Living in this evil society that refused to repent, Noah alone found favor in God’s sight as a “righteous” person ( Genesis 7:1). Romans 1:21 documents this lamentable process: “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” They ignored God, and the longer they persisted, the more unsound their reasoning became and the harder it became for them to change. They continued to live their lives the way they pleased. Unfortunately, the people didn’t respond. During those 120 years, Noah preached a warning message, and God waited patiently for heartfelt reform ( 1 Peter 3:20). The 120 years of Genesis 6:3 refers to the time God’s longsuffering would continue with that generation ( Barnes’ Notes on the Bible). God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). For further study of Christ’s teaching about the signs of His return, see “ Understanding the Olivet Prophecy.” Noah lived in perilous timesĭuring the days of Noah, it seems God gave humanity 120 years to change its evil ways. The signs of the end of this age include lawlessness abounding, the gospel of the Kingdom being preached and Jerusalem being surrounded by armies (Matthew 24:12-14 Luke 21:20). In His Olivet Discourse (Prophecy) found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus described what would be happening on earth before His second coming. Sadly, the vast majority of the earth’s inhabitants will be living ungodly lives in a world filled with violence when this monumental event occurs. His point was that people would be unaware of His return to judge mankind. Jesus referred to the days of Noah when He was describing what conditions would be like just prior to His return. What was the meaning of Jesus’ reference to the days of Noah?
God gave His human creation the freedom to choose between right and wrong ( Proverbs 1:29-31), and He was grieved in His heart to see how far humanity had fallen from what He originally intended. God’s grieving was not sorrow for making a mistake. By the time of Noah, “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).īecause of this, God said that He was “sorry” that He had created mankind ( verse 6) and told Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (verse 13). Instead, they quickly headed toward self-destruction.įollowing Adam and Eve’s example of rejecting God’s instructions, humanity became increasingly hostile and corrupt. Not long after God placed human beings on earth, mankind refused to follow the good and beneficial instructions of God that would have led to stable, happy lives. The book of Genesis explains what conditions were like at that time. Since Jesus said that the last days would parallel the society of Noah’s day, we can look further into God’s Word to learn what He meant. These eight people included Noah, his wife, their three sons and their sons’ wives (Genesis 6:18). Peter states that God “did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5). When God brought a universal flood upon the earth to destroy all mankind, only Noah and his family were spared. Noah had three sons, who were named Shem, Ham and Japheth. The Bible says that “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations” and that he “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). So what was Jesus talking about? Who was Noah? They were oblivious to the impending disaster. It appears people thought they were living normal lives during the time Noah lived, just before the Flood. Discussing the time near His return to earth, Jesus declared, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27).
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