Echoes From the Campfire

All the vast range was locked in silence and slumber yet even then thieves and death were at work.”
                         –Zane Grey  (The Trail Driver)

       “Noah was another who trusted God.  When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed Him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family.  Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to the sin and disbelief of the rest of the world–which refused to obey–and because of his faith he became one of those whom God has accepted.”
                         –Hebrews 11:7  (Living Bible)     
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The disciples came to Jesus privately while on the Mount of Olives asking Him about the signs of the end.  Jesus answered in quite a long discourse found in Matthew 24 and 25, but I want to look at just a couple of verses.

               “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be.”
                              –Matthew 24:37-39 (NKJV)

       There are several things that we can see from this passage of Scripture.  The most apparent is the fact that people were going on with their lives not thinking of God.  They were feasting and marrying, but not heeding the voice of the preacher.  This will be happening when the Lord returns; there will be no thought of God or of a coming judgment.  Another sad note in these verses–where were the other preachers proclaiming that judgment is coming?  Noah, but was there no one else?    Here are some startling statistics from Barna:
               32% of evangelical pastors do not have a biblical worldview.
               39% say that there is no absolute moral truth.
               62% say that life is about good works.
               51% believe that faith matters more than which faith.
Now that is a sad commentary on the pulpit; the men who are supposed to be leading us into the truth of Jesus Christ.  Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1, NKJV)  We see that we are warned of those who would deceive and try to take us from the truth of Jesus Christ, that He is the only means of salvation.  Our faith must rely upon Him!
       Back to the days of Noah.  What was it like in the time of Noah?  Yes, there was feasting and marrying, but there was also evil.  “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  (Genesis 6:5, NKJV)  The Bible continues, “The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”  (Genesis 6:11-12, NKJV)
       We see in the first chapter of Romans what life will be like and it will worsen.  Paul says that “God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28, NKJV)  The days of Noah–“every intent of the thoughts of his [man’s] heart was only evil continually.”  Look at the insane world around you.  I will mention only a couple of things, but much more could be said.  The problem with gender identification; it is being determined by society that biological sex and gender are socially constructed.  A man can say and think he is a woman and vice versa.  The legitimacy of true moral sexuality is being tossed away.  Not only is there same sex marriage, they have made a way for a man to become pregnant–a woman thinks she is a man, therefore society says she is and pregnancy can occur.  Duh!!  As in the days of Noah, but now worse.
       The United Kingdom now has “censorship zones.”  If a person is acting in a way that is offensive to the right of abortion they can and have been arrested.  Arrests occur for the content of a person’s thoughts.  So, if a person has proper thoughts, proper morals in their thinking they are now subject to arrest in the UK.  Evil thoughts, evil intentions are only relative.  As in the days of Noah.
       Jesus said in the midst of His discourse of the last days this, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…  Therefore you should also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  (Matthew 24:42, 44, NKJV)  As in the days of Noah, with Noah’s preaching and of his action in building the ark, the people only went about this business, the business of evil not worrying or wondering about the judgment to come.