In chapter twenty-four of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ confirms that we are in the last days and that the account of Noah and the Flood were actual events. Our Lord goes on to illustrate a parallel between the two events when He says, “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.” We can best see those similarities when we refer back to the Genesis text and make the comparison ourselves.
Men began to multiply on the face of the earth
In Genesis 6:1 we see the first recorded population explosion. While we do not know how many people populated the earth during this time, we do know that as a result it became problematic. Today, we see identical symptomology. Mull over the .. it took the world from the time of Noah to 1867 to reach one billion people; then from 1867 to 1935 (68 years) to achieve two billion; and by 1995 (another 65 years) we hit six billion. Currently we are approximately seven billion in total, adding a quarter million souls every twenty-four hours.
They took wives for themselves of all whom they chose
Genesis 6:2 tells us that there were some pretty wild and bizarre things happening sexually in the days of Noah (that I won’t go into here), but suffice it to say, God was not pleased in the least. Today, the largest industry in the United States is the entertainment industry, which includes every form of media, music, arts, and sports. Did you know that the fastest growing segment within that industry is pornography? I recently read that seventy percent of American men age 18–34 view Internet pornography once a month.
The wickedness of man was great…every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually
Has the world today truly reached the point that Genesis 6:5 speaks of? I would venture to say ‘not yet’, but we are unquestionably very, very close. The verse is not necessarily implying that every deed of man was wicked, but rather that the imagination contained within his heart was. When we scrutinize the imagery we are subjected to on a daily basis, there is certain inevitability that the worst of what we see will be etched upon our hearts. It is this very images that are conjured up before, during, and after any sinful behavior.
The earth also was corrupt (and) filled with violence
Genesis 6:11 speaks of world corruption and violence. Who reading this blog can deny that we live in corrupt and violent times. In our country alone, only 2.4 percent of a thousand criminals see jail time. By the time our children finish elementary school they have witnessed an average of eight thousand murders on television. By age 18 they have seen almost a quarter-million violent acts on TV. A whooping 79 percent of Americans ‘do believe’ that violence on television helps to precipitate real-life hostility.
Why Am I Telling You This
For the active Christian much of this information is not news; with the Lord as our guide, we do what we are called to do and we carry-on with our earthly missions. Therefore I suppose today’s message is for the non-believer, the man or woman who judge that their behavior is not repulsive to God and scoffs at the idea Jesus Christ is coming again. It is my hope and prayer that this person would identify with being a partial realization of Christ’s prophecy and seek not to be chronicled as prophecy fulfilled. Christ has died, and Christ has risen, and Christ will come again.
He Dwells -- The B'log in My Eye 