Matthew 24:37-39; Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 7:6,11
As the days of Noe 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 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.
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth…In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): It is not without reason that Moses again mentions the age of Noah. For old age has this among other evils, that it renders men more indolent and morose; whence the faith of Noah was the more conspicuous, because it did not fail him in that advanced period of life.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Aged persons are apt to be peevish, fretful, and passionate; and therefore need to be on their guard against such infirmities and temptations. Faith, love, and patience, are three main Christian graces, and soundness in these is much of gospel perfection. There is enduring patience and waiting patience, both of which must be looked after; to bear evils becomingly, and contentedly to wait for the good till we are fit for it, and it for us, being “followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,” Hebrews 6:12.
JOHN CALVIN: So Noah’s promptitude deserves no little commendation; because, being commanded to enter the ark, he immediately obeyed―he, being moved with fear by the Word, perceived by faith the approach of that deluge which all others ridiculed. Wherefore, his faith is again commended in this place, because, indeed, he raised his eyes above heaven and earth.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): He was nearly five hundred years old when he began to preach about the flood—a good old age to take up such a subject. For a hundred and twenty years he pursued his theme—three times as long as most men are ever able to preach, and now, at last God’s time of long-suffering is over, and He proves the truthfulness of the testimony of His servant by sending the flood that Noah had foretold.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): He was five hundred old when God first foretold the flood, and promised the old world one hundred and twenty years’ respite: but, wearied out with their obstinacy in sin, He “cut the work short in righteousness,” Romans 9:28, and brought the flood upon them twenty years sooner:* as it is said of Christ’s second coming, that, “for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened,” Matthew 24:22; so, for the contumacy of these ungodly sinners, their judgment was hastened.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): And remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.” Some would have us to believe, that ere the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven, this earth shall be covered, from pole to pole, with a fair mantle of righteousness. They would teach us to look for a reign of righteousness and peace, as the result of agencies now in operation; but the brief passage just quoted cuts up by the roots, in a moment, all such vain and delusive expectations. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea? Was God’s truth dominant? Was the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord? Scripture replies, “the earth was filled with violence,” Genesis 6:13; “all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth,” Genesis 6:12; “the earth also was corrupt before God,” Genesis 6:11.
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): I don’t find any place where God says the world is to grow better and better…I find that the earth is to grow worse and worse.
C. H. MACKINTOSH: Well, then, “so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.” This is plain enough. “Righteousness” and “violence” are not very like each other. Neither is there any similarity between universal wickedness and universal peace. It only needs a heart subject to the Word, and freed from the influence of preconceived opinions, in order to understand the true character of the days immediately preceding “the coming of the Son of man.” Let not my reader be led astray. Let him reverently bow to Scripture. Let him look at the condition of the world, “in the days before the flood;” and let him bear in mind, that “as” it was then, “so” shall it be at the close of this present period. This is most simple―most conclusive. There was nothing like a state of universal righteousness and peace then, neither shall there be anything like it by and by.
MATTHEW HENRY: The Lord will come in a day when we look not for Him, and an hour when men are not aware. The time which men think to be the most improper and unlikely, and when therefore they are most secure, will be the time of the Lord’s coming. Let us then beware how we in our thoughts and imaginations put that day far away from us; but rather suppose it to be so much nearer in reality, by how much further off it is in the opinion of the ungodly world.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): This is the way of sinners: “because judgment is not executed speedily upon them,” they think it never will. The scoffers in the last days will say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” But God assures us, that “the judgment of sinners now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not,” 2 Peter 2:3.
JOHN TRAPP: For God is not asleep, or gone a journey, “because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness,” Acts 17:31.
C. H. SPURGEON: Noah is the picture of one who is the Lord’s witness during evil days, and lives through them faithfully, enduring unto the end.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): When Noah built the Ark, there were few with him, and many mocked at him; but he was found to be in the right at last. There was an ark for Noah, in the day of the flood―and there shall be a hiding-place for all believers in Jesus, when the wrath of God at last bursts on this wicked world.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): May it be my mercy, to remember, while reading the account of Noah’s finding favour with God, that it is by the Lord Jesus Christ alone, of whom Noah was a type, that I can find favour and acceptance with God in this life, or salvation in another. In Him, as the True Ark, may I be found, when God shall arise to judge the world.
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*Editor’s Note: John Trapp’s analysis of the timing of the flood is based upon comparing Genesis 5:32, Genesis 6:1-3, and Genesis 7:6, in addition to the Scriptures that he has cited.
►Editor’s Note: Today’s publication marks the six hundredth article posted on the Bible Truth Chat Room website. All these posts are accessible from the links on the sitemap page.
