There came a time in the history of the world when God poured out His judgment and destroyed mankind because of their gross wickedness. As the population grew, “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. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” (Genesis 6:5-7).
The influence of sin was great and was exacerbated by the fact that “the sons of God” began to marry the “daughters of men”
(Genesis 6:1-2). The sons of God were those that came from the lineage of Seth and had a background of respecting and acknowledging the God of Heaven. They began to marry the daughters of men who came from the lineage of Cain, idolatrous and ungodly people. It remains true in this present evil world when people marry outside of the faith, they are marrying outside of the will of God; the consequence is the spiritual downfall of those who at one time had communion with God.
In the midst of evil, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8) because he was obedient to the will of God. God provided an avenue of escape for Noah and his family from the destruction that was to come. He gave instruction to Noah to build an ark, for God was going to bring death to all the living by a flood of water upon the earth.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness and most likely declared to all that would listen of the impending doom and judgment of God. In the face of probable opposition and scorn, Noah labored with faith, year after year, building the ark. There came a day, after the ark was filled with the animals that would be spared, when God instructed Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark” (Genesis 7:1). “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth” (4). God shut them in the ark, and in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, the fountains of the deep broke up and the windows of heaven were opened. It began to rain as never before seen upon the earth. God did what He said He would do, and all people except for those on the ark perished in the flood because of their rejection of the almighty God.
Consider how it must have been to those who had seen this man building an ark. They heard the warning of judgment to come, they were told to turn their hearts to God, and yet they ignored the message. However, one day a raindrop fell from the sky. Before long there was a deluge of water, and the idolater, the agnostic, and the atheist believed in the message of Noah—but it was too late.
Crowds of people may have swarmed around the ark when the rain came. “Let us in. Open the door. Save us!” The opportunity for salvation from death was past, for the door was shut. Time had run out.
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when Jesus returns to this earth to usher us to the judgment seat of God. “As the days of Noe [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 Noe [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” (Matthew 24:37-39).
2 Peter 3:6-7, 10 teaches that as the world was overflowed with water and people perished in the flood, that this present world will be destroyed with fire and will be burned up when the Lord returns. There will be no second chances, there will be no time to pray to be saved. This is the time to prepare to meet God. This is the time to get on the ark of salvation. We are living in the last days, and time is running out. Jesus Christ is at the door and this world is about to be consumed by the final judgment of God. People are living as if there were no end to come. The world scoffs at the saint of God. People belittle the doctrine of holiness and sanctification. People are seeking their own ways and following after their lusts. Sin and evil are rampant in this world. It is about over. God will send His Son in judgment just as sure as He sent the flood.
We are living in the last days before the fire of God is poured out in devastating finality on this earth. When Jesus returns, it will be too late to repent. Now is the time. What will it take for you to believe? Will it be too late for you? Time is running out. ■
