Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) and lived at a time when the world was much like it is today. Mankind despised God’s laws, and God eventually determined to destroy them in order to give civilization a fresh start (Genesis 6:5-8). God told Noah to prepare an ark — a lifeboat– so that when his civilization sank beneath the waves, Noah and his family would be spared.
Just before Jesus Christ’s return, at the end of this age, conditions will be similar to Noah’s time (Matthew 24:36-42) and, as He did with Noah, when the Titanic that is our society goes down God will make a lifeboat of sorts available.
Sometime after the flood of Noah God again intervened to destroy sin and its effects. In the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, sexual perversion was rampant (Genesis 19:1-13), aided and abetted by pride, arrogance, prosperity and idleness (Ezekiel 16:49-50).
Warned by angels of the coming destruction, righteous Lot tried to alert his immediate family, but he was rebuffed: “But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking” (Genesis 19:14). Then fire rained down and destroyed both cities, which have since become a byword for sin and its consequences. Only Lot and his daughters escaped (verse 29).
The examples of Noah and Lot are profound lessons for us (2 Peter 2:4-8). Wickedness and disregard for God and His ways are almost universal, and many of our cities and towns are not unlike Sodom. God will not go on turning a blind eye, nor will He abandon those whose cry out against society’s sins, “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust…for the day of judgment” (verses 9-10).
A World Caught Unawares
In Luke 17:26-37, Christ describes conditions at the end of the age, leading up to His return. As in the time of Noah and Lot, people will not heed the warnings until disaster strikes —much like the situation before the Titanic sank when the increasing signs of danger were ignored.
God is looking for those, “who sigh and cry over all the abominations…” (Ezekiel 9:4), whose morals and values are in tune with His. He will hear them and intervene, just as He heard Lot and Noah, and He asks us a serious question given the current situation in our societies: “What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness …?” (2 Peter 3:11).
By establishing a relationship with God and upholding His way of life, He will provide a lifeline through Jesus Christ. This ‘lifeboat’ has everything to do with your relationship with Him and the way we lead our lives. When you look around at the wonders of our age, remember the Titanic, which no one believed would ever sink, and recall the haunting description of that mighty ship’s last moments: “The band played on … and the deck continued to tilt.”
