Christian Vigilance

TORAH

Gen. 6:9-11:32

HAFTORAH

Isa. 52:13-54:1-10

B’RIT HADASHAH

Matt. 24:36-44; Luke 17:26-37

Acts 2:1-16; 1 Peter 3:18-22

Luke 17:26-37

Noah & Lot and their families provide us with the background context for this passage. Noah, Lot and their respective families were “taken” by God. That is, God provided them with an escape from immanent destruction. The episodes concerning Noah and Lot can be understood as pictures of personal salvation but more so as of Christ’s second coming (Parousia) and rapture of the Ekklesia then in existence, of which assembly Noah, Lot and their respective families are symbolic. As in the cases of Noah and Lot, the people being described in Luke (and in Matthew’s parallel passage) were merely conducting themselves in normal ways, being engaged in everyday activities, but were suddenly “taken”: one from the housetop, one from the field, one from the bedroom and one from the kitchen. Those who are taken are those who are raptured by Christ, those left behind are those who experience the destruction, as did Lot’s wife. In our context, the destruction is the destruction of the whole world as God purges it and purifies it from its evil. However, this passage is also a picture of the moment just preceding the last judgment.

Paul’s first letter to the Ekklesia in Thessalonica paints a vivid picture of that moment,

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up [raptured] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:16-18).

 The Apocalypse of John gives us a different perspective in Rev. 19:17-21,

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, ‘Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”

In our parsha for this Sabbath, the Lord warns us that we must be ever mindful of the inescapable predicament. Because this prophecy will most surely happen, we must be ready at all times. While we must never take our personal salvation for granted, even though we hold to the doctrine of the “Preservation of the Saints”, yet at the same time, we should also take heart and be encouraged, knowing that all true believers, those whom John describes as the “overcomers” will not be taken by surprise or unexpectedly, as Paul assures us in Thessalonians, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake” (1 Thess. 5:1-6).

So believers in Yeshua are called to live in dynamic tension, to be cognizant that God’s perfect plan includes the cataclysmic end of the world as we know it, that it is surely coming and that some there will be who must endure the experience. Nevertheless, God’s Word assures us of ultimate salvation and final reward. God calls us to live a life that is equal to, or corresponds with, His ultimate and effectual call (Eph. 4:1-3; Rom. 8:28-30). This is the tension we experience and this is the way of all overcomers. And too, we know that in ourselves, this will not be possible, but the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is not only our teacher but also our helper, will encourage us and strengthen us for the coming trial.

AMEN