Signs of the Times: As in the Days of Noah

Lately I have been thinking about Matthew 24:37-42 where Jesus provides a clue as to when He will return to rapture believers:

³⁷But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  ³⁸For 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,  ³⁹And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  ⁴⁰Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  ⁴¹Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  ⁴²Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 

I went to Genesis to study more about what was happening during Noah’s time.  Genesis 6:1-7 tells us much of what we need to know:

¹When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. ³ Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”  ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.  ⁵ The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” (NIV)

The Nephilim — which are also referred to as giants in other translations — are the offspring of the sons of God (fallen angels) and mortal women.  Unger writes: “This utterly unnatural union, violating God’s created order of being, as such a shocking abnormality as to necessitate the worldwide judgment of the Flood.”¹  Some argue that the Nephilim² are the result of the intermarriage between the godly line of Seth and the ungodly line of Cain.  But if mortal men mated with mortal women, how did we end up with a race of Giants?  And why single them out as Nephilim?

I agree with other writers, like Chuck Missler, who believe that Satan was attempting to alter the human gene pool to prevent the birth of a perfect Messiah.  Our Almighty God thwarted Satan’s plan by flooding the earth and killing every human and every animal, bird, and creature that moved along the ground (except for Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark).  I bring this up because this week there have been news reports in the media that British scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos.  Since Genesis 6:4 tells us that the Nephilim were still on the earth after the flood (we read about them again in Numbers 13:33) I can’t help but think…as the days of Noah were.

Satan may have been foiled temporarily, but his plan has always been same: to prevent man from ruling and reigning with Christ in His Millennial Kingdom.  When we read the kingdom parables in Matthew, Jesus says in the parable of the sower that the birds of the air represent the evil one (Matthew 13:19).  Comparing Scripture with Scripture, in the parable of the mustard tree, we learn that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of the tree (Matthew 13:32).  Those who know Scripture have eyes to see the apostasy that is growing like a cancer in visible churches.  What better way to deceive professed believers than to stand beside them in the pew (just as Jesus prophesied in the parable of the wheat and tares) and get them to question, “Did God really say?”

I believe that the signs of our times are telling us that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, and it is definitely time to repent.

¹Unger MF.  The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary.  Harrison RK, Vos HW, Barber CJ, eds.  Chicago, IL: Mood Press; 1988.

²To learn more about Nephilim, you might want to start with  "As the Days of Noah Were" and "Mischievous Angels or Sethites?" by Chuck Missler.