Very Violent Times

When Jesus told His disciples what the signs of His Second Coming would be He told them that it would be like it was in the times of Noah:

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matt 24:37, NKJV)

There are many things that marked the time of Noah and one of them was that there was massive violence:

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence…And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Gen 6:11,13, NKJV)

To be certain, there have been times of violence in history so for this to be a sign it must be notable. While the Romans were a violent culture it wasn’t worldwide. China has violent leaders and their people are treated horribly. It’s not like we can’t point to times and areas of the world where viciousness was present because we can. However, in the days leading up to the Flood God says that the whole earth was filled with violence, so much so that He decided to kill them all. So, when Jesus said the times just before He returns will be like the pre-Flood times He knew that those future times would be as violent if not more violent. The question is, are we seeing that now? I think we are.

Minneapolis Violence

I have people on my social media pages from all sides of the cultural and political spectrum. So, for this point I ask that you take those hats off for a moment. I listened to people who were in the city for other reasons and they got caught up in the places where mobs ruled the streets. They literally had to run for their lives as crowds came at them yelling and even throwing things at them. Some were from out of town and staying in hotels and were followed and threatened when they moved to another one. They got texts from burner phones saying they needed to leave or be killed. Buildings where people from out of town were staying were surrounded by crowds who threw rocks at their windows. All because those being assaulted weren’t on their side of things. It doesn’t matter what side people are on, violence and death threats are never acceptable. Never. And yet this keeps happening. Minneapolis isn’t alone. There are things like this happening all over the US and it shows no signs of letting up. Yes, I understand the grievances, but resorting to criminal behavior isn’t the answer especially if you are a Christian. But I digress only slightly. The point is that this violence is exactly what Jesus predicted.

The US Isn’t As Civilized

We can try to rationalize that these instances of mob activity is out of the ordinary and that for the most part we are peaceful people. However, a nation that kills babies before they are even born can’t say they abhor violence. Abortion is very violent. If one simply researches how these abortions are done it should be clear that what I’m saying isn’t an exaggeration at all. Inserting a saline solution into the amniotic sac which burns the bay to death is hardly humane. Or when the baby is suctioned out of the womb while still alive tearing it apart limb by limb. This unborn child can feel pain and that is documented now. How can we condone and support this barbarity and still call ourselves a peaceful caring society is outlandish. This is another sign of a violent world. But there are more signs of this. We usually point to countries like Russia or China as examples of violent nations and when we consider that in Russia over 300 million abortions were performed from 1957 to today while China almost 490 million abortions were done from 1971 to 2020. That’s evil but the US has aborted 62 million babies since 1973. That is a lot of blood on our hands, too.

Feeding On Violence

We could blame Satan for influencing us to be violent, but the evidence speaks otherwise. In an article by Rick Renner we read this:

Today violence and corruption runs rampant in our schools, our streets, and even our homes — it is everywhere. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul forecasted that society would turn dangerously violent at the end of the age (see 2 Timothy 3:1-9), and his Holy Spirit-inspired predictions support Jesus’ prophetic warning that the things which occurred before the Flood would be repeated in the days before Christ’s return. As barbaric and violent as society has been in past times, the level of violence that will mark the end of the age will be greater than this world has ever known.

He then makes a telling statement before making his case with evidence:

In today’s world of entertainment, violence is one of the hottest-selling tickets. It can be found all over the Internet, embedded in music, and vividly portrayed in video games… In our own time — at a time in modern history when we seem to be so sophisticated — we have taken the barbaric behavior of the ancient world to a new, unprecedented level. We no longer have to visit Roman stadiums and other venues to experience violence and bloodshed, as a pagan society did in Early Church history, because now we bring huge doses of violence directly into our homes through television, digital devices, and the Internet. Although the means by which we receive our entertainment may be more technologically sophisticated, this generation is as barbaric, or even more so, than previous generations. It is simply barbarism manifesting in a different form.

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

Renner then states what suffices for entertainment for us and asks us a hard question:

This present generation has seen so much brutality as entertainment on screens in front of them that they have become numb to its hideousness. Today people purchase tickets to movie theaters to watch scenes of human carnage play out before their eyes as thrilling entertainment. So I ask you — if we as a society regularly feast our eyes, minds, and emotions on enacted scenes of human bloodshed, does that really make us more civilized than the ancient world that reveled in some of the same live scenes played out before them?

And then he takes a deep dive into how seeing so much violence affects us:

Current statistics prove that if a person watches enough violence on television, his sensitivity to violence will become dulled and he will become numbed to acts that would otherwise prick his conscience and vex his soul. The same statistics reveal that if a person watches pornography, in time, that person will lose his sensitivity to the wrongness of this behavior; once again, he will become numb to it. Consider these facts:

  1. The escalation of violence in entertainment is so widespread that by age 18, a child will have seen more than 200,000 acts of violence on television and witnessed more than 40,000 simulated murders.
  2. The average seventh-grader watches more than 4 hours of television per day — with more than 60 percent of the programs containing violence. The same average seventh-grader plays electronic games 4 hours per week — with more than 50 percent of games categorized as “violent.”
  3. In most of the industrialized world, 90 percent of homes with children have more than one television, not to mention video-game equipment, a personal computer, and high-tech cell phones with the capability of showing movies. This means parents can watch television in one room while their children sit unsupervised in another room with access to “entertainment” that projects violence into their young minds.
  4. Violent video games have created a thirst for violence. In fact, statistics now reveal the majority of children select “fantasy violence” as their favorite type of video games.
  5. Further studies reveal that the more frequently children practice fantasy acts of violence on video games, the more likely it becomes that they will carry out real acts of violence.

Renner then concludes by saying we are living in times like the days of Noah:

The slower, kinder, safer world many of us grew up in is nearly gone, and with every new day it seems like society is being inundated with more violence. Unfortunately, our “sophisticated” and technologically advanced generation has become a generation wholly given to violence. Who would have ever thought it might be dangerous to go shopping at the mall or go watch a movie at the theater. Nevertheless, because there have been so many shootings and killings in the past decades, many people who frequent these types of public places are now taking the time to scope out the closest emergency exits in case a shooter shows up and goes on the rampage. Indeed, the levels of violence we are witnessing today may be unprecedented in human history — except for in the time frame that preceded the Flood.

I think that it will only get worse and that saddens me really. But like Noah we need to preach repentance until the door of the Ark is closed by God Himself. And we need to avoid being like Lot who put up with immorality and violence instead of separating him and his family from it when he had the chance. I pray we will be found faithful when He comes.