Normalcy or Chaos?
Jesus compared the final years before his return to the period leading up to the Great Flood of Noah. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be” when the “Son of Man” returns. Some commentators take this saying as a prediction of the return of the same conditions that existed in Noah’s day; that is, a repetition of the moral anarchy and violence that prompted God to send the floodwaters in the first place.
Certainly,
all periods of human history have featured chaos, immorality, and catastrophes,
but this popular interpretation ignores the literary context and the point of the
analogy of Christ’s words.
The
fuller version of his saying is recorded in the Gospel of Luke which compares
this final period to both the “days of Noah” and the “days of Lot,”
and in both instances, stressing the same point - (Luke 17:26-30).
ALWAYS PREPARED
Since
no one except God alone knows the timing of that day, Christ’s disciples remain
ever vigilant and prepared for its sudden arrival. The comparison with the “days
of Noah” illustrates the point. Jesus said nothing about the return of gross
sin, violence, or terrestrial upheaval - whether such things will occur in history’s
final years is not HIS point.
Instead,
just as before the Flood, men will go about their daily routines, “eating,
drinking, marrying, planting, building, buying and selling.” This describes
everyday life, NOT chaos or egregious sin. They will go about their daily
business as if nothing unexpected and disastrous will ever occur despite the
testimony of preachers of righteousness and the lessons of history - (2 Peter
2:5, “If God did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald
of righteousness…).
Just before the Flood, the problem was the failure of humanity to heed the call for repentance issued by Noah. Men lived as if the judgment would never come until the very moment when destruction fell.
The
analogy stresses man’s indifference to such warnings of inevitable judgment and
NOT the wickedness of that generation. Only Noah and his family believed
God “about things not yet seen,” and therefore, Noah prepared the ark, and
his family was saved - (Hebrews 11:7).
WITHOUT OBVIOUS “SIGNS”
For
the rest of humanity, the Flood arrived without warning, as if Noah had failed
to alert his neighbors about what was coming. They did not listen and consciously
closed their ears to his voice.
And
so, likewise, the sudden arrival of the “Son of Man” will catch many off
their guard. The conditions described by Jesus portray normalcy, not chaos.
In
the account provided in Luke, Jesus states that the kingdom will not come
“with observable signs” (paratérésis). This translates a Greek word
used by medical practitioners for diagnosing diseases from observable symptoms,
and for making careful astronomical observations.
The timing of his arrival cannot be calculated by discerning the significance of cosmic signs and world events. When he does come, it will be like “lightning flashing out of the one part under heaven and flashing into the other part under heaven” - sudden, unmistakable, and visible to all.
Jesus
added an illustration from the “days of Lot.” Before the “Son of Man”
arrives, people will conduct their regular affairs, “eating, drinking,
marrying, being given in marriage, buying, selling, planting and building.”
But in Lot’s time, fire fell suddenly from heaven and destroyed the city of Sodom,
and so “will it be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
In
his Olivet Discourse, Jesus also warned against becoming too comfortable in
this life. Disciples must take heed “lest at any time your hearts are
overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and so
that day comes upon (ephistémi) you
unexpected (aiphnidios). For
just as a snare shall it come upon all those who dwell on the face of the whole
earth. Watch, therefore, and pray always to be accounted worthy to escape (ekpheugō) all
these things.” – (Luke 21:34-36).
The
Apostle Paul uses this same saying of Jesus in his letter to the Thessalonians when
making a similar point:
- (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3) - “For yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord is coming thus as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then unexpected (aiphnidios) destruction comes upon (ephistémi) them as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (ekpheugō).”
The
Greek term rendered “unexpected” (aiphnidios) occurs nowhere else
in the New Testament except in these two passages.
WHEN LEAST EXPECTED
And
according to Paul, the “Day of the Lord” will arrive when it is least
expected, “just like a thief in the night.” And humanity’s claim cited
by Paul in the passage to have established “peace and safety” points to
times of normalcy, not chaos, upheaval, or violence. Likewise, Peter warns of the
coming time when:
- “Scoffers walking after their own lusts who will scoff; Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation!” - (2 Peter 3:2-4).
In
times of global catastrophes, even atheists tend to believe something
“apocalyptic” is imminent. But during periods of peace and prosperity, the
human tendency is to assume that life will continue as usual.
Thus,
Jesus paints a picture of normalcy for the period leading up to his return, not
one characterized by cosmic catastrophes, unrestrained violence, and moral
anarchy. The unprepared will be overtaken by his sudden and unexpected “arrival.”
And therefore, his disciples must always be prepared for that day.
