Lesson 10 Upon Whom the Ends Have Come

                                 Lesson 10 Upon Whom the Ends Have Come

              (Matthew 24, Genesis 18, 2 Peter 2)

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D.  Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: Most everyone believes in a judgment at some time in the future. But how many spend any time thinking about God executing judgment? Especially on them? The Bible records very few large scale supernatural judgments taking place long before the final judgment. What do these earlier supernatural judgments teach us about the final judgment? Let’s plunge into our study of two of these early judgments in the Bible and learn more!

1.    The Examples

1. 1.    Read 2 Peter 2:1-3. Against what is Peter warning? (False teachers who are immoral and greedy.)

1. 2.    Read 2 Peter 2:4-6. What are the examples of God’s willingness to execute judgment on the wicked? (There are three: God tossed the evil angels out of heaven, God brought the flood, and God turned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes.)

1. 1. 1.    What point is the Bible making? (God can punish the wicked before the time of the final judgment. These early punishments are examples of what will happen to the ungodly.)

2.   The Flood

1. 1.    Read Matthew 24:36-37. Have you ever had someone say, “I cannot tell you, but I can give you a hint?” Is that what these verses say?

1. 1. 1.    How can you give valid hints if you have no idea of the “day and hour” of Jesus’ Second Coming? (Jesus says that similar events can give us some clues.)

1. 2.    Read Matthew 24:38-39. Are these ordinary activities? (Yes.)

1. 1. 1.    How surprised by the flood are the people who are just living their normal lives? (They are “unaware.”)

1. 3.    Read 2 Peter 3:10. How much does the ordinary person know about thieves?  Do they think they could be robbed? (Yes. They just do not think it will happen soon. Let’s further explore this.)

1. 4.    Read Genesis 6:5-8. How bad are humans? (Their intentions were only evil continually.)

1. 1. 1.    How does God react to that? (He regrets creating humans and decides to destroy them.)

1. 5.    Read Genesis 6:3. What is God saying? Humans will live a shorter lifespan? Or in 120 years the lives of the people on earth will end? (If you read God’s comment in 1 Peter 3:20 it says that God showed patience to humans during the building of the ark. That sounds like the 120 years is the time of God’s patience.)            

1. 6.    Read 2 Peter 2:5. The ESV calls Noah a “herald of righteousness.” Read Genesis 6:13-14, which tells us that Noah built an ark to protect against the coming flood. If Noah is building this gigantic, unprecedented ship, if Noah is preaching (heralding) the news of the coming judgment, how can Jesus call the people of the time “unaware?”

1. 7.    Let’s explore the background for Jesus’ statement. Read Matthew 24:30. What is the subject of Jesus’ discussion? (His Second Coming.)

1. 8.    Read Matthew 24:32-35. This is what Jesus said just before His statement in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the time of His Second Coming. What can we know about the timing of the Second Coming? (There are signs. You can have a general understanding that the final judgment is about to be executed.)

1. 1. 1.    Now imagine, like Jesus described, a wedding during the time Noah was building the ark. Would the bride and the groom be aware of the giant ship and the warning of a coming flood? (Yes. But they are focused on their life right now. They are not focused on the end of their world.)

1. 1. 1. 1.    Would you call them “unaware?”

1. 1.    Let’s step back a moment. Our subject is what these early judgments can teach us about the final judgment.  Will the Holy Spirit give those doing evil a general concern about judgment?

1. 10.    Read Matthew 24:40-42. What should we be doing to prepare for the Second Coming? (“Stay awake.” Be alert.)

1. 11.    Read Matthew 24:43-44. Recall Peter’s reference to being robbed. What would the master have done differently if he knew when the robber was coming? (He would have stayed awake.)

1. 1. 1.    One of the main problems with teaching the Bible is to make it relevant and understandable. What would you do in response to the instruction to “stay awake?” “Be alert?”

1. 50.    Read Matthew 24:44-46. What, precisely, is this servant doing? (He is going about the business assigned to him by his master.)

1. 1000.    Read Matthew 24:48-49. What, in contrast, is the wicked servant doing? (He is engaged in activities that are not part of his job.)

1. 14.    We all need to sleep, we need to be “alert” for robbers, and we do not know when the robber is coming. What should we be doing? Trying to pin down more specifically the time the robber will come? Or being faithful in our job of making the house as secure as we can? (Jesus tells us to do the job He has given us. Be faithful in our efforts to promote the Kingdom of God. He is not telling us to try to pinpoint the time of the robbery.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice that the servant is tending the “household.” Be a faithful father. Be a faithful mother. If you have a job in your church, perform it faithfully. That is being alert.

3.      Sodom and Gomorrah

1. 1.    Read Genesis 18:20-22. With whom is God discussing the future of Sodom? (Abraham. We will not read the verses that immediately follow, but Abraham negotiates with God the test for the destruction of Sodom. If there are ten righteous people in the entire city, God will not destroy it.)

1. 2.    Read Genesis 19:1-3. Lot “strongly” argues that these two angels should not spend the night in the town square. Why?

1. 3.    Read Genesis 19:4-5. This is the answer to the prior question. What do absolutely all the men of Sodom want to do with Lot’s guests? (They want to “know them.”)

1. 1. 1.    Do they just want to get acquainted with these visitors? (Read Genesis 19:6-7. Lot refers to the local men being “wicked.” They are demanding that the visitors be turned over to them so they can rape them.)

1. 4.    Read Genesis 19:8-9. As we will see, Lot is rescued by God as one of the righteous persons in Sodom. How is it righteous to offer your daughters to be raped instead of the visitors you just met? (Obviously, that would not be righteous. But Lot knows something that he is sure will keep his daughters safe - these men are homosexuals.)

1. 5.    Read Genesis 19:10-11. How did the angel visitors defeat the would be homosexual rapists?

1. 6.    Abraham has just had a conversation with God about the exploring the nature of the people in Sodom. That is followed by this story. What point is the Bible making? What is the sin of Sodom?

1. 7.    Read Jude 6-7. How does Jude describe the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? (It calls it “sexual immorality” and “unnatural desire.”)

1. 8.    Read Ezekiel 16:49-50. How does this describe the sins of Sodom? (Pride and not helping the poor and needy even though they had plenty of food and time. It also mentions doing an “abomination.” There are many today who argue, based on this text, that the problem with Sodom was general sin, in particular not helping the poor. But Genesis and Jude pinpoint the nature of the sin of Sodom. The fact that those in Sodom also engaged in other sins does not excuse the highlighted sin.)

1. 1.    Read Genesis 19:24-25 and Genesis 19:28. What does the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah teach us about the final judgment?

1. 10.    Read 2 Peter 2:5 and 2 Peter 2:7-9. What hope do we find in these verses? (God knows how to rescue us from trials!)

1. 1. 1.    Verse 8 tells us that Lot was tormented by the sin all around him. Why didn’t he move? Noah had no option like that. (This gives us comfort. God positively refers to Lot even though he had obvious flaws.)

1. 1. 2.    Verse 9 tells us that God keeps the unrighteous “under punishment” before the final judgment. What do you think that means?

1. 11.    Friend, will you think seriously about your life? Our actions matter, and God does not always wait until the final judgment to make decisions on our life. Why not turn to Him right now? Why not decide to be a faithful servant while waiting for Jesus to return?

4.   Next week: Ruth and Esther.