Luke 17:26-37 - Judgement and the last days

17:26,27

Noah and the flood is referred to here by Jesus. It is also referenced by Peter (1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 2:5). Noah had received a clear warning from God concerning what was going to happen and had acted upon it. At the same time the rest of humanity was going about its normal business, totally oblivious to what was going to happen. Either ignoring Noah, or regarding him as a fool. Then the flood came. The final outworking of the last days will come suddenly.

17:28,29

Exactly the same lesson is derived from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Life was going on as normal then the destruction of the Lord came upon them with fire and sulphur. Note that the lessons the New Testament derives from the acts of judgment in the Old Testament is that we can be absolutely sure that judgement will come, that we need to take it with the utmost seriousness. Sadly the lesson that modern Christians often derive is that that is just Old Testament and God isn’t like that anymore. That is a very serious mistake to make.

17:30-37

Jesus draws the direct lesson that these things are all warnings of what will happen when He returns. The example of Lot’s wife is also used as a warning that it is essential that on that day God’s people act swiftly, not seeking to hold on to the things of the world. In Matthew and Mark similar instructions are applied to what the Christians should do when the fall of Jerusalem was imminent. Luke applies it more generally. This could be seen as a hole in the preterist argument that sees most or all of the end-time prophecies as being fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. Many, but by no means all, of the end-time prophecies had a partial fulfilment in the fall of Jerusalem in AD66-70. To see them as the complete fulfilment is an act of lunacy. Rather the partial fulfilment is a demonstration that the things prophesied for the end-times really will happen. The reality of judgement needs to be taken most seriously.

If you have KJV or NKJV you will also have v36, but the best manuscripts do not have v36.

There will be a separation, a distinction. Those who seek to preserve their own life will lose it, those who instead trust in the Lord  will preserve their life. Jesus then gives two (three if v36 is included) examples of two people who in human terms are in identical positions, but one is taken, the other left behind. Now remember that earlier on Jesus had said that the kingdom is within you, or among you. The distinction between those taken and those left behind is one of the attitude of heart.

V37 is a bit of an enigma, with Jesus’ answer not really seeming to answer the question asked. It seems that the point He is making is that judgement will certainly come and there will be many on the wrong side.