Save for the remnant that follows Bible prophecy diligently, many adherents of the Sunday ritual would probably miss the relevance of Luke 17:26-27. More so if they are part of the scoffing fraternity.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”
Are we in the days of the Son of Man? Quite a lot like it despite the surge in pandemic casualties ’round the globe. There are still instances of snaking queues at Michelin-rated eateries, and bottle shops [liquor stores] are still boasting of noisy cash registers. It is true that the pandemic did deal a hefty blow where food and beverage establishments mattered, but as a good number floundered, an equally exuberant replacement figure sprouted at an unbelievable rate!
The economic fallout from the pandemic is surely many times worse than the crash of 1929. The equity markets appear to defy gravity – even corporations on the verge of Chapter 11 still have no shortage of punters. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency mania is beyond imagination. Regardless of overtaxed healthcare resources, there seems to be a lot of easy money to be made. Small wonder when a lot of young couples are tying the knot, all based on the false notion that the gravy train is having a long way to go!
The watchman and watchwoman of the present day can be a close comparison to Noah making his way into the ark. His critics sure did have a field day, right until the moment they were caught unprepared, and this resulted in their demise. The current-day critics have been blatantly replacing the Blessed Hope with the blasted hope – call this a scoffer’s parody! Some might refer to the Left Behind movie, which starred Nicholas Cage – somehow, a vast number would relegate some hard truths in this flick to mere B-grade science fiction!
What then if all of a sudden, it was not too good to be true. Just like the current pandemic plus its repercussions, unthinkable perhaps eighteen months ago – but right at this moment, it is something we all have to live with. Disruptions, distortions and deviations – part of the so-called New Normal. Some people might have lost a loved one during this worldwide crisis, but some managed to encounter the cheating of the Grim Reaper. We can accept the fact that one fine day we have to breathe our last.
In the not very distant future, it might not play out the way we were conditioned where expectations of mortality were concerned. A parent, a sibling and a spouse could just as good as vanish into thin air. No human remains beside what was last worn. It is not the one-off case but many cases – until there is exasperation when the caseload of missing numbers implodes. No funeral, no decent send off, and from a legal standpoint – the tedious process of declaring someone legally dead.
The shocker of it all is that there were numerous forewarnings that this would happen. Best of all, these forewarnings came from the very people that vanished!
Too late for regret because the reality of it all is chilling. Death in one form or the other is inevitable. If eternity in hell were to be avoided, it would be the guillotine falling on one’s neck. Otherwise, a brief existence that would definitely be overshadowed by suffering with no end in sight.
The prospect of being left with a heinous option base is about to explode before many eyes. Unless they turn to Jesus and accept him as Lord and Saviour. Time is running out really fast. Make your decision swiftly, and you will avoid being forced into such a horrific state.
Yours in Christ
Edwin
Contactable at edwinuk13@gmail.com