As in the Days of Noah (Revisited) — Part 1

Editor’s Note: This post has been substantially revised and expanded to reflect further study and clarity. It now serves as Part 1 of a two-part exploration of Jesus’ reference to “the days of Noah.” The original theme remains, but the argument has been sharpened and more carefully developed.
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Introduction: A Common Phrase, a Serious Question:

Lately, when people talk about current events and the times we are living in, I often hear the phrase “the days of Noah.” This expression is usually meant to describe troubling or dangerous times and often carries an apocalyptic tone. The phrase comes from Jesus and was spoken in response to a question from His disciples.

But does this comparison really fit what we see today? Are we truly living in “the days of Noah”?

Jesus’ Original Context:

The phrase comes from a conversation between Jesus and His disciples near the end of His ministry. As recorded in Matthew’s Gospel:

“Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings.

‘Do you see all these things?’ He asked. ‘Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’” (Matthew 24:1–3, NASB)

What Did Jesus Mean by “the Days of Noah”?

Jesus’ response to this question fills most of Matthew 24 and is well worth reading carefully. Within this teaching, He makes a direct comparison to the time of Noah:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:36–39, NASB)

Given the seriousness of this warning—both then and now—it is worth paying close attention to what Jesus meant by “the days of Noah.” What exactly was happening before Noah entered the ark? Jesus refers to a time just before a global catastrophe, one that destroyed nearly all life on the earth. He then says that conditions would be similar just before “the end of the age.”

Please note: In this discussion, we will not attempt to define exactly what Jesus meant by “the end of the age,” nor whether it refers to a past or future event.

Jesus used a well-known historical event to help His disciples understand what was coming. It is reasonable to assume that they understood the reference and its meaning. However, it is far less certain that we, today, fully understand what Jesus meant—or what He intended us to learn—from this comparison.

Misunderstanding the Comparison:

In the past, when I heard this passage discussed, the focus was usually on the words “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” As a young person, I was taught that this referred mainly to people giving themselves over to pleasure and sinful living. This view is reflected in older commentaries, which explain the passage as a warning against excess, indulgence, and moral corruption.

There is no question that the Bible describes Noah’s generation as deeply sinful. It is easy to draw parallels between their moral condition and much of what we see today. However, this explanation alone raises an important question: How is eating, drinking, and marrying anything other than normal human behaviour? These activities have always been part of everyday life.

Jesus also said something else that deserves attention:

“They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.”

This raises an obvious question:

Could they have known what was coming—and if so, why didn’t they?

Awareness Ignored:

Scripture tells us that Noah spent many decades building the ark, an enormous and very visible project. He is also described as a righteous man who warned others and called them to repentance. Other ancient Jewish writings suggest that Noah actively tried to alert the people to the coming judgment. Despite this, the people remained unprepared.

They had time. They had warnings. They had evidence all around them. Yet when the flood came, it caught them completely by surprise.

For this reason, I do not believe Jesus was criticizing ordinary activities like eating or marrying. Instead, He was pointing out how completely unaware the people were of what was happening around them. Life seemed normal right up until the end. They ignored the warnings, dismissed the signs, and continued as if nothing would ever change.

Moral Corruption Is Not the Whole Story:

When discussing the days of Noah, attention is often drawn to the extreme wickedness of humanity at that time. Scripture says that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). There is little doubt that this description can feel uncomfortably familiar today. However, this condition of the human heart is not unique to Noah’s generation. Throughout history, human beings have repeatedly shown the same tendency toward corruption. Jeremiah reminds us of this when he writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Because of this, general human sinfulness alone cannot fully explain why Noah’s generation stands apart. While moral corruption is certainly part of the picture, it is only one factor among several that must be considered when studying the days of Noah.

Corruption Beyond Humanity: “All Flesh” in Genesis 6:

Before going further with this portion of this essay, I think it is important to look more closely at the phrase “all flesh” in Genesis 6. This particular detail deserves careful attention. It appears more than once in the flood account and is central to understanding why the judgment of the flood was so severe. It may have more significant ramifications for us these days than we realise.

