NOTES for Gen 8:4-21
Our Lord compares His second coming with the drama of the flood: as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Matt 24:37), and therefore it is especially important now to fix our gaze on this event, remembering this comparison made by Jesus. It is very important, because it allows us to draw nearer to an understanding of the coming Judgment. There was a world before us, but it was subjected to judgment and punishment, forgiveness and mercy. Here there is, as it were, an icon of the Lord, who has already lowered His left hand (symbolizing judgment) and raised His right hand (symbolizing mercy). And there is something parentally tender in the words: "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth." And immediately one remembers: "Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions" (Ps 24:7). The Lord forgave us then, in the days of Noah, because He knew: people still understood too little, and because of their ignorance they could be forgiven.
But the years of humanity multiply. What "age" will correspond to the final Judgment? The answer to this question is also contained in today's reading: "While all the days of the earth remain, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." That is, the Judgment will take place when all the days have been drunk to the dregs.