A sudden blast of a bomb in the middle of a crowd of hundreds at the finish line at the Boston Marathon yesterday, April 15th, is likely a sorrowful indication that the latter days are upon us. This does not mean in any way that God is not still sovereign and in absolute control of His creation. But, never forget that creation and everyone in it is fallen through sin. This is why Jesus Christ, the Son of God came into the world, to die on the cross to save sinners. Then He rose from the dead. And He promised that He will return to put a rebellious world back under His authority.  He will do this by judging the wicked and giving eternal life to those who believe in Him.

Man, in wickedness, because of his hatred for God and His people and under the diabolical influence of Satan, is seeking to bring as much violence into the world as possible. Each evil action seems, over time, to be a little worse and more twisted than before. Truly this is the case today!  There is greater darkness coming over the world, and these are indeed “perilous times” as predicted in 2 Timothy 3:1. Paul, through his letter to the young preacher, Timothy, predicted by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Who knows the entire future in perfect detail, that “in the last days perilous times shall come.” “For men shall be lovers of their own selves.” Paul predicts the awful characteristics of many people in the latter days. In 2 Timothy 3:1-17 Paul predicted that men of the latter days will have 20 specific and fleshly characteristics which will produce perilous times and circumstances. These circumstances will involve horrible violence and destruction for vile, selfish and demonic purposes. This rise in violence is part of the preparations for the coming of the final man of sin who will instigate despicable violence against the innocent. This will be the Antichrist.  His spirit is already active today.  “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work (is at work in the world already)…” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

The Boston Bombing is one example of the horrible reality of latter-day Satanically energized and demonically directed violence. Again, Paul lists 20 specific attitudes and activities of the wicked in the latter days. As I list them, see if you can recognize these as particularly prominent today as the behavior, not only of individuals but also of our godless culture both in America and around the world:

Men will be:  Lovers of self, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, dishonoring to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without natural affection (perverted, callous, and inhuman), unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of those that are good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having (only) a form of godliness, denying the power of God and the life of godliness (the reality of the Holy Spirit and His indwelling life). (2 Timothy 3:1-17)

Jesus clearly stated the character of the times just prior to His return when He said: “As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be” (Matthew 24:37-39, HCSB). Marriage is very much in the news these days, but the issue today is “giving in marriage,” because the call of our perverted latter-day culture in America and in Europe is to give anyone away in marriage. This is marriage of one man to several women, or man given in marriage to another man, or a woman to a woman. This is violence against marriage, against women, against children, and against the very image of God in man!

In the days of Noah, perverted marriage arrangements were the rage. In Genesis 6 there is the sad record of the Sons of God, fallen angels, taking “wives of all which they chose” (Genesis 6:2).  The result of this unholy union were “giants in the earth in those days” (verse 4).  The consequences of this iniquitous marriage arrangement was judgment, just prior to the flood of Noah. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at His heart.  And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth…” (verses 5-7a).   Remember that Jesus said: “as its was in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man (Jesus) be.

We are also seeing great violence against children through abortion.  Christians need to pray for President Obama to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and to be converted from a sinful anti-life view to a pro-life position to save lives. We should be sure that our sins will find us out (Numbers 32:23) and God has already begun to judge us as a nation. In the days just prior to Noah’s flood, the times were described in this way: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).  How can we deny that this is exactly what is happening today? Today there is the violence against God and His Word, violence against marriage, violence against innocent children in the womb, and against their mothers, violence against womanhood and manhood through the perversion of pornography. These types of violence mark these days as being like the “days of Noah.” If God’s prophetic word is true, and I believe with all my heart that it is, then judgment is already coming upon America, just as Psalm 73:6 tells us: “Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.”

I pray that the bombing in Boston will awaken America that true wickedness is in our midst!  Satan has been given much ground in our land through sin.  God will hold us accountable, just as He did Sodom and Gomorrah.  They, and no less we in America, have “sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7). Many, many innocent people suffer much through the wickedness of others. We need to pray for those who have been hurt in this horrific crime and for the loved ones of those who have been murdered. We also need to pray for revival in America. We cannot hope to solve this crime, and many many others without the supernatural help of the Living God!

Yesterday, April 14, was the day that Israel remembered the soldiers who have fallen in their wars in defense of God’s people and God’s land. Today, April 15, is the day of Israel’s celebration of their independence as a sovereign nation (as of May of 1948).  God is truly doing a miraculous work through His people, the Jews, especially as we see them regather in their land. And many Jewish people are coming to a saving faith in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps this sheds some light on the timing of yesterday’s bombing. Terrorists, at heart, are anti-Semitic, and anti-Christ. But as long as America tolerates immorality, godlessness and violence against the innocent in our midst, we are endangering God’s people Israel. We threaten them through ineptitude in how we deal with Islamic nations such as Egypt, Syria and Iran. We threaten them through our inept response to the imminent threat of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un, of Iran, and the indirect threat of China. God has revealed Himself to America for many years.  Pray that America will listen and respond to Him.  And keep watching, the Lord will come at any moment! “Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh!” (Matthew 24:44).