Upon a certain occasion, the Master was asked the questions by His disciples, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24: 3.
In the discourse which He presented in answering these questions we find these words:
“But as the days of Noah 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 Noah 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.” Matt. 24:37-39.
Thus we have the authority of the great Teacher for the fact that the world at the time of His second coming will be in the condition that prevailed just before the Flood in the days of Noah. The conditions then called for the destruction of the world by water; and according to God’s plan as expressed by Peter, “the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3: 7.
The Master specifically mentions some of the conditions that prevailed in the time of Noah. They were “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,” right up to the very day that
Noah entered into the ark; and the text says they “knew not until the Flood came.” In other words, they were going on with the ordinary affairs of life; they were all absorbed in its work, its pleasures, and its frivolities, and so much so that notwithstanding the fact that Noah, the preacher of righteousness, had been earnestly giving them the warning sent from God, still they did not know what was coming. But they might have known if they had taken pains to heed the warning.
The conditions that existed in the time of Noah, and which the Master says will be repeated just before His second coming, are more fully set forth in the sixth chapter of Genesis, where that particular time is under consideration. The text says:
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Gen. 6:5, 11-13.
Man’s “wickedness was great.” “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” and “the earth was filled with violence.” Twice over is this statement made, showing that the conditions of violence in that time must have been very intense. Now just so surely as God’s word is true, and just so surely as the Lord Jesus has the infinite power of viewing the future and disclosing conditions through His attribute of prophecy, just that surely may we know that as the end approaches, violence will be one of the world-wide conditions upon this planet.
We would not have any one get the idea that we are affirming a theory or that we are forming speculations. We are presenting the teaching of the divine word of the infinite Christ. He has uttered the prediction. Now the thing for us to do is to study what He says, and compare His sayings with the actual facts. Of course this prophecy in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew that we are considering is only one of the many prophetic declarations in the word of God, and all these declarations are harmonious in telling us that we are living in the very end of this world’s history, and that the next great event is the second coming of Christ in person. When that event is pending, according to the words of Christ Himself, the conditions will be as they were in the days of Noah, and the Word is explicit in saying that in that time there was violence in the land.
We need only refer to the pictures on this and the following page to show that the conditions prevailing everywhere are uttering their premonitions of the violence and rioting that is slumbering in society in all parts of the world. Of course if these pictures represented scenes that were isolated or very uncommon it would not become us to make mention of them or to say that they were in any way significant. But those scenes in Paterson, New Jersey, are merely representative of conditions that are world-wide. A bitter strike in Cincinnati has just been settled. Another very stubborn one is in progress on the Pacific Coast. Then there is the difficulty in Virginia. And we may pass on to England, to Spain, to France, to Germany, to Japan, and all the other countries of the globe.
Men, women, and children in the Paterson, New Jersey, bread line established by the “I. W. W.” for feeding the Paterson mill strikers and their families
These turbulent contentions are temporarily settled only to break out elsewhere in a more determined way, and the subject-matter for violence and warlike strife is becoming more and more pronounced and more and more prevalent in every part of the world. We are, so to speak, in the very beginning of these things; and these conditions will get worse and worse until the situation finally will be such that it will demand the personal presence and the omnipotent power of the great Creator to bring it to an everlasting end. The word of God is clear upon this. We should recognize its great notes of warning; and recognizing these notes of warning, we should prepare for the issue that lies before us. For if we are prepared for it, the great event of the second coming of Christ is the happiest, the most glorious, and the most to be desired of anything that has ever visited our planet. He who is the desire of all nations is about to come; and for those who are ready, He will be their glorious Redeemer, and will bring them the joys and the powers of immortality. T.
