Jesus Christ–God in the flesh—foretold that the time just before God’s
judgment and wrath befall rebellious mankind at the very end of the
Church Age will be like it was in the days of Noah and of Lot. Although
those times were wicked and all thoughts were focused continually on
evil, people of the earth were carrying on with normal activities like
eating, drinking, planting, building, marrying, buying, and selling.
In the days of Noah, earth dwellers were carrying on
business as usual right up until the moment that Noah entered the ark
and all who were left on earth were swept away by the Flood. In the days
of Lot, there was an air of civility, with Lot even serving as a judge
at the city gates during the day. At night, however, the depravity ran
rampant when homosexual lust turned to voracious, predatory assault. Lot
and his family members were removed, and all people who were left behind
in the city were consumed by the holocaust from heaven.
Jesus said He will be revealed when conditions are
like they were during those times. We have seen that the time when He
intervenes into the affairs of mankind as described in Luke 17:26-30
will not be His Second Coming at Armageddon (Revelation 19:11). It will
be another, earlier intervention--but catastrophic, nonetheless.
We have pointed out many times in these commentaries
the strangeness of the dynamics of our times. Crises are building in
many critical aspects of human interaction. We have wondered in
amazement at the insanity of the dastardly mismanagement of economic
matters by governments around the world. How, we puzzle over, have the
economies of America and the world avoided crashing?
Why, despite threats of the destruction of Israel by
the likes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a preemptive
attack on Iran’s nuclear production facilities not occurred? Why, with
the tremendous buildup of arms by the many Islamic Israel-haters in
obvious preparation for an attack on the Jewish state, has there not
been a major blow-up in the Middle East that would disrupt world
stability?
Yet the anxieties about the world sitting on a number
of powder kegs afflict only a few people, relatively speaking. Except
for those who are unemployed in America, for example, it’s business as
usual. The majority of people just don’t worry about the precarious
position of the nation and the world. The masses are buying, selling,
marrying–even men with men and women with women, I might add. And
building continues, despite the housing debacle and trillions of dollars
of debt wrought by monetary madness such as that found in Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.
Most troubling, the church in America–and I am
referring to those who are born again (see John 3: 3)—is, for the most
part, oblivious to world conditions that present strong evidence that we
are on the brink of the prophesied apocalypse. This makes this
generation of Christians precisely the generation I believe Jesus was
speaking prophetically to when He said, “Therefore be ye also ready: for
in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).
But, as we have been examining, there are those who
are scanning the fearful future. Glenn Beck, the Fox News program host,
says he sees coming a man-contrived world economic collapse,
hyperinflation, and societal collapse that only patriotic,
sound-thinking, even spiritually-inclined Americans can begin to fix. He
doesn’t know when it will happen, but, he says, it will happen almost
overnight. We will awaken the next morning to a world totally different
than what it was before we went to sleep.
Hal Lindsey, the author of The Late, Great Planet
Earth, says much the same thing. He foresees, as a part of that feared
socioeconomic collapse, severe persecution for Christians in America at
some point. Jesus’ words, which I believe speak directly to this
generation, present a different picture than Beck’s forecast (and to
some extent, than Lindsey’s) regarding things about to break upon a
mostly unsuspecting world. My own thoughts that follow are based upon
what I believe is wrapped up in the Lord’s forewarning to our generation
in Luke 17: 26-30.
Two statements are necessary at this point. First, it
is God’s staying hand that prevents the impending calamities outlined in
this essay from collapsing America and the world into the worst times in
history. Second, if things continue on their present course
geopolitically and socioeconomically–and if God takes His hand of
control off developments--the collapse feared by Beck, Lindsey, and many
others will certainly come at some point. The longer the
rebellion-engendered crises build, the more devastating will be the
crash when it comes.
I begin my analysis of what lies just ahead in that
fearful future about which Beck, Lindsey, and others have conjectured,
and over which so many emailers have fretted. Again, I believe that the
answers reside cocooned within Jesus’ "days of Noah, days of Lot"
prophecy. Now, we apply His analogy to the present generation.
Jesus foretold that human activity will be going along
in a business-as-usual manner. God, in one day, will take His
family–believers—out of harm’s way. That very day, His judgment and
wrath will begin falling on those not taken. To reiterate because the
point can’t be overemphasized: If one accepts Christ’s words as true,
and as literal, as I do, one must agree that things must be going along
as normal for the time when the sudden intervention happens. Jesus
plainly says that the generation alive at the time of that divine
intervention will be removed to safety before the devastating events of
judgment take place.
Both Beck and Lindsey say they believe a world-rending
socioeconomic collapse is imminent. Beck, at least, believes the crash
and totally changed America and world will be brought about by the
diabolical efforts of New-World-Order types like George Soros. Both Beck
and Lindsey are recommending that we make preparations to survive that
coming time of devastating collapse.
Yet Jesus tells us that it will be business as usual
right up until the moment He removes believers from the planet. There is
no man-made, worldwide catastrophe in Christ’s prophecy. As a matter of
fact, Jesus says all will be relatively normal, in terms of human
activity, until that removal. Then He will be revealed by way of His
cataclysmic judgment that begins to devastate planet earth. It is God
who causes the cataclysm, not George Soros or any other human or other
entity. Mankind’s involvement in the whole matter is that of displaying
total rebellion and refusing to repent of sin, thus bringing on God’s
righteous judgment. One era–the Church Age—comes to an end with the
removal of believers. The next era then begins at some point with the
confirming of the covenant with Israel, as given in Daniel 9:26-27. That
period will be the seven years of Tribulation, the last three and
one-half years about which Jesus said: “For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew24: 21).
Next we will look into the fearful future,
specifically as it relates directly to America’s near-term financial
destiny and to whether believers will face deadly persecution.
