"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also
in the days of the Son of Man."—Luke 17:26 .
IN CONSIDERING our Lord's statement—that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at his coming [parousia, presence], in the end of this Age—it should be noted that the Lord's presence will be unknown to the world; for this particular statement follows, that "As in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,...and knew not,...so shall also the coming [parousia, presence] of the Son of Man be."—Matt. 24:37-39.
This statement, however, does not imply that there is anything wrong in eating and drinking, etc., but rather that there will be little in an outward way to disturb man, in the crisis at the end of the Age. At the time of the flood, at the end of the First Dispensation, there was apparently nothing to indicate that anything unusual was about to happen. Evidently the Lord meant us to draw conclusions from this fact, that as calamity was inevitable then, so it will be inevitable now.
The end of the First Dispensation and that of this present Dispensation are wonderfully similar. Previous to the end of the First Dispensation a superhuman influence had entered into the world. Power from an angelic source had produced very undesirable conditions, to the extent of bringing into unauthorized existence a race who were "men of renown" and "giants" in strength. (Gen. 6:1-4.) Today we find a similar condition. Whatever portion of the spirit of truth has entered into an evilly disposed human mind evil conditions on a gigantic scale have often been produced. Where else in the whole world can we find more intellectual power than in those who have come in contact with the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of the Truth? But when this spirit of knowledge enters into an evil heart, evil will result.
This spirit has produced men of renown, men of mental acumen, men who are able to do wonderful things. The remarkable achievements of our time, the wonderful inventions of all kinds, would not have been possible except for the fact that the Spirit of the Lord is abroad in the earth. But the general tendency of this combination—the spirit of knowledge in an evil heart—has been to produce giants, who "walk up and down" the land and are known as the Sugar Trust, the Coal Trust, etc. As the giants were in control in the days of Noah, so the giants are getting more and more control of the situation now. Just as it was then, so today the giants are liable to capture the whole world. As the flood destroyed those giants, so at this time the great cataclysm of trouble will drown all trusts and other commercial agencies which oppress mankind. We read that they will be utterly destroyed; that there will be no hope of resuscitation.