But just as the days of Noah were, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
For just as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they didn't know a thing until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man.
Then two will be in the field: one will be taken, and one will be left. Two will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken, and one will be left. Watch therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming.
if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
For this reason you also must be ready, for at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes. Mat. 24:37-45.
The Days of Noah
Even though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5, preached for 120 years, his hearers lived as if they were oblivious to his message.
First, knowing this, that there will come in the last days scoffers walking according to their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. 2 Peter 3:3-4. Scoffers, in the first century, were already jeering the Church because Christ had promised to come back but He didn't. The thing to notice is that if the scoffers can convince themselves that Christ is never coming back they are free to continue walking according to their own lusts.
This seems to be human nature. Ignore it - it might go away. If that doesn't work try ridiculing the message presented; and ridicule the messenger. This might make you feel better for a while but the truth will still be the truth and the effects of the truth will catch you and make you pay the full price.
This seems to be what Christ was speaking about. Christ has no problem with people eating, the problem is when gluttony or drinking become a god. Or, as Luke put it take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, and that Day come upon you unexpectedly. Luke 21:34. If your life is full of partying, drunkenness, or worries there is no way you are looking for or even expecting the return of Jesus.
Being married is normal for grown-ups but getting divorced just to marry someone else is still adultery; according to Christ. Christ said that this kind of lifestyle happened before "the flood" and that it will happen again before His return.
For this they willingly forget: they don't know because they do not want to know. The truth is available but people do not want to believe that the present heavens and the earth ... are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:5+7.
Being married is normal for grown-ups but getting divorced just to marry someone else is still adultery; according to Christ. Christ said that this kind of lifestyle happened before "the flood" and that it will happen again before His return.
For this they willingly forget: they don't know because they do not want to know. The truth is available but people do not want to believe that the present heavens and the earth ... are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:5+7.
There is a theory, which I do not accept, that Christ is coming back two times. Once, in the air, for the Church, when Christians are taken to the "judgment seat of Christ". Once, to the earth, to take all other humans to "The Great White Throne Judgment". The argument is there are actually “two” second comings. One is in the air, for the church - commonly known as the rapture. The other is to the world, coming with the church, commonly known as the Second Coming of Jesus. Guzik.
one will be taken, and one will be left. Another false theory says that at the rapture one shall be carried up to heaven by angels, the other shall be left a prey to devils, on account of her bad life. Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859.
This view, totally unbiblical, allows no time for a fair trial before the punishment takes place. The Bible says that at the time of the judgment the dead, the great and the small, (were) standing before the throne, and they opened the books ... And the dead were judged by the things having been written in the books, according to their works. Rev. 20:12.
Another theory states: one will be taken not by angels, to meet Christ in the air, and to be introduced into his kingdom and glory (the Rapture) but by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them. Gill. This teacher confines all of Matthew 24 to the fall of Jerusalem and that it makes no reference at all to the Rapture.
if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. These words do not make sense if we force them into the scene of the destruction of Jerusalem. There is no way that the master of the house could have kept the Roman soldiers out of his house.
one will be taken, and one will be left. Another false theory says that at the rapture one shall be carried up to heaven by angels, the other shall be left a prey to devils, on account of her bad life. Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859.
This view, totally unbiblical, allows no time for a fair trial before the punishment takes place. The Bible says that at the time of the judgment the dead, the great and the small, (were) standing before the throne, and they opened the books ... And the dead were judged by the things having been written in the books, according to their works. Rev. 20:12.
Another theory states: one will be taken not by angels, to meet Christ in the air, and to be introduced into his kingdom and glory (the Rapture) but by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them. Gill. This teacher confines all of Matthew 24 to the fall of Jerusalem and that it makes no reference at all to the Rapture.
if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have kept watch, and he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. These words do not make sense if we force them into the scene of the destruction of Jerusalem. There is no way that the master of the house could have kept the Roman soldiers out of his house.
However, the major point of what Christ is saying is you also must be ready, for at an hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes.
In the Meantime
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master appointed over his household, to give them food in due season?
Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
Assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his possessions.
But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My master is delaying to come,'
"and should begin to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
the master of that servant will come on a day which he does not expect, and in an hour which he does not know, and he will cut him in two, and will appoint his share with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 24:46-51.
he will make him ruler over all his possessions. Christ tells a parable about two kinds of servants. Christ's teaching is that if you fulfil your obligation you will be rewarded with prestige and more responsibilities.
If the steward in this story messes up in his responsibilities and quits expecting his boss's return he may become hostile to his servants; he may become a glutton or maybe take up drinking with the town alcoholics. However, his thoughtless activities have not changed the master's plans. The master will come home in any case, totally unexpected by the steward.
he will cut him in two. This is so distinctly an un-Jewish thing to do. A dictionary definition clears up the misstatement. cut = to flog severely. Strong G1371. We know from Christ's and Paul's experiences, at the hands of the Jews and Romans that flogging is what the Romans did.
he will make him ruler over all his possessions. Christ tells a parable about two kinds of servants. Christ's teaching is that if you fulfil your obligation you will be rewarded with prestige and more responsibilities.
If the steward in this story messes up in his responsibilities and quits expecting his boss's return he may become hostile to his servants; he may become a glutton or maybe take up drinking with the town alcoholics. However, his thoughtless activities have not changed the master's plans. The master will come home in any case, totally unexpected by the steward.
he will cut him in two. This is so distinctly an un-Jewish thing to do. A dictionary definition clears up the misstatement. cut = to flog severely. Strong G1371. We know from Christ's and Paul's experiences, at the hands of the Jews and Romans that flogging is what the Romans did.
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