Matthew 24:37-39
New International Version (NIV)
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Everything went on as normal until the door of Noah's Ark was SHUT. Once the door to the Ark was shut, even the human beings locked outside of the Ark were 'downgraded' to the status of the animals outside. Man and animal outside the Ark became equal in status as they died with the same fate- a meaningless and useless death with no one to mourn or bury them. Even the animals chosen by the righteous Noah and brought into the Ark on God's instruction were higher in status than the wicked men and women locked outside the Ark. The animals were spared because of Noah and for Noah after the floods have come and gone.
Until the locking of the door of the Ark, everything went about as normal.
Thats how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything will appear normal but once the door is shut, suddenly, your fate will be reduced to that of an animal, if you are caught without Christformation in you.
You will die a useless death. Inside Noah's Ark, even the animals were valued higher than humans locked outside the Ark. It will be too late to claim you are humans created in God's image with a conscience because your conscience was as good as dead when you were warned, like in Noah's days.
Why were those swept away by the floods no better than the animals in the Ark? Sin is the answer. You may want to continue in your sins even after you have been seriously warned of it's consequences but remember that it will not be God's fault. It will be your own fault for you have been warned thoroughly prior to the shutting of the door. Like it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.You will be reduced to the fate of an animal, dying a useless death.
If man and animal died the same useless death, it would have been better if man would have just been born as an animal. Is the Lord Jesus Christ wrong in saying this statement below?
Matthew 7:6
New International Version (NIV)
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Sometimes, is it worth warning those who would prefer to die a useless death as an animal? There are some who live like this, as their conscience are dead as in animals. They just cannot differentiate between right and wrong no matter how loud you shout at them, at the top of your voice. In the days of Noah,"they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away".But, Noah preached and warned them without fail for 120 years.He did that faithfully but they laughed at his preaching as they had shut their ears to his warnings. This is how it is going to be too! Well, you have been warned that some would prefer just to live as animals do and die an animal's death. For an example just read these verses below.
Luke 13:31-33
New International Version (NIV)
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
The Lord Jesus Christ likened Herod, the evil ruler of Israel to a 'fox'. The Lord Jesus was not afraid of a mere 'fox' because He created all the animals with His Father in Heaven and He knows how far can a 'fox' go with it's threat to kill. A 'fox' is cunning,full of trickery and wierd with it's vicious behaviour. It gets it's prey effectively in the dark and nobody would know that the fox had done the killing. But here, the Lord Jesus Christ says, go and tell that Herod (fox),"I know who he is. He cannot hide from me and I know all his evil deeds. He can hide from mere men but he cannot hide from Me". A Fox is known for this type of cunning behaviour.We see another example here of an animal outside Noah's Ark and think of why God justly needed to wash them away with the flood. It will be the same at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what happened to that 'fox' Herod. Read this passage below and be warned of God's power demonstrated here.
Acts 12:20-24
New King James Version (NKJV)
Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country.So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.
But the word of God grew and multiplied.
The moral of the true story of Herod? An animal that was larger in size,power and viciousness was eaten by a small,frail and weak worm and the 'fox' died after being eaten by the worm. Have some fear of God! An animal destroys another 'animal' with the help of an angel of God.Beware!