Genesis 6:12 says, “God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” A few verses later, God tells Noah, “I am about to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them” (Genesis 6:13). Later still, God explains that the flood will destroy “all flesh in which is the breath of life” (Genesis 6:17).

At first glance, “all flesh” might seem to refer simply to humanity. However, the text consistently includes animals, birds, and creeping things alongside human beings. This is unusual. In most biblical judgments, God deals specifically with human sin. Here, the corruption appears to have spread beyond human society and into the created order itself.

The language suggests more than widespread bad behaviour. It points to a breakdown in the proper boundaries of creation. Something had gone wrong at a fundamental level. Life on the earth was no longer functioning as God had intended it to function.

This helps explain why the flood was not limited to human beings alone. If corruption had affected all flesh, then the remedy would also have to be comprehensive. The flood was not merely punishment—it was a kind of reset, preserving only what God declared “blameless” through Noah and those with him in the ark.

Importantly, Genesis makes a distinction. While all flesh was corrupted, Noah is described as “righteous” and “blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9). This contrast shows that God was not acting blindly or unjustly. Judgment came only after corruption had become total, and preservation was granted where faithfulness still existed.

If something had gone wrong at the level of creation itself—corrupting not just human society but all flesh—then the strange and often overlooked account of the Nephilim in Genesis 6 demands closer attention.

A Long Period of Warning:

In order to better understand what Jesus meant by “the days of Noah,” I think that we need to move beyond a narrow, distant view of the flood as simply a single moment in history. Instead, we should look at it within a much broader context—both in terms of time and what was happening during that time.

Genesis 7:6 tells us that Noah was 600 years old when he entered the ark and the flood began. That detail is important because 600 years represents an enormous span of time. Many people read the phrase “the days of Noah” without fully grasping how much could happen over such a long period.

To put this in perspective, if we looked back 600 years from today, we would be looking at the early 1400s. Think of how many major events, cultural shifts, wars, discoveries, and changes in human behaviour have taken place since then. A single phrase like “during that time” would hardly describe everything that occurred. In the same way, “the days of Noah” should not be understood as referring to only a short or simple period of time.

Although the Bible records real history and refers to specific historical events, it does not claim to be a complete history of everything that happened. The brief account found in Genesis 6:8 through 7:16 gives us a snapshot—not a full record—of the events leading up to the flood. It provides what we need to understand God’s actions and purposes, but not every detail of life during that long period.

There are also ancient writings outside the Bible that discuss this era. While these texts are not Scripture and must be treated carefully, they can help us understand how people in the ancient world viewed the flood and the events surrounding it. It is reasonable to believe that Jesus’ disciples were more familiar with these traditions than most people are today and likely had a broader understanding of what led up to this great catastrophe.

Warning Ignored Despite Clear Signs:

Another important point is that the coming disaster was not a secret—yet almost everyone was caught by surprise.

Genesis 6:3 is often understood as a warning that humanity had 120 years before judgment would come. This statement reflects God’s patience as well as His unwillingness to tolerate evil forever. Many biblical scholars interpret this verse as a countdown to the flood, a period of time given for repentance.

This idea is also reflected in the Book of Jasher, an ancient non-biblical text mentioned in Scripture (Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18). According to Jasher 5:6, Noah was 480 years old when God spoke to him and to Methuselah about the coming destruction if humanity did not turn from its wicked ways. The passage describes repeated warnings given over many years:

“God said unto Noah and Methuselah, saying, Speak ye, and proclaim to the sons of men… Return from your evil ways…
Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years…
And Noah and Methuselah spoke all the words of the Lord to the sons of men, day after day…
But the sons of men would not listen, nor incline their ears to their words.”

Whether one accepts this account in full or not, it reflects a consistent theme also found in Scripture: the people of Noah’s day were warned repeatedly and given ample time to change.

Yet despite decades of warnings, visible signs, and the testimony of a righteous man, the people remained unmoved. When judgment finally came, it caught them unprepared—not because they lacked opportunity, but because they refused to pay attention.

A Pattern Jesus Expected His Listeners to Recognize:

However one looks at it, the outcome was the same. Despite a long period of grace and repeated warnings—despite clear calls to repentance—and despite many troubling events happening all around them, the world was still caught off guard when the floodwaters came.

