Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

It is interesting that Matthew uses several different Greek words for "eating" when Christ uses of the phrase "eating and drinking." In the first two uses, (Mat 6:25, Mat 6:31), where to topic is people worryin about what they should eat, the word used is phago. In the next two (Mat 11:18, Mat 11:19) where the topic is the difference between John and Christ's eating, the word used is esthiô. Both are words are closely related, meaning simply "to eat" or "to devour." Here, the term is different, trôgô, which is usually used to refer to animals. The purpose here may be to draw the attention to people's animal physical nature.

UPDATE: I have spent sometime thinking about these post, wondering why Christ picked this particular phrase: eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage. The phrase "eating and drinking is common, as we note above, and the term for "marry" is not rare, but the term for giving in marriage is only used in this verse and when Christ describes the lack of marriage in the after like.

After doing some research, I think this series of verbs refers specifically to the three realms of , as defined symbolically by Christ: the physical, the mental, the emotional and the spiritual. The eating of food is symbolic of the physical realm. The drinking of wine is symbolic of the mental realm. Marrying is symbolic of the emotional realm. And "giving in marriage" is symbolic of the spiritual realm.

Of course, my basic working method is to assume that every word from Christ has a meaning and focus. Since the four realms are his most frequent symbols, I naturally go there. Here, the meaning would be that the people of Noah's era were blind in all four areas, which ties nicely to the overall message of the chapter.

The last term, giving in marriage, is the most confusing, but mostly because it is used so seldom. Also, there is no question that I understand the spirtual realm much less than the other three. Christ himself always refers to it as "hidden." I had to do some research in Jewish marriage to come to the conclusion that I do. Apparently, the father gave the daughter in marriage, but in Jewish trandition, this was considered a contract, often in writing, where specific rights and responsibilities were transferred from the father to the husband.

The spiritual realm always refers to God, the Father, so that much makes sense. However, I have been struggling with the other symbols for the spiritual (for example, the seed) and what they mean. I am coming to the idea that the spirit is information, literally, the word. As we discuss discussing the cycles that Christ uses to refer to the other realms, spirit comes first and last. It is the seed that makes the body, the mind, and the relationships and that renews itself coming out again as a new lives, new thoughts, and new relationships.

In the past, I have thought of this seed as simple purpose or a goal, but symbols such as the marriage contract seem to extend the idea. Spirit is not just a goal, but a contract and an obligation. The spirit gives us our body, our thoughts, and our relationships with each other, but it also gives us responsibilities to the physical, mental, and emotional realms. It is not just knowledge, but an exchange of information that makes a convenant.

This ties into the words in the Lords prayer where we ask the Father to "leave our debts alone" (not "forgive" but "let be" from aphiêmi) while we agree to leave our debtors (not their debts) alone. We are recognizing the debt (physical, mental, and emotional) that we have with God and asking him not to collect on it. And, we recognize that others will have the same debts to us. The general message is the the spiritual investment must be allowed to grow over time to produce "fruit."

"Eat" if from trôgô, which means "to gnaw," "to nibble," and "munch," but it usually refers to herbivorous animals. It specifically means to eat vegetables or fruit.

"Drink" is from pinô, which means "to drink."

"Ark" is from kibôtos, which means a "box," "chest," and "coffer."

"To give in marriage" is from ekgamizô, which means "to give in marriage."