“Woe to you, Korasin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed
in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon
on the day of judgement than for you.”
Matthew 12:20-22

Jesus addressed the unbelief of the religious establishment of His day. And just as in the days of Noah, He said, there will be scoffers and mockers in the last days. Who were the scoffers and mockers of Noah’s days? The scriptures had been handed down through the generations, yet only Noah and his immediate family were saved in the flood. Noah spent 150 years building the ark, having received detailed instruction from the Lord as to its specifications. During those years the news reached far and wide that Noah was performing this feat. Although it had never rained, Noah believed God’s word about sending rain and about flooding the earth. Noah must have understood that this act of God was a judgement upon the wicked, that the wicked would be overcome by and destroyed in the waters. The Lord had somehow communicated to Noah the seriousness of obedience to His command to build the ark and to prepare for impending disaster. Noah preached repentance to those near and far. Even his obsession with the ark and judgement of God to come was a testimony to those around him. In a sense Noah was a prophetic voice to his generation sent to warn the people, yet only Noah and his immediate family were saved in the flood.

How was it that only Noah and his family were spared? What is it that Noah and his family had that the rest of mankind lacked? Noah and his family believed God and acted out their trust in Him. Noah fervently built the ark believing God’s word despite the lack of natural evidence. The boat was to sail upon waters where only dry ground had thus-far existed and it was to house those who would be saved in floodwaters when rain had never yet been experienced in the earth. What kind of response did Noah get from those around him regarding his consumption with building the ark? How seriously did they take his warning of destruction and labors to fulfil the mandate of the Lord?

According to scripture, the people where eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. This does not sound too terrible. Everyone needs to eat and drink, and marriage is recognized as the social order of the family structure instituted by the Lord himself, yet an element of judgement is sounded in the voice of the Lord upon such a lifestyle. Noah was willing to drop the pursuits of a worldly lifestyle to spend his time fulfilling the Lord’s commission while those looking on mocked and scoffed. When we ask what was missing from the lives of the people of Noah’s day which caused their destruction, it is evident that faith in God was the missing ingredient. Noah stood righteously before God because of his act of obedience. According to scripture, all our good works are as filthy rags. This would suggest that Noah was not righteous before God on his own merit, but because of his acting on the word of God, proving his faith in God to perform everything He has promised. Because Noah forsook the temptation to eat, drink, and be merry at a time when the judgement of God was coming upon the earth, and because he believed God and acted on it despite the lack of evidence in the natural realm, he and his family stood innocent before God when the rest of the world was condemned.

The scriptures describe a similar scenario of the day of the Lord, that there will be scoffers and mockers, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage with no regard for the Lord’s warnings of impending doom. Judgement will once again come to the whole earth and only those who walk by faith will be saved.

What is a scoffer and mocker and who are the scoffers and mockers of our day? According to Matthew 12 they are the ones who have seen the miracles and goodness of God in their midst, yet refused to believe. The prophets of God are heralding the day of judgement, the day of the Lord which shall burn like a fire and asking who will be able to stand? The scoffers and mockers religiously continue in their traditions to eat, drink, marry and give in marriage, paying no attention to the voice of the Lord. Their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes can’t see. They are without understanding. Only those who are seeking the Lord are able to hear and see and understand the times they live in. The scoffers and mockers of the age are those who disregard the word of the Lord, have not married themselves to the Lord, making him their husband, and who have not eaten of the bread of life nor drank the water from the wells of salvation. These are the ones who walk in natural understanding. Their hearts are seared and full of unbelief toward a supernatural God who does not function according to the whims and ways of men, but whose ways are high above them.

A warning goes out once again to the scoffers and mockers of this day. Unless they repent and turn from their wicked ways, they will once again miss the boat and perish in the judgement of God coming upon the whole earth. Are you numbered among them ? Are you concerned only with gratifying the desires of the flesh with no regard for the things of the Spirit of the Lord? Have you heard the message trumpeted through the prophets of God to humble yourself, seek the Lord while He may be found, and turn from your wicked ways? The message is clear to all just as in the days of Noah, and only those who believe will enter the ark.

 

“And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies?
No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed
in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this
day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on
the day of judgement than for you.”
Matthew 12:23-24