36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 24:36–44.

The season of Advent serves as a time of profound anticipation where the Church looks back to the manger and forward to the second coming of Jesus. While many believers have been shaped by popular culture to view this future hope as an evacuation from a doomed world, Scripture paints a different picture. We are not waiting for a secret departure but for the parousia, a technical term denoting the official arrival of a king to transform his city and begin his reign. Our hope is grounded in a royal arrival rather than a rescue mission that abandons creation.

This distinction becomes clear when we carefully examine Matthew 24 and strip away the influence of modern novels and movies. Jesus explicitly compares His return to the days of Noah, where the unrighteous were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. In this biblical parallel, being taken corresponds to judgment and removal, just as the flood waters removed the wicked. Conversely, Noah and his family were the ones left behind on the earth to inherit the new era, meaning that those who remain are actually the blessed ones preserved for salvation.

This interpretation is reinforced by the consistent pattern of judgment found throughout the Gospel of Matthew. In the parables of the wheat and the tares, the dragnet, and the sheep and the goats, it is always the unrighteous who are first removed from the kingdom to face judgment. The wheat, the good fish, and the sheep remain to inherit what the Father has prepared for them. Even in the parallel passage in Luke, Jesus clarifies that those who are taken are brought to a place of judgment where vultures gather, further confirming that the removal is a somber fate rather than a joyful escape.

Recognizing this truth shifts our theological framework from a desire for spiritual escape to a robust hope in the restoration of all things. The biblical vision is not about discarding the cosmos but about the renewal of heaven and earth under the lordship of Christ. This perspective aligns with the “new creation” model, which expects God to purify and perfect the physical world rather than destroy it. Such a hope encourages us to value the earth and our physical existence as part of God’s redemptive plan.

Therefore, our Advent waiting must be characterized by active stewardship rather than passive idleness. The parables of the ten virgins and the talents instruct us to remain faithful and productive, investing our lives in the work of the Gospel while we await our Master. We do not look for a secret exit but stand ready to welcome King Jesus when He returns to cleanse His creation. We wait with the confident hope that we will be the ones left behind to inhabit the renewed earth and dwell with Him forever.

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Published by JRMITCH85

I am often asked what describes you, which is a hard answer because sometimes I move in a thousand different directions. Some call me an engineer, others call me pastor, a few call me captain, some call me friend, others call me dad, and one calls me sweetheart. All of these things are descriptors and are accurate, but they don't fully capture me. My favorite place is in the mountains, enjoying the beauty of nature and God's creation, running and hiking around with my family and friends, and taking photos to cement the memories. However, the people that know me the best know that my favorite thing to do is come up with crazy adventures that push the limits of what our minds and bodies can do. My faith in God is important to me and drives me to look at creation the way I do. Because of my faith, I look at these adventures and running races from Half Marathons all the way to 24 hour races, as well as several Obstacle Course Races, as an opportunity to push the body God gave me as an act of worship. Hopefully, someday soon, I look toward running longer races and bigger adventures. My hope is that humanity can understand that the wild is a gift, and we need to care for it and quit destroying it by the way we live.

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