The Last Hour is a concept found throughout the Bible and even other faiths. It is the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Some call it the Second Coming. Then others speak of when man is raised and call that the rapture. There’s debate of whether the Second Coming of Christ and the raising up of the righteous to meet him in the clouds is at the same time. It depends on your view of the millenium. But for now let’s just look at this text.
Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Some said he has already come or he came in secret. Jesus says that is not the case. Plain and simple, Jesus says the revealing of the Son of Man will be as obvious as the white lightning in a dark sky.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
His revealing will be an ordinary day. It won’t bee special times. People will be going about their business like normal. When he comes, it will be suddenly.
And there’s more to this. Both in the days of Noah and Lot, the people were sinning without regard. There had been warnings but they didn’t listen. They were not waiting and watching and turning from sin. They were simply enjoying their lives however they saw fit verses enjoying their lives in the fullness of the will of God.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
Here’s the warning. and one I don’t fully understand in the context of the revealing of Jesus. But there’s an element here that if we are not careful, we can be distracted by our attachments to this world and our curiosity to know what happened.
It makes me think when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompei in AD 79. It happened so fast we have replicas of the different positions they were in when they were fleeing.
One woman had a key in her hand and there was a chest of pearl earrings and silver and bronze coins. She was reaching for them when the ash plume buried and killed her. She wouldn’t have escaped because of the severity of the eruption, but she was fixated on her place of security and value – her possessions.
Then I also remember another woman who faced the battle of curiosity. She had become a Christian in an Islamic country and was on the run. She was escaping the country and had taken up a place in an airport hotel room.
The Lord spoke to her and said gather your things and get on a plane immediately. So she packed her bags, grabbed the hand of her young son, and found an earlier flight.
She said she was always curious to know what happened. Did someone come looking for her in the hotel room soon afterwards? Did she narrowly escape?
It still is a wonder and curiosity for her but she put that in second place in order to obey the Lord. That obedience above curiosity likely saved her life.
There are good and bad reasons that can cause us to look back. To be wrongly attached to our money and possessions or for curiosity to take precedence over obedience.
There’s a clear warning here. When the Son of Man is revealed, do not let yourselves be distracted. The temptation will come. Don’t give in.
But I believe the implications are not just for “that day,” but rather for now. We have the context of the people during the time of Noah and Lot. They were distracted with their own busyness, pleasures and living. They were not “keeping watch” as the Scripture commands and living godly, upright and righteous lives.
Because they were distracted, judgment came upon them. The generation of Noah was completely wiped out. So were all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
When the day of judgment came for then, it was too late. They couldn’t escape. They were not ready and watching and waiting which is a theme throughout the gospels.
And now the disciples ask a question.
“Where, Lord?” they asked.
Is this a question of where this will take place? Or where is the judgment? It’s not clear.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
This is rather enigmatic and debated. What does Jesus mean?
It would seem like he is talking about the finality of judgment. When it happens, it is over and too late to change. Too late to believe. Too late to walk out the things of God.
Like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Like the people in the days of Noah.
Like when it will happen once again when you least expect him to be revealed.