Living in the Days of Noah

Have you ever wondered what it was like living in the days of Noah? By the end of this article, you may discover that you don’t have to wonder as much as you may think.

The Days of Noah

Let’s first take a look at what the Bible says the days of Noah were like in Gen 6:5-8

5 And 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.

6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. KJV

So we see that God observed that man’s wickedness was great upon the earth. By great, it is meant that man’s wickedness multiplied. Man committed increasingly more sin, more and more acts of wickedness. Society was not getting better, not becoming more and more righteous and godly.

Instead, society was becoming more lawless and crime-ridden, and sin became ubiquitous. Lawlessness and crime, immorality, and corruption were increasing more and more every year, instead of decreasing. The man’s wickedness had swept the earth; swept every place where man was. (How much like today!)

However, great wickedness does not only mean that sin multiplied, it also means that sin became even more extreme and terrible. Sin became: more mean and vile, more immoral and perverse, more fleshly and carnal.

Since Adam’s fall into sin, man had become exceedingly sinful and more and more bold in his sin. Man was now committing great wickedness upon the earth, and God saw man’s great wickedness. However, God observed something else about man as well.

He observed that every imagination and thought of man was evil—evil continuously—evil all the time. In other words, God saw that man was very depraved. Evil was a culture—a way of life.

Understand that this does not mean that man never does anything good. Total depravity means that man has a sinful nature; therefore, he fails and sins. Man cannot keep from sinning and doing wicked things. No matter how much man tries not to fail and sin, he will still find himself failing and sinning ever so often. [cf. Romans 7:18-19]

But the point is, in God’s eyes, man’s heart was evil, and notice that it was only evil; that is, it was corrupted and contaminated and short of perfection. Anything less than perfection is evil because it stands opposed to God and His perfection.

In verse 6, we see that God grieved over man and that He had ever created man. So, one may ask, how could God ever regret that He had made man?

Because man was condemning himself, cutting himself off and separating himself from God forever, and dooming himself to spend eternity in hell apart from God. This was not the purpose for which God had made man and it grieved Him greatly. Therefore, God regretted that He had ever made man.

In verse 7, we see that God Judged man. This is because man had aroused the holiness and wrath of God against sin. God is love and in His love, He reaches out to man. But God is also just and holy and His holiness has to act just as His love acts. God’s holiness has to strike out against injustices and immoralities and against all wickedness—to protect His name.

Being perfect, God has to correct all the injustices and wrongs of the earth. Consequently, He had to judge and condemn man for his wickedness. This grieved God to the depths of His heart.

Nevertheless, God judged and condemned man to be destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth—both man and land animals because the whole creation was corrupted. The Hebrew word translated as destroy is descriptive: it means to blot out completely.

We see in verse 8 that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. We will come back to this later.

Are we Living in the Days of Noah?

Well, let’s look at this. In the US, the country has become increasingly secular and sacrilegious. The population has condoned a plethora of ungodly practices and doctrines. It has legally embraced abortion and same-sex marriage. There has been an assault on the Scriptures to discredit and disregard them. There has been an attack on the freedom of religion to bend toward the secular way of thinking. There is corruption within the church including homosexuality, and child pornography, and pedophilia.

The government is corrupt and dysfunctional with a leader who lives in an alternative reality, and who thinks only of himself instead of the country and has placed the country on a path of division and confusion and death. As a result, the country is ideologically split politically and morally.

There is civil unrest because of the increasingly apparent social injustice, inequality, and the failure to correct it. Citizens are shooting and killing each other, looting and destroying property.

The citizens are confused and in denial. The country is in the midst of a deadly pandemic and yet, many refuse to follow simple and easy preventative measures that would protect others and themselves. They want to continue on with life as though the pandemic doesn’t exist. They say, “This is America” “we have freedom of choice” “stop taking away our freedoms.” “The masks are uncomfortable” Really? Aren’t we talking about life or death? Is lying in a casket freedom? Is a ventilator more comfortable than a mask?

Citizens are having house parties and other large gatherings, and people who are dying from the virus are in denial stating that “the virus is a hoax!”

They don’t care about the truth, or about science, they just want to have their way and live in their own reality.

Even countries in Europe are protesting against restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. This denial is world-wide.

This is rebellion—plain and simple!

Does it make sense to sacrifice life for financial stability? Can we spend money from the grave? But this is what happens when a nation turns away from God. He leaves us with our own dysfunctional, depraved minds that are totally irrational and illogical (Romans 1:28).

Nevertheless, people want to have their own way, in spite of the consequences. It happened with Biblical Israel, during Christ’s time on earth, and it is happening today. We are certainly walking (living) in the days of Noah.

This behavior: the refusal to follow instructions, to listen to reason, this total illogical reasoning, not to mention the blind ear to sound Biblical doctrine, is evidence of the last days we are living in. Jesus prophesied about it regarding His second coming in Matt 24:37-39

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.  NIV

When will Christ return? No one knows but His return finds its equivalent in Noah’s day. Jesus will return when the world is living as it was living in Noah’s day: living sensual lives, eating, drinking, marrying, divorcing, and remarrying over and over and refusing to heed Noah’s message of repentance, righteousness, and coming judgment.

Notice the words “up to the day Noah entered into the ark.” While Noah was building the ark, he preached the righteousness of God and the coming judgment. The people had the testimony of Noah’s life and his belief in God’s Word as a warning, a warning that man was responsible to live righteously and that judgment was coming. They saw Noah building the ark. But even though they observed the ark, they rejected Noah’s message and testimony. They went on living in worldliness, in their eating and drinking, and in pursuing their own lustful desires, and they did so right up until the very day that “Noah entered into the ark.”
Then suddenly, unexpectedly, their world was shattered.

They “knew nothing,” which means this: they did not expect the coming judgment. They did not believe the fact, the word, and the message. They were close-minded; they did not bother too much about listening and studying the matter. Therefore, they were willfully ignorant of the truth. They simply did not want to know the Word of God and they suffered the consequences, ” the flood came and took them all away.” We can only walk in our own reality for so long before the the actual reality rises to the surface.

When will Christ return? He will return just as He came in Noah’s day: at a shocking time. Just as they “knew not” that the end was coming, so He will return when the world knows not.

In verse 8, we see God’s grace: “but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” This is the first time grace or favor is mentioned in the Bible.

What does that mean? It means that Noah believed in God and His promises. As a result, God poured out His grace and favor upon Noah.

God had mercy upon Noah and chose Noah to be the individual to be saved through the coming judgment. Noah’s faith in the promise of God—his faith in the coming Savior—saved him. Noah was saved “by grace through faith” in the coming Savior (Ephes. 2:8-9). Noah found grace because he believed God, believed God’s promise of salvation through the promised seed,
the coming Savior.

Noah chose not to live as the world was living, he chose to be righteous instead, and he chose the narrow way.

Any and every individual can be saved just as Noah was…by the grace of God through faith in the promised seed, the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ if they chose to. [cf. Eph 2:8-9]

Are we living in the days of Noah? We certainly are, but we have the same choice that Noah had: to trust and believe God, to accept His Son as Lord and Savior, and live righteously. Jesus is our ark!!

The Bottom line: He will return when people are living just as they were living in the days of Noah: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” His coming is certain and assured. That is the real reality!

So let us be obedient and ready!

I encourage you to leave any comments, questions, or concerns below. You will receive a response.

Blessings!!