Living in the Days of Noah and Lot, Part 1-B (Pilgrim's Progress... #35)

TEXT: Luke 17:26-33

It is often said among Christians -- and even non-Christians -- that we are living in the last days. Numerous wars, increased violence and criminal activity, and devastating natural disasters are often pointed to as evidence that we are near the end of days. But, in Luke 17, Jesus presents what is perhaps a surprising marker of the end times. It is not more natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, or cataclysmic and earthshaking events. Rather, He gives us signs of normalcy. He compares the last days to the days of Noah and Lot -- days when things will seemingly continue as they have always continued. People will be eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building. Warren Wiersbe states that "in both examples, the people of the world were caught unprepared as they engaged in their everyday activities."
 
As we consider Jesus' words, we see an example of a wise man, an example of a worldly man, and a warning for all believers. This warning is depicted in the classic tale called Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. The story reads:

Now I saw that the pilgrims came to a place where an old monument stood, right next to the highway. At the sight of this they were both concerned because of the strangeness of its shape, for it seemed to them as if it had been a woman who was transformed into a pillar. Therefore they stood intently looking at it, but for a time they did not know what to conclude.
 
Eventually Hopeful noticed an inscription on the head, though in an unusual style of writing; so being no scholar, he called upon Christian, on account of his learning, to see if he could interpret the meaning. So after some study of the letters, he found the meaning to be this, "Remember Lot's wife."...