<p>17:27 <i>They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all</i>- Lk. 21:34 is specific: &quot;And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares&quot;. It could fairly be asked 'Why is there this warning, if the believers of the last days are to be actively persecuted?'. This verse implies that the world will be in a materially prosperous state in the last days; it will be possible for us to become so preoccupied with it that we do not prepare for the time of tribulation, so that it comes as a sudden surprise. Of if &quot;that day&quot; is the day of Christ's coming, then it may be that by opting out of the persecution, we will be able to continue to enjoy the materialism of the world, in which case we will be caught unawares by the second coming. Thus while the saints are persecuted, the world enjoys a time of prosperity as it did in the times of Lot and Noah.</p><p>The flood &quot;came&quot;, Gk.&nbsp;<i>erchomai</i>. This is effectively the same word as used about Noah &quot;entering&quot; or 'coming into' the ark (<i>eis-erchomai</i>). The coming of the flood represents the coming of Jesus to the world-<i> erchomai</i>&nbsp;is so often used in the context in that connection (Mt. 24:30,42,43,44,46,48; 25:6,10). The 'coming in' of Noah into the ark seven days before the flood (cp. the response of the faithful to the call to go out and meet the returning Lord Jesus) is essentially the coming of the Lord, even if His public 'coming' may be a few days after the 'coming' to the believers. Keil translates Dan. 9:26,27:&nbsp;&ldquo;The city, together with the sanctuary, shall be destroyed by the people of the prince who shall come, who shall find his end in the flood; but war shall continue to the end, since destruction is irrevocably decreed. That prince shall force a strong covenant for one week on the mass of the people, and during half a week he shall take away the service of sacrifice, and borne on the wings of idol abominations cp. Ps. 18:10, where the true God is also borne on wings shall carry on a desolating rule, till the firmly decreed judgment shall pour itself upon him as one desolated&rdquo; (<i>Commentary&nbsp;</i>&nbsp; p. 373). Antichrist&rsquo;s destruction with&nbsp;<i>the</i>&nbsp;flood note the definite article comfortably connects with the Lord&rsquo;s usage of the flood as a symbol of the latter day judgment upon His enemies (Mt. 24:39). The person spoken about will be involved in war until the end of his days; he will die at the end of his military campaign against God&rsquo;s people. This was certainly not true of Titus in AD70.</p><p>In <i>Contra Celsum</i> we read Origen justifying the Christian church against Celsus&rsquo; criticisms that it is a church of poor, simple people. That the majority of Christians would be poor and simple was indeed the expectation of both the Lord Jesus and Paul. Yet Origen seeks to justify the Christian church as middle class and respectable, with respected intellectuals amongst its membership. It was and is this desire to be seen as worldly-wise and &lsquo;normal&rsquo; which is the death-knoll for any revival of Christianity. It was this which led to the acceptance of the Trinity; and it is this which robs true Christianity of its radical nature and appeal today. Perhaps in our last days this lesson needs to be learnt as never before. The Lord&rsquo;s picture of the world of the last days is of a household eating and drinking, absorbed with being normal (Mt. 24:38; Lk. 17:27). But the Lord&rsquo;s point is that this very &lsquo;normal&rsquo; behaviour done in the wrong spirit is what He finds so wrong.</p>