upgraded December 31, 2006
Matthew 24:36-39 (NIV) "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 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; 39 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.
A surface reading of Matthew 24:36-39 referenced above appears to contradict the view that the Spirit of God through John gives in Revelation referenced below, concerning the conditions prior to, and at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24:36-39 gives the impression that life is relatively normal while Revelation gives the projection of horrible, life gripping, cataclysmic events:
Revelation 16:10-11 (NIV) The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
Revelation 6:15-17 (NIV) Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
Revelation 9:3-6 (NIV) And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
A Spirit of God led scrutiny of Matthew 24:36-39 will reveal rich manifold truth. Jesus' statement referenced by Matthew was the fact that men had become wicked like they were in the days of Noah.
Genesis 6:5-8 (NIV) The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:11-13 (NIV) Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
Man's concern was only for his physical needs (food, water, sex), with no concern for his spiritual condition:
Matthew 24:38 (NIV) 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;
During the time of Noah, after men had become corrupt and wicked, the Lord God destroyed the sinful world by water. There had never been rain before the flood. The earth was watered by underground streams. Man had no clue that the Lord God would rain a watery death down.
Genesis 2:4-6 (NIV) This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--
Sinful man has little clue of the fiery eternity that awaits him at death, or at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Luke 17:26-30 (NIV) "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
Genesis 19:24 (NIV) Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens.
Revelation 14:9-11 (NIV) A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
Revelation 20:9-10 (NIV) They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 21:8 (NIV) But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Psalms 11:5-6 (NIV) The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.
Job 18:5-21 (NIV) "The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning. 6 The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out. 7 The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down. 8 His feet thrust him into a net and he wanders into its mesh. 9 A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast. 10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path. 11 Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step. 12 Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls. 13 It eats away parts of his skin; death's firstborn devours his limbs. 14 He is torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors. 15 Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling. 16 His roots dry up below and his branches wither above. 17 The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land. 18 He is driven from light into darkness and is banished from the world. 19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived. 20 Men of the west are appalled at his fate; men of the east are seized with horror. 21 Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who knows not God."
In Genesis, prior to the flood, the wicked were totally unaware of what was going to happen to them. In Matthew 24:39 referencing Genesis, it was those people "who knew nothing about what would happen to them" that the flood came and took away. Noah knew what was going to happen. It was not Noah that the flood took away, it was the wicked that the flood took away to death. THE DAY the Righteous went into the ark, total destruction came on the unrighteous. This is an identical situation to what will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. The unrighteous will be unaware of what is going to happen until death comes and takes them away. The Bride of Christ is not going anywhere. After meeting Jesus in the air, they will return to the earth to rule with Him for one thousand years.
Two Scriptures that are widely misunderstood are Matthew 24:39b-41 and Luke 17:34-37:
Matthew 24:39b-41 (NIV) That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Luke 17:34-37 (NIV) I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left." "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
The sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl will prepare the world for the battle of Armageddon. After the destruction of 1.5 billion people because of the fourth seal, the four angels released because of the sixth trumpet will result in one third of the 4 1/2 billion people left on the earth being killed. That amounts to another 1.5 billion people. At that point in time, because of the fourth seal and the sixth trumpet, three billion people, or one half of the six billion people in all of mankind living at the beginning of the Tribulation will have been killed. This fact enables us to understand Matthew 24:39b-41 and Luke 17:34-37 referenced above.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
We know because of Matthew 7:13-14 and many other Scriptures, that certainly not one half, but "only a few" people will be saved. Matthew 24:39b-41 and Luke 17:34-37 reflect that one half of the people, or 50% will be taken by Death during the Tribulation - hence Jesus commented: "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."