A -- Shall we resume our study of the contexts of the word parousia?

B -- Yes, let us notice the two remaining passages in Matthew 24, viz.

verses 37 and 39.

A -- (Reads):

`As the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of

man be'.

Verse 39 is much the same.

B -- You say that verse 39 is `much the same', and you are right; but I

just wonder whether you fully realize the point of these two verses.  In what

particular will the Coming of the Son of man be `as the days of Noah'?

A -- I suppose you mean that the believer like Noah will be saved in

the hour of judgment.

B -- That is hardly the chief factor here.

Look at verse 36:

`But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven,

but My Father only',

but the Coming of the Son of Man shall be as the days of Noah, which came

suddenly upon a world taken up with the affairs of everyday life:

`They ... knew not until the flood came, and took them all away'

so the feature that most prominently stands out here is the unexpectedness of

the Coming.

`Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come' (42).

You will remember that the conclusion of the parable of the ten virgins

strikes the same note (see Matt. 25:13).  If I may suggest a departure from

the order of your list of references, it would be a fitting sequel to

consider here 2 Peter 3:4.

A -- By all means, I do not consider that the order of the books as we

have them is binding upon us.

B -- Perhaps you will read verse 3 as well.

A -- (Reads):

`Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,

walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His

coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they

were from the beginning of the creation'.