Here is an incidental tidbit that didn’t make it into the sermon on Sunday. It pertains to how Zechariah depicted God removing of the wicked from the land, while leaving His people behind to enjoy its fruit. This fits within a pattern in Scripture. Jesus teaches us about this pattern in Matthew 24:37-42, indicating that when judgment day comes, you do not want to be taken, but rather you want to be left behind.
In that classic eschatological text, Jesus likens the wrath of God in the days of Noah to the wrath of God at the second coming of Christ. The coming of wrath in both of those instances coincides with the way that God’s wrath is depicted in Zechariah 5. That is, God comes along and sweeps away the wicked and takes them to judgment.
37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matt. 24:37-39)
Again, Jesus uses the flood to teach us about the coming of the Lord. It behooves us to pay close attention to His language. Before the flood, “they” were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Jesus is referring to the wicked people of the world just doing their thing while Noah and his sons were building the ark. When Noah entered the Ark, v39, “they”—the same “they,” the ungodly—were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.
Who was swept away? The ungodly. Judgment came in the form of the flood and swept the ungodly away. That's the pattern. The ungodly were unaware and were taken away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man…
40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. (Matt. 24:40-42)
Many would read a reference to a secret rapture in this text—that the Lord is saving believers from coming judgment. However, if we let the text speak, we find that is exactly backward. The Lord leaves His people behind, taking the ungodly to judgment. That is, of the two men in the field, the one taken is going to judgment. The one left behind is to be envied. How do we know? Because He gives us the flood as an interpretative tool.
Several parallels are made between the flood and the coming of the Lord here. The “coming” of the flood is parallel to the “coming” of the Lord. The ungodly being unaware of the flood coming is parallel to people being unprepared for the Lord’s coming. The ungodly being swept away by the flood is then parallel to the man in the field who is taken and the woman grinding at the mill who is taken.
In other words, if we follow the text, and the flood helps us interpret what the Lord is saying about the two men in the field and the two women grinding at the mill, we will not want to be taken– we will want to be left behind…just like in Zechariah 5.
You see, it’s not that the people of Noah’s didn’t know the ark was coming. To read a rapture in this text, that is what would need to be highlighted about the flood. The emphasis would need to be on the ark saving Noah and his family. But clearly, that is not the emphasis. They (the ungodly) didn’t know the flood was coming. The flood came and swept them away. Judgment.
The rest of the text is about knowing or not knowing that Jesus is coming…in judgment, not salvation. It depicts people not being ready, and the people who are not ready are taken away to a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. All of this is to say that the passage of Zechariah 5 fits that pattern—God sweeps the wicked away unto judgment, and leaves His people behind to enjoy the fruit of the land.
The question of each text is implicitly, “Are you ready?” The only way not to be swept away to judgment when He comes is to follow Him in repentance and faith today.
Comments