Jesus Christ used the example of Noah's day to reveal the attitudes that would predominate near the end: "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37-39).

Here we see history and prophecy working together. The meaning is clear: The attitude of people in Noah's day would prevail again just before Christ's second coming. As in the former case, God would be deemed as far away, unconcerned about human activities on earth, with life appearing to go on as always (2 Peter 3:3-6). Like before, people would be unconcerned as to their true spiritual condition and blind to God's impending judgment.

The key to the example Christ gave is to understand that people can be so concerned about the cares of this life that they ignore their Creator (Matthew 6:33; Luke 21:34-35). It happened before, and it is happening again.

The apostle Paul similarly foretold the overall self-seeking mind-set that would dominate people's thinking in the last days: "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

This perfectly describes the overall attitude and outlook of our age. Such thinking will prevent the vast majority of humanity from believing God and the biblical warning signs indicating Christ's imminent return. Like the people in Noah's time who laughed and mocked as he built the ark, the end of this age will come when the overwhelming majority are unprepared.