Luke 21:34 Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly.
1Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. This is not a subject people want to think about or face and yet, the Scripture says “We know full well that day is coming.” The day of the Lord will come. That day has an appointed calendar date and will happen regardless of one’s belief concerning it. Some have mocked the second coming of Jesus, but be assured, that day will come and the mockers will face the truth of their sarcastic hearts. 2Pet. 3:3 Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, “Where is His ‘coming’ that He promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.”
The ease of letting our guards down and going along with the momentum of everyday life and agreeing with those who dictate the secular terms of life is a path to becoming anesthetized in our souls. This can result in a quiet submission to the world’s offerings causing a dullness of spirit. Heb. 5:11 Concerning this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen. We need to stay alert to what the Holy Spirit is saying to our hearts and not disregard the warnings that were declared for the times we are living in.
The people who lived during the pre-diluvian judgment mocked what Noah was doing and the warnings that a day of judgment was coming. It is believed among scholars that the building of the ark and warnings to those people lasted about a hundred and twenty years before the cataclysmic event erupted. Then, a final countdown was given to Noah – in seven days the flood would begin. What a pronouncement to have heard and get one’s heart ready to go through. Imagine hearing that in seven days, in one week, the world-changing judgment and flood would begin. Suddenly, that day was upon them. Gen. 7:4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.
The closest generalization to the date recorded of the great flood was the seventeenth of MarCheshvan (sometimes called Cheshvan) the second month of the Jewish calendar. Gen. 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep split open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The words, “On this day all the fountains of the great deep split open.” These words of judgment came to pass, and that calendar date went down in history as the most destructive day ever to come upon the human race. Our minds cannot begin to imagine the sound of the earth cracking open like many hydro dams busting out all at once and the water creating an intense roaring noise, plus the groans of all living things gasping for the last breath of life. The horror is too much to take in and maybe this is why many do not want to think of the next judgment to take place on earth.
These people were going about their business as the Scriptures say, Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. The question we need to answer in our hearts is, “Are we doing the same thing these people were doing before the flood?” Are we just filling in time, or doing our best not to become mockers of the righteous and those who desire Godliness on earth? Are we maintaining our hearts in the forthrightness of the Lord’s love and doing our best to live the way God has asked us to? Are we paying attention to the times we are in? Hopefully, we are those who have been trying to share the love of God on this lost earth despite all the wrong that is now commonplace. We need to be reminded of God’s warnings and take them to heart. The days are short and we would be wise not to get caught up or invested in what the world is hellbent on doing.
The Lord gives us a joyful clue as to what we should be doing when we see these terrible events taking place as that day approaches. Luke 21:28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Wow, the Lord said to straighten up and raise your head. No hang-dog attitudes toward the mess going on. Rather, a command to raise our heads toward heaven and while we are doing that, we might as well pray for the people who are living through this mess. God still answers prayer and we have been admonished to keep praying till the Lord returns. Col. 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Yes, Saints, that day when the Lord returns will be a calendar event. Let us prepare our hearts to meet Him and be a blessing while we wait for that day. Yes, Lord Jesus come!
You’re correct. It’s not a topic we want to think about, but we sure need to. Good thought-provoking article. Thank you.