end of which time, judgement came in the form of the flood. At the end of the Age, it will be much the same.
Interesting that the activities Jesus lists here are not inherently sinful. They are normal kinds of activities. It is the normal stuff of life. The ordinary activities are not listed here to shock us like the wording of Genesis. (Gen 6:5-7) These activities are the usual stuff of life but linked to what we have been witnessing before, in the lives of those in the parables. These are ordinary things but when Noah warned them about what they were doing, they paid no attention. Is there a message in this for the disciples, regarding the cumulative point of the parables? Noah’s contemporaries were merely focused on other things. Life was just simply routine for them. They ate, they drank, they married and were given in marriage. The action depicted here is the normality of repetitive action. Men married and women were given in marriage. All four verbs are listed in an unconnected string of imperfect continuous tenses.The ongoing nature of life. Then suddenly, one day after a century or more of time to put things right, the flood came without warning to destroy them all. Here we have three aorist verbs depicting the suddenness of action in a moment in time. Noah entered, the flood came and destroyed all. At the end of a long period of time of sameness, suddenly it all changes in a moment, in the blink of an eye. No time to react. No time for last minute adjustments or repentance. Slam bam, its all over.
As it was in the days of Lot. Note again, the similar construction. In the days of Lot. It similarly took some time to build during Lot’s generation, before fire fell from heaven. If you haven’t read these two accounts for a while, of Noah’s times and Lot’s times, then do so now. Here we have six imperfect tense verbs stressing the ongoing nature of normal action. Ate; drank, bought; sold, planted; built. There is no focus on the nature of the sins of Sodom. Rather, what is in focus is the normal flow of life. It is not so much the extraordinary or the debased that catches us by surprise, but the dull sedative of routine that lulls us into a false sense that everything will be fine. Nothing will change. “I don’t have to worry. I have plenty of time to take action and put things right with God.” Then suddenly fire and sulphur rained down – FROM HEAVEN.
So it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Notice the switch has been made back to the singular. There are no days of the Son of Man. Shock! Horror! There are no days of the Son of Man before the day of the Son of Man. Suddenly He will appear and there will be no warning at all. We may well have become so complacent about life that we don’t give any thought to the fact that God could step into our world again today! We all like to think that we have plenty of time and there will be time for me to put things right with God later. But the teaching of these three time phases is the same. The suddenness of it all will catch you by surprise, just like everyone else. Do your repenting while you are still breathing. When you have taken your final breath, it is too late to put things right. Now where have we heard that before? Go and look back over Luke’s gospel again and see how the themes keep unfolding layer upon layer.
Oh yes, Luke wrote an ordered account all right.
I have been thinking a lot about death lately. Serious illness compared with the sudden death of accidents. We all think how tragic it is to die because of a long term illness. But I am beginning to think there is a blessing involved in such an experience. Firstly, the experience is cathartic and purifying. Such pain and tragedy has a positive side too. There is also a positive side to knowing death is imminent. I don’t want to sound morbid but it is true. Many use the last days, weeks or months to extract all they can from what is left of life, and get ready for the next LIFE. You move from life to LIFE. From life with training wheels to the Life of the Age to Come. From the life which is momentary to the Life which is eternal. It is a blessing in a way, to know the number of your days. It forces you to measure the things that really matter. The others who have no clue that their Eternal state is just around the corner, are not as careful about decisions they make. And if the days of Noah and Lot and our contemporaries teaches us anything, it teaches us to number our days and take heed to the Life of the Age to Come.
“And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”‘ The Rich Fool
Luke 12:19
‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ God
Luke 12:19
“A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” Jesus
Luke 12:21
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.Paul of Tarsus
2 Corinthians 6:2
Ian [7/11/1950 – xx/xx/xx] What’s important is the dash. How are you living your dash?
Ian Vail
Let me live today as though He’s coming tomorrow.
Ian Vail