As It Was In The Days of Noah

Hey! Sorry it’’s been awhile since I visited here. I got sidetracked by some light reading, ”God’s Ecstasy: The Creation of a Self-Creating World” by Beatrice Bruteau. It’s a short book about what a Trinitarian philosophy of cosmology might look like. Pretty good stuff!

Anyway, back to our tale!

So far we’ve looked at a couple of passages from the Christian Bible that have been twisted out of context in order to build a dispensational house of cards. These passages, however, when read in their own historical, cultural, and literary contexts reveal meanings that are actually consistent with the whole of the canon. They show Paul as a caring pastor concerned for frightened and confused sisters and brothers at Thessalonica. I explained how folks in the first century Roman world would have received honored guests into their city. We also read how Jesus explained to his followers that he believed the magnificent Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem would ultimately be destroyed.

There are just a couple other points that I want to touch on before I call this series complete. (At least for now. Perhaps, I’ll work on it and polish it up a bit in order to publish a short e-book. That is, if there is any interest in one. Thoughts, anyone?)

In the passage from the Gospel according to Matthew that I cited in a previous post Jesus talked about the days of Noah and how two people together would suddenly become only one person. What in the world was he talking about?

Some commentators read this literally and say,” Well, the days of Noah must mean that sin and evil is everywhere. So, God has no choice but to get the righteous folks to safety so that God can destroy all of those other mean nasty people.” That’s one way to look at it. The Hebrew scriptures do tell a rather dire tale about Sons of God and daughters of men and evil and violence and all sorts of stuff not suitable for children.

But, is that the point that Jesus wanted to make here?

Other commentators pick up on the bit about eating and drinking; marrying and being given in marriage. They emphasize the fact that life was going on as usual. Folks were engaged in the everyday activities of life. They had no idea what was going to happen. They had no idea that life as they knew it was about to end. Considering the context of this passage, I think this interpretation is a good place to start.

So, it appears that Jesus is doing a couple of things. One, he’s letting the guys know that something big is going to happen. The Temple will be destroyed, there will be wars, and their whole way of life was going to be turned upside down. The second thing is, no one except God the Father knows when this will happen. (There may also be an underlying message that says, “So, since you can’t know when, don’t waste time and energy trying to figure it out.”)

Immediately after bringing Noah into the picture, Jesus added the bit about 2 people doing stuff together. One of these was “taken” while the other was “left behind.” This picture has been used by Darbyists to somehow ‘prove’ that their idea of a rapture is accurate. “Look!,” they say. “Even Jesus talked about the rapture!”

Well, no. He didn’t.

If they understood how translations of ancient texts actually worked, they may have come to different conclusions. But, alas, they seem to think that Jesus and Paul and Peter and all of the other Biblical writers spoke and wrote in English. Many of them even think they all used King James English! Hey folks! I’ll let you all in on a secret. They didn’t. They spoke in various languages from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek and Latin. No English! Surprise!

Because of this we need to translate those ancient texts into words and sentences using rules of syntax and grammar that we understand. These translations must provide us with an accurate understanding of what the writer was trying to communicate to his/her original audience. That is a tough job. Not least because the words that the writers used do not necessarily correspond to an exact word that we use today. Nor, does a word that we do use have the same meaning that it did thousands of years ago. Fortunately, there are scholars who are able to make these linguistic leaps over time and space. Most of the translations that we have today are pretty good. They can’t, however, get all of the nuance and cultural shades of meaning 100% of the time. I believe that this passage is one where we may be able to mine a bit more meaning.

Two key words that were used are usually translated, as noted above; “taken” and “left behind.” The folks who are “taken” are presumably those who were mentioned in verse 31 as “chosen” and gathered from the four winds. The others were not.

However, as I just wrote, not all words translate one to one with our modern English. (To be accurate, however, there is definitely a choice being made. What the criteria for choosing, however, is not clear.)

The first word is paralambanō. The meaning carries the idea of “taking to oneself”; “taking into fellowship”; “to bring along with.” In a narrower sense it can mean “to select” or “choose.” In this case the verse can mean that two people were together and one was “selected to come along with.” It’s not necessarily a hard meaning of “chosen.” There are other words that would fit that meaning better. But, this is softer. It’s more like a ‘Well done! Now, come along with me’ kind of idea. It is not equivalent to ‘Snatched!’ in Thessalonians.

The second word is aphiēmi. This word has many uses in Greek. And, like any translation, context drives the meaning. In this case it carries a nuanced meaning of “to leave or to set aside.” For us this would indicate that for some reason the second person was not chosen. They were “set aside,” or “bypassed.”

The popular understanding of this whole section of Matthew is that those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and have made a conscious choice to follow him, those who have been “born again,” will be the people who are ‘chosen’ and, therefore, ‘taken’ away from the nasty stuff mentioned earlier in the chapter. They will subsequently live happily ever after in the great by and by sipping lemonade and playing harps.

This passage, however, doesn’t present that broad picture. It presents something that is much narrower in scope.

Let’s take a look at it using Mike’s Paraphrase, shall we?

Jesus told his disciples many things that would happen at the coming of the Son of Man. There would be wars and famines. Natural disasters would occur. “Keep an eye out for these things!” he said.

“This day will come just like that day in Noah’s time. People will be going about their own business. They’ll be living life as they always have. Then, like the sudden coming of the flood, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man.

There will be two people doing the same thing. There will be no apparent differences between them. Yet, one will be chosen and the other rejected. How will they be chosen or not? God only knows. But, You! You be prepared! Don’t be like those in Noah’s time who were caught off guard and surprised. Behold! You have been told!”

The whole idea of this passage is to warn the disciples of that day when the Son of Man would come. They were to be aware of what was going on around them and prepare themselves. Jesus did not want them to be caught off guard.

There is nothing in this passage that states any particular order of events. Nor, is there anything indicating that certain actual events were going to take place. It is Jesus telling his disciples to not become complacent. But, to always be fully awake and watchful.

Jesus, himself, states this quite clearly in the very next verse.

Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

The next several verses in Matt. 24 explain this a bit further. Then all of Matt. 25 explains how to live as awake and watchful people.

But, that’s a topic for a different post.

I have one more topic to touch on before I wrap this whole thing up.

In the next part we’ll take a quick look at thieves and how they relate to what we’ve discussed here.

As always, please share this with your friends! The more the merrier!

Please share any thoughts or comments in the Comments section.