This is striking when compared with the warning that Jesus tied to His Noah reference. Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour of His coming—yet He also said it would happen within that generation.

In Noah’s time, the flood came with a known time frame. According to Genesis, humanity was given many years of warning. Even so, knowing that judgment was coming—and roughly when—made no difference. The people did not change.

Ancient writings such as the Book of Jasher describe, in dramatic terms, this refusal to respond. While Jasher is not Scripture and must be read carefully, it reflects a tradition that emphasizes just how clear the warnings were. Jasher 6:11–12 describes terrifying natural signs meant to awaken the people:

“And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun darkened, and the foundations of the world raged… and God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the sons of men, that there might be no more evil upon earth.

And still the sons of men would not return from their evil ways… and did not even direct their hearts to all this.”

Whether one accepts this description as literal or symbolic, the message is consistent with Scripture:

- the people ignored warning after warning.

- Even extraordinary signs failed to move them.

- Their attention remained fixed on everyday life.

- Judgment drew closer.

The Nephilim and the Corruption of Creation:

The Genesis account—and Jesus’ reference to it—points to something more serious than ordinary human wrongdoing. Something was happening that led God to make an unprecedented declaration: “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them” (Genesis 6:7). This judgment went beyond humanity alone and extended to all living creatures.

Genesis 6:12 further explains the reason: “God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” The language here suggests a corruption that had spread beyond individual choices and personal sin. It had become systemic and universal, affecting all flesh. This level of corruption sets Noah’s generation apart and signals that more was at work than the normal moral failings common to human history.

The Factor That Cannot Be Ignored

Yet there is another critical factor that should not be overlooked.

In addition to general moral corruption and human violence, a very specific and dangerous form of evil was spreading throughout the world. This corruption threatened not just society, but all flesh. This brings us to the subject of the Nephilim and their appearance in human history.

Too often, this aspect of the flood narrative is skipped over, misunderstood, or dismissed entirely. However, several biblical passages make either direct or indirect reference to the Nephilim and to the unusual conditions surrounding their emergence. These passages suggest that something deeply unnatural was taking place—something that went beyond ordinary human sin and played a role in bringing about the flood.

Understanding this background is essential if we want to grasp the full meaning of “the days of Noah” as Jesus used the phrase.

Shared Knowledge in the Ancient World

Several biblical passages point to unusual events connected to the days of Noah, even though they do not explain those events in full detail. Passages such as 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6, Numbers 13:30–33, and Genesis 6:1–4 seem to refer to something already known by their original audience.

At this point, an everyday example may help. If someone today mentions “9/11,” they usually do not need to explain the details. Most people already understand what happened and why it matters. In a similar way, these biblical writers appear to assume that their readers already knew what events were being referenced.

This brings us back to the Nephilim and their role in the days of Noah—especially in Genesis 6:1–4. This passage speaks of the “sons of God,” who took human women as wives and produced offspring called Nephilim. Many Jewish interpreters before and during the time of Jesus understood the “sons of God” to be fallen heavenly beings. In later Jewish writings, such as the book of Enoch, these beings are called “Watchers.” (This term [Watchers] can also be found in Daniel 4:13, 17, and 23.)

According to this understanding, certain of these Watchers crossed a forbidden boundary. Their actions were not only immoral but destructive. The resulting corruption affected humanity at a fundamental level and threatened the future of creation itself. In addition to this, these fallen beings were believed to have taught humans forbidden knowledge—methods of violence, deception, and self-destruction.

While these extra-biblical writings are not Scripture, they help explain how many people in Jesus’ day understood Genesis 6. The disciples would not have encountered these ideas as strange or new.

Conclusion

In the end, it was not ignorance caused by lack of opportunity—it was blindness caused by inattention. And that, I believe, is the true warning contained in Jesus’ reference to “the days of Noah.”
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Part 2 will continue this discussion by examining how Jesus’ warning applies to the events leading up to 70 AD—as well as how similar patterns have appeared and could continue to appear at other turning points in history. Part 2 of this article can be found here:

As in the Days of Noah – Part 2