Luke 17:26-30 Eating, Drinking, and Marrying
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: October 16, 2018 Luke 17:26-30
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
(Revelation of God / Understanding the Text) The Pharisees had asked when God’s kingdom would come assuming, of course, that it was an earthly kingdom with Israel as the dominant power. Jesus had just answered that it was not a physical kingdom and then said that after His suffering and rejection many would be longing for Him to be there. He said that when He came, His return would be glorious like lightening lighting up the whole sky. Now, Jesus speaks of what will be happening at His coming. People would be going about their normal lives: eating drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, and building. However, these seemingly innocuous activities are all part of a larger corrupt system that is hurting people.
(Understanding the Text) In Noah’s days, the people who were getting married were also violent continuously and killing each other off so fast that if God didn’t act, they would have exterminated the human race. The situation was so dire that only eight people were able to be saved to repopulate the earth. In Sodom and Gomorrah, the same people who were buying, selling, planting, and building were condoning the attack and rape of visiting men. Thus in the last days before Jesus’ appearance in the heavens, our innocuous activities will be accompanied by corruptions of the deepest kind. From sexually abusing the weak to violence against each other both on an individual scale and a national scale, our world seems to be worsening every day. What time is the tipping point? When do we get to the point when no more can be saved?
What does it mean “the Son of Man will be revealed?” This is wording used also by Paul. “and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
It occurs to me that Jesus may be speaking of two different times here. When talking about Noah, He says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.” He talks of the days of the Son of Man. When talking about Sodom and Gomorrah, He says, “Likewise . . . so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” The days of Noah described here are the time before the flood at the beginning. Then, Jesus describes Noah entering the ark and the flood coming and destroying them. Is Jesus here referring to His first coming? If so, does entering the ark symbolize His death (the grave) and the flood maybe symbolize the coming of the Holy Spirit? I don’t know but it’s a thought.
(Application) My application for myself is that I should not be too comfortable in this world because although it seems on the surface that it is innocuous, underneath there is corruption. I should not accept as normal the kind of everyday activities that have become the norm. The corruption in these activities is apparent the more and more that I study God’s word. I need to allow the spiritual kingdom of Jesus to grow in me and crowd out the worldly values that have taken root in me over the years. The promise is here that Jesus will come and this world will be gone. The world’s ways may seem pervasive and all powerful, but they will end one day. I need to trust that Jesus will come and transform everything including myself.
(Prayer) Change me so that the world’s ways are gone and all that remains is Your ways. Transform me so that I can love like You love and live like You live. Most of all, give me faith.