Luke 17:26–30

Time had to pass, and events that looked disastrous to the cause they cared about had to happen, before the day of the Son of man could appear... First the Son of man — a title of the Lord tied to power (Psalm 8) — had to suffer many things, and that generation had to reject Him. The cross must come before the glory. His day will come, though, and it will come openly... Nothing about it will be hidden or uncertain. Knowledge of it will not be kept to a select few. It will be plain to all.

In Luke 17 He does not tell us that the world will slowly change from a wilderness into a Paradise. He does not say that the nations will drop their false gods, or that the Jews will drop their hatred of the true Messiah. Instead He warns the disciples that it will be as in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot. Those were times of ease and worldliness, when all mankind was rising up against God. Yet they picture the scenes that will meet the Lord as He appears from heaven to judge the world... The world will show the same self-security and love of ease when the Lord is revealed as it showed just before the flood.

"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." (Luke 17:27) There was nothing wrong in any of these things by itself. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers of them. Each of them could be done in the fear of the Lord, and to the glory of His holy name, if only they were done in faith. But they were not. They rejected the word of God. He told them of judgment, but they did not believe.

How busy Satan is, even among Christians, in shutting out the things of God! He does it through the demands and pressure of things that may not be evil in themselves — things we have not learned to connect with God and to use for God.

This is not about receiving the Church, and not about judging the dead. The judging of the dead follows at the end, and the receiving of the Church comes first. What we have here is the judgment of the living on the earth — a truth Christendom has largely forgotten... This can only mean people alive on the earth, caught out by the flood... Men forget too easily that a far wider judgment waits for the world, on the pattern of these two times when God stepped in — and above all for the part of the world that has had God's testimony.

So Noah lived at the close of an age, when the storm clouds of God's judgment were gathering on every side. We too live at the close of an age, and once more God is preparing judgment for an evil world. Men are as careless and indifferent now as they were in the days of long ago.

Noah's faith saw that the world stood under judgment... Noah built an ark to save his household. We do not have to build an ark. We have to take the shelter of the death of Christ and the end of all flesh before God. Then we find that God's saving power carries us through a world under judgment.

The Lord next refers to the days of Noah: so should it be in His own days when He comes as the Son of man. This is not about receiving the Church, and not about judging the dead. The judging of the dead follows at the end, and the receiving of the Church comes first. Here it is plainly the judgment of the living on the earth — a truth the Christian world has largely forgotten. "The flood came and destroyed them all." This can only mean people alive on the earth, taken by surprise.

Here the passage does not warn people about sin, but about the unholy idea that the world may just keep going for ever. As soon as Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all. As soon as the church is taken up, judgment will come, for Satan will have filled men's hearts with lies. Notice here how impossible it is to apply this to the great white throne. When He sits on the great white throne, the heavens and the earth flee away; there is a total destruction of everything. Men will not then be eating, drinking, planting, building.

People of the world will carry on in their own independent way. They will keep concentrating on the material things of life: eating and drinking and marrying. These things are not wrong in themselves, but too often they are the only thing men live for. They forget God, so they will be shocked when He steps into their affairs without warning to judge them.

While Noah built the ark, he was a "preacher of righteousness". With his hand he was driving a nail, but with his mouth he was saying: "Judgment is coming. God will destroy the world with a flood. All will be drowned. Come, come quickly into the ark." But they did not believe. Did they not know? It was not a few days or months that Noah took to build the ark: but 120 years... Perhaps they said, "No, Noah, you have said this for many years. The flood has never come: we are not afraid." Or "Today we cannot go in. Wait. We will not get ready yet. Maybe tomorrow."

The ark grew larger every day, a witness to the coming judgment. There was no sign at all of a coming flood... But the flood came, and destroyed them all. "And they went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh;" "and the Lord shut him in." Every soul that was not shut in with Noah, was shut out. There was then no hope; it was too late.

Some would have us believe that righteousness will cover this earth from pole to pole, like a beautiful robe, before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven... but the brief passage just quoted pulls up all such empty and misleading expectations by the roots. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?... Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "ALL flesh had corrupted his way on the earth." Well, then, "so shall it be in the days of the Son of man."

We know from the history (Genesis 19:4-10) that Sodom was also guilty of the dreadful moral corruption of homosexuality. But the Lord spoke here only of their concentration on living for this life. He adds to the previous verse that they bought, sold, planted and built. These things show how they were preparing to go on living on earth, with no concern for eternity.

There was progress in the world. Civilisation had advanced. But was it any better morally? … People too easily forget that a far wider judgment is waiting for the world, following the pattern of these two judgments from God.

Only this Gospel gives us this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. And it is the Lord who tells us about the world before the flood, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah too, and of Zeboiim. He saw it all. He tells us the future too.

