Days of Noah

TimeWatch Editorial
January 26, 2016

Before the flood, the warnings that God gave were directly related to the moral decay of the existing society. Genesis chapter 6 describes the condition of the world at that time. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown, 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. Given such a deplorable condition of the moral fabric of the world, it would not at all be difficult to imagine that everything was tainted by this decadence.

Before the destruction of the old world by a flood, there were talented men, men who possessed skill and knowledge. Their scientific experience was unquestioned, their abilities were indeed unquestioned.

“But they became corrupt in their imagination, because they left God out of their plans and councils. They were wise to do what God had never told them to do, wise to do evil. The Lord saw that this example would be deleterious to those who should afterwards be born, and He took the matter in hand. For one hundred twenty years He sent them warnings through His servant Noah. But they used the probation so graciously granted them in ridiculing Noah. They caricatured him and criticized him. They laughed at him for his peculiar earnestness and intense feeling in regard to the judgments which he declared God would surely fulfill. They talked of science and of the laws controlling nature. Then they held a carnival over the words of Noah, calling him a crazy fanatic. God's patience was exhausted. He said to Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them, and, behold, I will destroy them from the earth" (Manuscript 29, 1890). {SDA Bible Commentary, Vol 1, page 1090.7}

You may say, well I know all about that, I’ve heard that thousands of times. If you have heard it “thousands of times” then perhaps you should also be aware of another important detail. Luke 17:26, 27 says: “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” Now there is something that is often overlooked when we read that text.

“God did not condemn the antediluvians for eating and drinking; He had given them the fruits of the earth in great abundance to supply their physical wants. Their sin consisted in taking these gifts without gratitude to the Giver, and debasing themselves by indulging appetite without restraint. It was lawful for them to marry. Marriage was in God's order; it was one of the first institutions which He established. He gave special directions concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty; but these directions were forgotten, and marriage was perverted and made to minister to passion.” {Conflict and Courage, page 41.2}

What is necessary for our understanding is the present condition of the world, as it reflects the events of Noah’s day.

“A similar condition of things exists now. That which is lawful in itself is carried to excess. Appetite is indulged without restraint. . . . Multitudes feel under no moral obligation to curb their sensual desires, and they become the slaves of lust. Men are living for the pleasures of sense; for this world and this life alone. . . . The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening”. . . . {Conflict and Courage, page 41.3}

The warning should be heeded now as it should have been heeded then. The time is almost past. The door is almost closed. The clouds have begun to gather. Soon the storm will break.

Cameron A. Bowen