AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

Some while ago, over a weekend my wife and I attended a wedding. It was a lovely wedding with the bride and groom exchanging vows before God and witnesses in a beautiful outdoor setting. Friends and family came from across the country to witness the happy moment. Afterwards people mingled, ate, talked and caught up with friendships for hours over food and drink. It was all that a wedding should be, a celebration of a God-ordained institution and a blessing for the families.

Few months earlier when we received the invitation, we thought how nice it would be to attend the wedding.

Since then, a few things have changed. Gasoline prices have doubled so it costs more. Hotel room prices, even if still manageable have increased with inflation. The nagging COVID virus still lingers.

Now and then we hear of small outbreaks, just enough to remind us of the danger.

Russia invaded Ukraine during this period. While that war is far away from most of us, in time its impact will be felt by all of us. While millions in Ukraine go through a severe tribulation, we are free to move about our lands, live a normal life and go to weddings.

This reminds me of a question that often come to my thoughts: Are we, "whistling past the graveyard"?

The above question means is to put on a cheerful face while ignoring a hazard or crisis. As enjoyable as it was to attend the wedding I admit to thoughts like, "Are we ignoring the reality of the times?" or "Do we really understand the serious moment of history we live in?" Don't mistake my meaning here. I fully believe that "life should go on" and we must not put every pleasure on hold at this moment. We should not.

But Jesus did speak to just this moment when He made a well-known statement about how the world would be in the days leading to His return, His second coming. Notice what He said in the Olivet Prophecy:

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be me 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; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That it is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."(Matthew 24:37-39)

Does this sound like today? I think it does. I admit to thinking about this verse while at the wedding. I will think about this verse when I attend another wedding in a few months and any more in the future. We should all think about what Jesus said about the spirit of the times before His coming.

Are we living in a time like that of the period before the flood of Noah?

Christ's words explain this moment in 2022 exactly. We are in a time of great stress in world conditions. It is a moment that calls for vigilance.