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The Flood Warning

The Flood Warning: Why Jesus Compared His Return to the Days of Noah

Introduction: The Forgotten Prophecy in a Simple Story

The story of Noah’s Ark is perhaps the most familiar narrative in Genesis, often presented as a quaint tale of animals and a large boat. Yet, this easy-to-understand account contains a devastating prophetic warning. The Lord Jesus Christ chose the days of Noah—not Sodom, not Egypt, but the days of Noah—as the exact historical parallel for the conditions that will prevail just before His Second Coming.

This article shifts the focus from the building of the Ark to the blindness of the people, revealing a critical Prophetic Hotspot for those awaiting the Lord’s Return.

The Foundational Story: The Blindness of the Preoccupied

The historical context of the Flood is not primarily characterized by massive wickedness, but by massive preoccupation. God gave humanity a long, public warning (Genesis 6:3, KJV), but the world continued to function as though the prophecy was irrelevant.

The KJV Prophetic Parallel

Jesus Himself highlights the mundane nature of their lives, making their sudden destruction all the more tragic:

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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, 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, KJV)

Their destruction was not a secret attack; it was a consequence of willful ignorance amidst a public warning. They were consumed by the daily necessities of life (“eating and drinking”) and social routines (“marrying”), making them deaf and blind to the prophetic warnings of the judgment to come.

Prophetic Hotspot: The Modern Preoccupation

The warning of Noah’s day applies directly to the Church today. We are not expecting a water judgment, but a judgment by fire (2 Peter 3:7, KJV). The core danger remains the same: being consumed by the ordinary.

  • The Modern Blindness: Just as the antediluvians were consumed by the ordinary (business, food, family), the modern world—and often the Church—is preoccupied with financial anxieties, political turmoil, social media, and entertainment. These distractions become the very “flood” that blinds us to the signs of Christ’s imminent arrival.
  • The Sudden Separation: Noah’s entry into the Ark was a moment of instantaneous separation. Jesus emphasizes this separation will be sudden and definitive:“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Matthew 24:40-41, KJV) The decision was made not when the judgment began, but when the door was shut (Genesis 7:16, KJV), locking out those who had ignored the warning while preoccupied with the normal activities of life.

The Return Question: Where is Your Focus?

The story of Noah’s day is not a difficult parable; it is a clear, historical prophecy about the spiritual condition of the world just before the Lord’s Return.

In what ways are the daily comforts, political anxieties, and technological distractions of our modern world—the equivalent of “eating and drinking” in Noah’s day—blinding us to the prophetic urgency and direct commands for watchfulness concerning The Lord’s Return?