Matthew 24:37-44 (NKJV)

Matthew 24:37-44 (NKJV)

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 the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The coming of the Son of Man will be as the days of Noah: The similarity that Christ is pointing out is not the wickedness of those days (Gen. 6:5) but the indifference of the people in Noah’s day. There is nothing sinful about eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in marriage. The sin that Christ is referring to is living as though no judgment was coming. So it will be when Christ comes again. The fatal wickedness is seen in the words that they did not know until the floods came. One wonders if the comfort zone of evangelical Christians in the world will grow until there is “no time for end times.”

Taken (Gk. paralambanō) is a word of judgment (Luke 17:36). This is not the Rapture; the Rapture is not found in Matt. 24—25. The “taking” of the people is removal in judgment and parallels the “taking away” in judgment in the flood as described in v. 39. It is true that different Greek verbs are used for took in v. 39 and  taken in vv. 40, 41; however, the parallel with v. 39 is too obvious to miss. That being the case, those who are left behind go on into the kingdom of the millennium (Matt. 13:30, 40–43) just as Noah and his family were left to repopulate the planet.

This is the application of vv. 36–41. As Noah was vigilant in preparing for the flood so should people living in the tribulation be alert in preparation for Christ’s return.