There is nothing wrong in these things of the world themselves. The right or the wrong lies in the use man makes of them. There is no conscience in these things, no spiritual affection in them, no moral good in them (they are all God's creatures, of course). The things are not evil… It is a world that is forming pleasures for itself out of what God did create; but it does not care for God, for it rejected Him.

They held their market. The exchange opened, traders met there, and farmers came in from the country with their produce. Housewives went out to buy the food for the day, and everybody was busy… Note this: God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of the city, and that warning the people despised.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot entered Zoar. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of burning sulphur and fire to fall. Nothing could happen until Lot reached the city; but once he was in it, nothing more held back the fire.

Scripture nowhere teaches that the time of the earth's blessing will come before Christ comes. It comes after… If you are not a believer, but someone who rejects Christ, that day may catch you by surprise, just as it caught the people of Sodom when they had opened their shops for another day's business and another day's sins.

So in the days of Lot, the people of the cities of the plain were living as if nothing but permanent life on earth lay before them… Fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven and cut their work short. "So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Only in this Gospel do we have this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. It is the Lord who tells us about the old world, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah… He witnessed it all. He foretells the future likewise.

They held their market. Their exchange was open, and business men met in it. In came the farmers with their produce from the country. The housewives went out to buy the day's food, and everybody was busy… Yes, quite true: "the sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar." Nothing looked different, in nature or in the city… Note this. God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of it, and that warning they clearly despised.

The One to whom vengeance belongs has settled the whole plan of safety… But a solemn scene of judgment goes with all this. After this, Lot entered Zoar, and the sun had risen on the earth. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of brimstone and fire to fall. Nothing could be done until Lot entered the city, but then nothing remained to be done before the fire came down.

Bitumen, pitch, or sulphur, which is still found in its crude state in Palestine. In God's judgment it was rained from heaven. Gen. 19:24; Ps. 11:6; Ezek. 38:22; Luke 17:29. It is symbolic of what will add to the torment and anguish of the wicked. Rev. 14:10; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10; Rev. 21:8.

"Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building." There was progress in the world; civilisation had advanced, but was it any better morally? "But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all." Men too easily forget the judgment that awaits the world. It will be beyond all comparison wider than these two, but it will follow their pattern… No delusion is more ruinous than the idea that Christendom will escape its doom because there is much good in it. The Lord lingers to save souls. When His own are gathered out, judgment will proceed all the more sternly, because the world saw His grace, saw its fruits, and heard His warnings in vain.

The days of Noah ended in a flood of water. The days of Lot ended in a flood of fire. The present age will soon end in a flood as well. It will not be providential or temporary. It will be the direct judgment of God.

Led outside the city, he and those with him are put on the road to safety. But being on the road is not enough. They must reach the place of safety… "Escape for your life," is the word. "Do not look back" — do not turn back. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley; escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."… Know this: there is nothing but judgment for those who stay in the valley. There is no safety except in Christ.

There is a difference between the Greek words epiphaneia, meaning "the outshining", which we believe has to do with His glory, and apokalypsis, which means revelation. Then the One nobody can see will be seen in public: "every eye will see Him". What a reversal! I think the shock of it will grip the world. Suddenly the Man who was despised, rejected and refused will be seen as the glorified One.

This is not about receiving the Church, and it is not about judging the dead. Judging the dead comes later, at the end; receiving the Church comes earlier. Here it is plainly the judgment of the living on the earth, a truth the Christian world has largely forgotten… This can only mean people alive on the earth, taken by surprise when the flood came… Men too easily forget that a far wider judgment, following the pattern of these two acts of God, awaits the world.

This looks nothing like the releasing of Satan and the war of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20, or the past siege of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70… It is not a general judgment in God's providence falling on everyone alike; verses 34 and 35 stand in sharp contrast to that. Nor is it the last judgment, which does not match it in a single feature. It is simply and only the Lord's appearing.

First, it will take the world by surprise. It will find godless people busy with the common pursuits of life, with no thought for the future… So in the days of Lot, the people of the cities of the plain lived as if nothing lay before them but a permanent home on earth… Then fire and burning sulphur rained down on them from heaven and cut their daily work short. Only this Gospel gives us this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. It is the Lord who tells us about the old world, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah… He saw it all. He tells us what is coming too.

There was progress in the world; civilisation had advanced, but was it better morally?

Taking the saints up means taking them out of the way of those judgments. By contrast, the Jews who stay on the earth, and some Gentiles too, must pass through those judgments when they come. Lot passed through in that way. He escaped everything that happened to Sodom, but only barely, as through fire, while Abraham looked on at the judgments that fell on the guilty cities of the plain. In the same way, Noah came through the flood safely, while Enoch was taken up to heaven. These two cases stand as pictures of what will happen at the coming of the Son of Man.

The Son of Man would be revealed in judgment as suddenly as a flash of lightning, just as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot. They were to take care that their hearts were not held by anything they owned in the place under judgment. No one could escape this judgment, because it was God's.