I find what is happening tonight in Baltimore a perfect illustration of what I taught last night in our church. I shared with my congregation how Jesus predicted that a sure sign of His imminent return would be an unprecedented deterioration of race relations (Matthew 24:7). The Greek word for "nation" in this verse is "ethnos," which is the Greek word from which we get our English word "ethnic." Thus, ethnic groups rising up against one another is one of the signs Jesus predicted would precede His Second Coming.
I also taught my small congregation last evening that the end-time and final Gentile world power, represented by the feet of iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's image (Daniel 2:33, 42-43), would be a representative republic like Rome, symbolized by the iron, but a republic destined to be torn apart by men, symbolized by the clay. Of course, America, the world's only remaining super power, is a representative republic that is now being torn apart by individuals and groups jostling for special rights and privileges. No longer are we a "melting pot," a land where the many become one, but a "salad bowl," a land of separatist groups vying for themselves against one another. What's happening in Baltimore tonight is exactly what the Bible predicts will happen to the final Gentile world power. We're being torn apart by ethnic unrest and separatist groups while our representative government practices appeasement in the face of anarchy.