Question:
Is the world becoming like how it was during Noah's time?
Kocfkd Fvdvxc
2013-08-29 12:16:06 UTC
Where people started not believing in God. And most people start turning away form God and started doing evil and wicked things. They started marrying and committing adultery, they even started marrying the same sex. No one cares about God anymore and each man is for him self.

But according to Jesus, a time like this will come, and instead God sending a flood, he will come down from heaven and bring fire to the world. And everyone will be judged accordingly. I know atheists aren't going to listen to me, because that's how everything must be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:36-37:36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Twelve answers:
?
2013-08-29 22:49:26 UTC
Let me clear up a common misconception. There is nothing at all in the flood story about God sending the flood because of 'adultery' or homosexuality - this is pure speculation and nothing more. The only specific sin that is mentioned is "violence":



God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them (Gen 6:13)



I also have to smile at the highly condescending comments of ladyren, who claims to have attended the University of Chicago divinity school but doesn't know the difference between Sumer and Samaria! Two of her claims deserve to be challenged. Firstly, the flood story in Genesis is not an exact copy of the one in the Gilgamesh epic, as she seems to infer. Although it IS clear that Genesis borrowed the story from older Mesopotamian literature, Genesis leaves out about a third of the Gilgamesh flood story that has to do with the actions of the gods, and the meaning changes dramatically. In Gilgamesh and Atrahasis, the gods err and are strongly condemned for punishing innocent humanity. In Genesis, the flood story is a parable of judgment on a wicked and violent civilization. If ladyren knew anything about the way Genesis reuses Mesopotamian myth, she would know that it it does so in polemical fashion, satirizing and subverting the underlying political and cultural messages of the older stories. The target of the Genesis flood myth is probably the Neo-Babylonian empire itself.



By the way, you are way off in your guesswork about the dating of Genesis. Most scholars date it to around the 6th century BCE and even fundamentalist Christians claim it was written by "Moses" no earlier than the 15th century BCE. The earliest physical evidence for Genesis dates to around the second century BCE (the dead sea scrolls). On the other hand we have physical copies of the Epic of Atrahasis containing the original version of the Gilgamesh flood story that date to 1700 BCE. These in turn are modeled on an even older Sumerian version (sometimes called the Eridu Genesis) that probably originates in the third millennium BCE.



Ladyren's other quite ridiculous claim that 'about [sic] all the stories in the OT are copied from other and older religions' is patently false. This is a common exaggeration in online forums that has no basis in serious scholarship. The same small handful of examples is raised every time (mainly from the early chapters of Genesis) to "prove" this point, completely ignoring the vast bulk of biblical literature that ranges from poetry and psalms, to the prophetic books, the stories of the patriarchs, the exodus, the periods of the judges and the monarchy, wisdom literature, court tales, second temple historical books, and apocalyptic.



To answer your question, I suggest that instead of being obsessed with sexual matters you focus on the real history behind the early chapters of Genesis - that of the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BCE. The two creation stories of Genesis 1-3, the flood story, the account of the city of Babel and the genealogies of this portion of Genesis all see to derive ultimately from Mesopotamian originals. The simplest explanation for this borrowing, which is largely unparalleled in the rest of the Tanakh, is that it occurred during the exile. This event provided both the opportunity and the motivation for the satirical rewriting of older myths that include Enuma Elish, the account of Enkidu and Shamhat in the Gilgamesh epic, the Sumerian king lists, the Mesopotamian flood story, and the tale of Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta.



What is the writer trying to say it was like in Noah's time? I believe he is trying to say that the "violence" of the antediluvian era was akin to the violence with which the Neo-Babylonian empire conquered Judah, slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants, destroyed its cities including Jerusalem, and took a huge number of slaves into exile in Babylonia in the 6th century BCE. Just as the Egyptian armies are defeated by drowning in the later story of Egyptian exodus, the flood story almost certainly functions as a parable of the eventual overthrow of Babylon by the Persians, allowing Jewish exiles to return to their own land. This underlying story is the one that is relevant to the world today, not a borrowed myth about animals and rainbows, a horrific slaughter that accomplished nothing, and an imaginary flood that never occurred.
Calvin
2013-08-29 15:34:09 UTC
Not many people in the world believe life is great with no problems. Some ignore conditions of finance and health. There is so much debt that the majority of people are facing much hardship.

When it comes to spiritually, most are very silent about the love of God, but people find enjoyment in witch craft like Harry Potter, and all the monster movies. The drug problems are hitting every family. Normal people are under the care of the medical profession for mental and physical care.

People of Noah's day didn't have these problems, they just killed each other with rocks and clubs.

How long will earth last? Who knows? But who has a plan to heal all the problems listed above?
Tairi
2013-08-29 12:22:55 UTC
It is true that times are wicked right now, but like in the days of Noah? Certainly not. Those times were extremely terrible. People didn't value life at all, they didn't value anything. They all were drowning in sin: all of them.

Also, to the same sex comment: God burned down Sodom and Gomorrah. There would have been no need to "over kill" his work there by flooding the whole planet.

Christianity is still one of the largest religions, and even though there many hypocrites in our church, there are still many god fearing people still here. I do believe we are coming up on the end times, however, I still think it will take at least 30-40 more years to actually see some of the worst of the changes. No, right now we are only on the edge...waiting for the push off the cliff to begin. We see it, but we are not there yet.
ladyren
2013-08-29 12:20:02 UTC
Noah, and the flood story is a fable stolen by the Hebrews from Samaria and Babylon. You'll find it in the Epic of Gilgamesh. (Google it) See Tablet 11---a copy job right down to the dove.



And about all the stories in the OT are copied from other and older religions.



You need to finish high school and get into college, sweetie. Fables of bronze age goat herders just are there for myths and allegories.



If you are a modern man, you ought to think like one.... and take some college classes in rel studies. The stuff isn't real.
Gomakawitnessofjesus
2013-08-29 12:28:32 UTC
if you are thinking of an adulterous generation and murderers on every street. then yes.

but it may be that the Lord will bring to earth for another 200 years. maybe more, maybe less. it depends on if the conditions get better, or totally worse, or remain about the status quo, as i understand it.
2013-08-29 12:18:10 UTC
Then God did the most evil thing by killing all those who didn't believe including animals and children. God is selfish and acts like a kid who has his toys taken away, plain and simple.
Technocrat
2013-08-29 12:17:10 UTC
Holy cow, you've opened my eyes.

It's almost like people having been crying the degeneration of society since time immemorial!
.
2013-08-29 12:18:34 UTC
Yes, rapture imminent. Get saved now if you aren't already!
Ernest S
2013-08-29 12:17:58 UTC
It does appear so.
2013-08-29 12:16:58 UTC
get a life
?
2013-08-29 12:17:02 UTC
of course not....noah never had a 'time'....thats just a story
2013-08-29 12:17:03 UTC
gay marriage



need I say more?


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...