Thank you for the question on the parallelism of Matthew 24:1–45 with our society, “How close is society to Matthew 24:1-45?”
Throughout every century, the social upheaval and moral decline may be prevalent and applicable to Matthew 24:1–45.
One of the conditions of society is the reckless living of society. In verse 38, Matthew says this, “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (NIV).
In our modern period, it appears there is a greater decline in moral values and religious belief in the Western culture from Europe to the United States. The Asian culture is moving to a godless society or toward a moral authoritarian religious belief. In all culture, there is a lack of the awareness of the return of Jesus Christ. That message is being ignored or rejected by many cultures.
Will the return of the Son of Man happen in our lifetime? Some Christians believed so with the rise of world events and world organization that makes it seem the return of Jesus is possible within our lifetime. No one knows the day and hour, but it appears there are signs of it.
The phrase, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage is a figure of speech that indicates a careless or reckless lifestyle without any thought of eternal consequences. Life goes on and everyone is enjoying life to their fullest.
Perhaps to some extent this is more so true for the Western culture, but in the Eastern Culture or in the Muslim Culture that is not the case. The emphasis of the passage is the unexpectant or suddenness of the event of the Flood or the unsuspecting return of Jesus Christ. The world doesn’t believe it since there is a greater rejection of the Creator God or the uncertainty of a deity. More and more cultures are accepting the viewpoint of evolution and the rejection of the existence of God. There’s only one life so let’s make the most of it while we are still on earth. Thus, the eating and drinking without the thought of tomorrow.
Christians ought to be careful not to state the day and hour of Jesus return. The failure of those past declarations of Jesus return discredits the Scriptures. It may appear or point to, but one can’t state categorically that the return of Jesus will be on a specific day and hour. That’s assuming that one knows the mind of God and God has not revealed it. In other words, don’t impose our beliefs when it is not clearly stated in the Scriptures.
-Kingston