Violence Filled the Earth

Jesus prophesied of the conditions on the Earth before his coming. “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30. From these few verses it would appear that things were pretty peaceful on the Earth before the flood and in Sodom before the destruction. However, other scriptures reveal that life was not so nice. There was sin, wickedness, and violence.

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:11-13. In the New Testament the epistle of Jude speaks of the sins of Sodom. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 1:7. Lot encountered the violent men of Sodom. “And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.” Genesis 19:9. We know that God brought violence down on the violent people in both accounts.

When I saw the violence on the news in the U.S. cities I thought of the account of the flood in the book of Genesis. Our society is riddled with sin, wickedness, and violence and I believe it will bring destruction on us. True Christians are not violent people and do not take part in such violence. As Christians, our desire is for peace and security in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” Isaiah 60:18. Jesus will bring eternal peace and justice. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:7.

Our society is fixated on death. The death merchants want us to kill more babies by abortion and more old people by euthanasia. They inject graphic violence into movies, television shows, and video games. The pornography and fornication promoted by the entertainment industry leads to spousal abuse, rape, incest and murder. The sins of Sodom are upon us. How do we think we can escape judgement? The warnings have gone out over many decades from Bible believing preachers. Our society is without excuse.

I believe we shall continue to see an increase in violence, culminating in a massive war in the Middle East before the Lord returns. When judgement finally comes, we shall be saved out of the destruction if we put our trust in Jesus Christ. Noah was lifted up above the destruction and Lot was told to go up into the mountains to get above the destruction. (He disobeyed but God saved him anyway.) I believe we Christians shall be lifted up above the destruction. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.