TIME OF THE SIGNS
T
o say that the Western Hemisphere is mainly Christian is a misnomer. Any vestiges of Christianity are fast disappearing and are being replaced with neo-paganism. We are in a post-Christian era and our moral values have descended accordingly.
When describing the moral and spiritual state of the world of the last days, the Messiah compared it to two other distinct periods of history. Firstly, he said that it would be like the days of Noah, when all the people of the world were
“eating, drinking, marrying and given in marriage.”
The other time he compared it to was that of Lot, when he lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us take a closer look at these two scenarios and see if we notice anything unusual about them:
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the Ark.
Then the Flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from Heaven and destroyed them all.
It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
Luke 17: 26-30
The background to the time of Noah is found in Genesis chapter six, which we have already looked at extensively. This tells us that in those days the number of people living on the Earth had increased greatly. But they had also increased in violence and immorality. We are told as well that they were
“eating, drinking, marrying and given in marriage.”
The implication is that this was their main activity in life: to eat well and get drunk so that they could fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
From a study of these chapters in Genesis, we can see that, because of the influence of the
Nephilim,
people of the world at that time had descended almost to the level of animals. As part of their religious practice they used to burn their own children in sacrifice to their pagan gods. They had degenerated to the level of wild savages to such a degree that we are told:
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the Earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5
This is why God's judgment fell on the world at that time. Only Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives were saved from the destruction which ensued. God gave Noah the instruction to build the Ark and fill it with animals. He was building the Ark for a long time, maybe 70 years, before the Flood came. Throughout this time the people mocked Noah for building this huge vessel when nobody had ever seen rain before, let alone a flood. So they continued on in the same manner of life. But then one day, when they least expected it, the fountains of the deep were broken up and the floodgates of the heavens were opened and it began to pour.
Every person, animal and bird was drowned. The whole Earth was engulfed by this cataclysmic deluge. The floods continued for 150 days before the waters began to recede. It was almost a year later before Noah and his family landed and got off the Ark. We are told that “as it was, so shall it be.” When the conditions which prevailed in the days of Noah are repeated, this will indicate the proximity of the Second Coming.
Likewise in the days of Lot, when he lived with his wife and two daughters in the city of Sodom. The conditions there bear a striking similarity to those of Noah's day. Let us take a look at the background to his situation:
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My Lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called to Lot: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have intercourse with them.”
Genesis 19:1,2,4,5
The story goes on to show that, in order to stave off the men and boys of Sodom, Lot offered them his two daughters. But they were not interested in his daughters. They wanted the two men so that they could gang-rape them. So they threatened Lot. But the angels pulled Lot back into the house and struck the men with blindness. Then they told Lot to gather up his wife and two daughters and escape into the mountains because God was going to destroy the city and the other towns around it. They were instructed not to stop and not to look back. As they escaped, God rained down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah. But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
So the conditions were the same in the life of Lot as they were at the time of Noah. And so shall it be in the latter days before the second advent of the Messiah.
It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
Luke 17:28
The inference from this was that they were good days economically. People lived to enjoy food and drink. There was plenty of profitable economic activity, which meant a lot of building and planting of food. People were well-off. This gave them ample time to enjoy the finer things of life, art, gourmet food and the best wines. And we are then told that “all of the men of Sodom, both young and old” came around to Lot's house because they wanted to rape the two men to whom he had given shelter.
Homosexuality in the Bible is a vile sin. And it was because of this rampant promiscuity that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them. We read that:
The Lord said: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous . . .”
Genesis 18:20
The moral climate surrounding these two events, the deluge at the time of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, are examples of the coming judgment upon the Earth as recorded in the Book of Revelation. Because of man's rejection of God and of His Messiah, the wrath of God will fall once again on mankind. But just as Noah and his family were taken out before the Flood and Lot and his family were removed before the burning sulphur fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, so too the people of God will be removed when the Messiah comes back briefly in the clouds to “Rapture” his own. Thus, those of us who believe in God and accept His son as Our Lord and Saviour will be saved from the wrath and the Great Tribulation which will fall suddenly on those who least expect it. Paul, speaking of these last days, says:
For when they shall say “peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
I Thessalonians 5:3
Is there not a striking similarity between the conditions which prevailed in the days of Noah and Lot and conditions in the world today? People were well-off. Business was flourishing. The building and construction industry was prospering and there was plenty to eat and drink. Consequently, people did not have to work too hard. There was also widespread violence. The pursuit of pleasure was the main objective and homosexual activity and immorality were rife.
Today, we are constantly bombarded by the liberal secular humanist agenda telling us that, if it feels good, we should do it. Films, magazines and TV are continually pushing the “free sex for all” agenda. Thus all the attendant ills which accompany these sins are prevalent. Divorce is on the increase everywhere. Sexually-transmitted diseases are rampant. It is the same within the gay community. And, for the most part, the majority of young people today accept homosexual practice as being normal.
