Signs of the Last Generation
The Bible says to compare Noah’s Ark to the Rapture. I’ve done a lot of “Days of Noah” comparison comparing the days prior to the flood to today, but somehow missed this specifically designated time period. I have been surprised to learn that not only is God patient with all of sinners, we’re actually living in a time before the Rapture that is called “God's patience.” “
...the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water” (2 Peter 3:20).
It's quite clear that the time before Noah's flood is specifically referred to as a time of “God’s patience.” Since Jesus said the time before the Rapture will be “just like” the days of Noah, then we are also currently living in the days of God’s patience. We know this because God said the time just before the Rapture of the Church would be “JUST LIKE” the days of Noah before the flood. The Bible also says that in the last days before the Rapture many will “mock” God and His Word, lusting after self and denying that God will return to judge the earth. Before the flood people were buying, selling, eating, drinking, construction, social events, mocking God while in blatant sin. (They had no clue!) And we have what Peter called, the “Time of God’s patience.”
“When the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark” (1 Peter 3:20).
During the hundred plus years that Noah was building the ark, despite the horrible sin happening all over the earth, God was patient. During the time of God’s patience before the worldwide flood, Noah was preaching God’s truth. For over one hundred years, while building the ark, Noah warned the people on earth of what was to come. Noah preached for over 100 years but it fell on deaf ears! When Noah and his family finished loading the food and water on the ark, and God began to supernaturally bring the animals to load, Noah and his family KNEW the flood was close. They KNEW the end was near. They could see the writing on the wall! It wasn’t rocket science. They knew that the patience of God was about to end and that He would destroy all wicked mankind on the earth. And, despite Noah's warnings, the wicked were caught totally off-guard.
“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38-39).
That is EXACTLY how it will be right before the Rapture. Understanding the time of God’s patience explains a lot of things. We really can’t fathom God’s incomprehensible restraint that He is displaying during the time in which we live. Think about the depths to which we’ve sunk in the last 50 years, without the Lord lowering the boom on those on the earth. We’ve literally murdered over 50 million precious unborn babies in the United States, simply for the sake of convenience. Worldwide the unfathomable number is over two billion! We’ve allowed pornography to infiltrate our homes through television, computers and cell phones. The United States is the world’s largest distributor of pornography. And most recently, our nation’s leadership has “flipped-the-finger” to our Creator by calling the gruesome filthy sin of homosexuality as “normal.” You know you have gone blind when you can see nothing wrong with something that God calls sin.
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20).
“Woe to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions” (Isaiah 10:1).
So why hasn’t the Lord judged America or the earth? The answer is that He will. It’s just that currently we’re spared because we’re in the time period of “God’s patience.” But eventually God will judge all nations at the end of the Tribulation. But the bottom line to us today is that we're in the time of God's Patience. God is withholding what is due for all nations until His plan is perfectly finished. His patience allows for more people to be saved and avoid the horrors of the tribulation. And just like those living in the time of Noah, we, too, can see the handwriting on the wall. We too see all of the prophecies coming together, lining up exactly as the Bible predicted. Even with people all around us denying it’s close! In the parable of the Nobleman (Luke 19:12-27) there is an inference to “occupy” or “stay busy” until the Lord returns. So we wait patiently, staying busy with our duties while praying that He will use us to witness to someone in our family, a neighbor, or someone at work, someone who still needs to get on the boat. So this is one incredible time in which we, as believers, should be very, very sensitive to God’s leading. There is one person on the planet who will be the last person saved prior to our exit. Much like the thief on the cross, one person will be the last to believe. That person will be the last to receive God's gift of the Holy Spirit, being permanently indwelled by Him. That person will be whisked away with the rest of the Believers, escaping God's horrific judgment coming on earth. But until that departure day, we can have peace in God's latter-days patience, knowing that despite what we see all around us, THE LORD IS STILL IN CONTROL. Nothing is happening that He’s not allowing. And when it’s all over, we win. :victory: