When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). This seems like one of those self-answering questions from the Scriptures. Conventional Christian wisdom teaches us that the trumpet shall sound, and believers by the millions will be caught up to heaven in the rapture. There certainly seems to be no place for doubt as to the existence of faith in the time of the return of Christ: therefore, the answer to Jesus’ question seems to be a resounding, “YES, He will!”

Why, then, ask the question? His own experience may certainly have had a hand in it. When He came the first time (the time in which He posed the question at hand), faith was a very precious commodity. The Jews lacked it. They were busy with legalism and politics, and lacked faith that the Messiah was in their midst, even when His works proved it beyond doubt.

Jesus’ own disciples, while believing He was Messiah, were shaky. Matthew recorded at least four times when Jesus rebuked His own disciples, saying, “O ye of little faith.”

In fact, the one time Jesus seemed truly impressed with an expression of faith was in the case of the centurion, whose servant was sick. He presented himself, and his case, to the Lord, who replied, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion, believing the Lord for who He really was, said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matt. 8:8-10).

This is the kind of faith in question. Will the Son of Man find people with the faith that the Lord will perform every word that has proceeded out of His mouth?

This is the point of Luke 18:7-8. He says, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

When times get tough, and God’s people begin to worry, we must continue to trust in God.

There is a great example of lack of faith found in the Scripture. This example is found in the story of Noah. To understand it fully, however, we have to go back to Noah’s great-grandfather, Enoch. We all know Enoch as the man that was “translated that he should not see death,” but there is a little more to this man than that one experience.

We are told that he walked with God (Gen. 5:22), and was a prophet (Jude 1:14-15). Jude recounts to us Enoch’s prophecy of the Lord’s return to execute judgment upon the world. However, we know of at least one other prophecy made by Enoch. When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son whom he named Methuselah. In the naming of his son, Enoch gave one of the most important prophecies his generation (and those immediately following) could have had. You see, the name Methuselah means, “At his death, judgment.” In the small action of naming his son, Enoch prophesied of the coming universal calamity that would leave only a few alive. 

At 187 years of age, Methuselah had a son named Lamech. 182 years later, Lamech had a son, whom he named Noah. At the time of Noah’s birth, Methuselah, whose very life expectancy was of utmost importance to all of humanity, was 369 years. In those days, that was still pretty young, but in the naming of Noah, which means “rest,” we can see that Lamech saw the fulfillment of his grandfather’s prophecy on the horizon.

Then one day, God told Noah to build an ark to prepare for the coming flood. Methuselah, who was no doubt well known throughout the land at the time, was getting on in years, being more than 900 years old. His name stood to testify of the impending doom as his life came to an end, but would any believe the word of God at the mouth of Enoch, now long since gone?

Noah did. He may have paid his grandfather a visit, and saw that he was not much longer for the earth. He believed the word of God, and knew that the ark had to be built. Time was running out.

God always gives signs. He gives clues. He always reveals His secret to His prophets, who then have the responsibility to pass that information on to the people. He had given two witnesses to the coming flood: Enoch’s prophecy by the name of his son, and, now, an ark being built by Enoch’s great-grandson in preparation for the prophecy’s fulfillment. Would the people believe?

Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness.” While we have assumed that Noah came out of the blue and began warning of the flood, and no one believed this crazy up-start, the truth is that Enoch’s prophecy was known, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord because he held fast to the faith that was once delivered to the saints, and contented earnestly for it.

The days grew closer. Noah’s ark was almost done. Methuselah was soon to go the way of all the earth. Would Noah find faith on the earth? Would anyone believe the signs, and have faith that the word of the Lord was about to come to pass?

Lamech, the father of Noah, passed away five years before the flood. Now there were two men left to testify to the prophetic words of Enoch. Just how close Methuselah’s death was to the flood we do not know. But God gave man nearly 1000 years to reflect on the ministry and prophecy of Enoch, for Methuselah lived to the ripe old age of 969: the longest recorded life in the Scriptures. God was not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Not very long after Methuselah’s death, however, when it was time to enter the ark, of all the souls of man that were alive, only eight people had the faith to enter the ark. We are not told how many millions of souls perished for their disobedience and rebellion. Nevertheless, after nearly a millennium of admonition and warning, only eight were there, trusting, fearing and obeying the Lord.

Once again, we find ourselves on the precipice of prophecy. Once again, we near the impending doom of global calamity. Once again, wickedness covers the face of the earth like a blanket. Once again, the wrath of God must be poured out.

The question posed by our Lord rings true today, as it did almost 2,000 years ago, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Wrath is coming, and there is an “ark” that needs prepared. If you stand around “looking up,” the only thing that you are going to get is a face full of the fury of the Lord, as He pours His wrath upon the children of disobedience.

No, my brothers and sisters, we must prepare for the Lord’s coming as though we really believe it is about to happen. We must seek the Lord. We must seek righteousness. We must seek meekness. Only in so doing, may we be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger (Zeph. 2:1-3).