But all sinners have the opportunity to turn from their vices and receive the free gift of grace and eternal life. In the New Testament, Paul, referring to homosexuality, writes:
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even
their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations
with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.
Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in
themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Romans 1:26,27
This is Yaweh's view. I did not write the Bible. But, as a Christian, I am bound by my conscience to uphold what I believe. I would hope that people with opposing views would be tolerant of the Christian position. After all, we are constantly being asked to be tolerant of the gay community.
We are all sinners and we all fall short of the calling of God. I am a sinner, and no one knows that better than I. “God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin.” The Messiah died for all mankind. Everyone can be saved if they so choose. Remember Mary Magdalene? She was caught in adultery, the penalty for which was death. Yet Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee. Go thy way and sin no more.” He did not condemn her. In fact, she became one of his closest friends and was at the foot of the Cross with the other women when his disciples were absent.
“As it was then, so shall it be.”
This is what the Messiah told us to watch out for almost 2,000 years ago. When we see the same conditions prevailing in the world as those in the days of Noah and Lot, we are to know that the day is at hand.
Because of the immoral state of the people, God made a judgment against them. He did this as an example to us. In both instances he removed the righteous people before he destroyed the rest. The immorality and perversion of our world today is a mirror-image of the days of Noah and Lot. The Earth is ripening for judgment. The day is at hand. It is make-up-your-mind time. The choice is yours.
Money Talks
In the first and second epistles of Paul to Timothy we are given additional information as to the conditions pertaining to the “last days” or “latter days.” The reference here is to the last days prior to the Rapture of the people of God and the subsequent beginning of the seven years of Great Tribulation. In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul gives us an interesting insight:
The spirit clearly says that in the latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
1 Timothy 4:1
The above verse tells us that people will be tricked by deceiving spirits and demons. Deception leads to another sign of the last days, apostasy.
This is a turning away from Yaweh and from Christian morality to a reliance on self. For hundreds of years the Western Hemisphere has prospered because it has relied on Christian principles and the laws originally given to Moses. But now many of these laws are being cast aside. On an almost universal scale we can see that man is living in total opposition to the precepts of Christianity.
But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-
control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, con-
ceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
The Christian ideal is totally opposite to all of the above. But when we look around us at society today what we are witnessing is precisely what is stated in the above passage. Today, people love themselves. We are told in the Second Commandment that we should love our neighbour as ourselves. But people today love themselves in a selfish, egotistical manner. As a result, they are proud and boastful.
Lovers of money
. Was there ever a time in recorded history in which money was so important? Today, for most people, money is god. Unless people have it, they cannot find contentment. Our whole life seems to revolve around the pursuit of money. And, once we have it, we become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And people who acquire money almost always succumb to pride. In fact, pride is perhaps the one sin we can readily see in other people but never in ourselves. And pride always comes before a fall.
In the last days, people will become
“abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.”
We are becoming more and more insular. And more and more “
ungrateful.”
We take things for granted and very seldom pause to say “thanks.” For we have become
“unholy
.” We have no regard for the “higher powers.” Society is becoming more and more materialistic and less and less spiritual.
In the last days, Paul tells us that people will be
“without love
,” meaning that they will become more callous and obdurate. Jesus said the same when speaking of the last days.
“Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold”
(
Matthew 24:12
). Thus people will become
“unforgiving,”
for their hearts will turn to stone because of their propensity to sin. People will become
“slanderous
.” The reference here is to lying and liars. This is especially evident in our political leaders today. In every country we have political leaders who are both liars and lovers of money.
“Not lovers of the good”
refers to the many who will hate and despise those who believe in the Messiah and try to promote Christian morals and teachings. In the last days people will be
“lovers of pleasure rather that lovers of God.”
Party, party, party. If it feels good, do it. All over the world, getting stoned and having sex is what is fashionable.
If ever a time in history was in keeping with Paul's description of the spiritual bereftness of the last days, it is now. But if we are aware of these things then we do not have to be deceived by them.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying “peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to night or to darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-5
We are never told by Yaweh or by the Messiah that conditions in the world will improve prior to His return. We are told to expect that things will get progressively worse. Wars and rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes, child pornography, teenage pregnancies, abortion on demand, rampant child abuse, corruption in high places. The list is endless.
Violence and murder are an almost daily occurrence everywhere in the present time. This breakdown in respect for human life surely indicates that we are living in the generation which will witness the return of the Messiah. And this is our one and only hope, for without the certainty of His second coming, we are doomed. But the good news is that He will return to save us from the wrath to come. And after the wrath he will begin to put this world back in order. This is our certain hope.