In Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus teaches us that the end-time world, the world at the time of His Second Coming, will be like the pre-diluvian world, the world in the days of Noah. Although it is obvious from the text that Jesus is teaching that people in the last days will be like people in the days of Noah in that they will ignore the warnings of impending destruction and carelessly go on with their lives right up to the day of God's judgement, I've long believed that there is a further and more chilling implication in these prophetic words of our Lord.
According to Genesis 6:5 and 6:11, in the days of Noah, “the earth was filled with violence” and “every imagination [and] thought of [man’s] heart was only evil continually.” It is my belief that the end-time world will not only be as incorrigible as the pre-diluvian world, but as iniquitous as well; that is, just as violent and evil? In fact, even more so, since our Lord also predicts in Matthew 24:21-22 that the perilous (dangerous) times of the last days, as the Apostle Paul calls them (2 Timothy 3:1), will be characterized by great and unprecedented tribulation that will have to be cut short by His Second Coming lest no human being be left alive on this planet.
If you are a serious student of the Scripture, you know that the God-ordained institution of human government did not come into existence until after the flood. The Bible says in Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” It was here, when God instituted capital punishment as part of the Noahic Covenant, that human government was ordained by God. According to the Apostle Paul, the purpose of the God-ordained institution of human government is to punish the evil doer and to protect the righteous, those who do right (Romans 13:1-5). In doing so, human government is intended by God to restrain the inherently sinful human race from once again filling the earth with evil and violence, as it did in the days of Noah, a time when God became “grieved” that “He had made man on the earth” and decided to judge the earth and destroy it with a flood (Genesis 6:6).
If, as I believe Jesus is predicting in Matthew 24:37-39, the end-time world is not only going to return to the evil and violence of pre-diluvian times before Christ returns, but even exceed it and produce unprecedented evil such as the world has never known, what is going to happen to the restraining force of human government upon fallen humanity's fallen nature?
In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, the Apostle Paul writes, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” Although the popular interpretation of the restraining force to be removed from the world to allow an end-time return to pre-diluvian evil and violence upon the earth is the Holy Spirit, there is no place in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is depicted as restraining evil or iniquity in this fallen world. In fact, Jesus makes it plain in Matthew 24:12 that “iniquity shall abound”; that is, increase. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul warns that “evil men and seducers [will] wax worse and worse” (2 Timothy 3:13). If the Holy Spirit is restraining evil in this fallen world, then, we are forced to conclude that He is failing, which we know the Holy Spirit cannot do.
The only restraining force upon the evil imaginations and thoughts of fallen humanity in this fallen world to be found in all of Scripture is the God-ordained institution of human government. Yet, this leaves us with quite a quandary. How can the restraint of human government be taken from the earth and allow the end-time world to not only return to the evil and violence of pre-diluvian times, a time before the God-ordained institution of human government had come into existence, but to even exceed the evil and violence of pre-diluvian times and produce unprecedented evil such as the world has never known? Although I’ve long believed that this is exactly what the Bible predicts will occur in the perilous times of the last days, I’ve always been at a loss to explain how it could possibly happen; that is, until now.
Something absolutely phenomenal is happening in the world today. I fear it is occurring undetected right under the noses of my fellow Christians. Not only are the folks in the pews failing to see it, but also the men in the pulpits. Governments all around our world today, including our own government here in the United States, are beginning to do the absolute opposite of what God ordained them to do. Instead of punishing the evil doer and protecting the righteous, they are beginning to punish the righteous and protect the evil doer. While I could cite multiple examples to prove my point, permit me to share a couple.
First, the inundation of our world with the sexual perversion of the LGBT community is not only being protected by modern-day governments, but promoted by them as well. At the same time, anyone daring to stand up against the agenda of the radical LGBT community upon the grounds of biblical morality is punished by modern-day governments.
Second, terrorist-spawning Islam, the militant Religion of the Sword, which daily carries out terrorist attacks all around our world, is being protected by modern-day governments as a "peace-loving religion." At the same time, Christianity, the lone steward of the greatest love story ever told, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is being condemned and punished by governments all around our world today for being hate-filled and intolerant.
Now, if government’s God ordained role of restraining evil in this fallen world is removed from the earth, that is frightening enough, but if it is actually reversed, in that human governments actually begin championing evil rather than holding it in check, that is absolutely terrifying. It certainly explains how the end-time world will be even worse than the pre-diluvian world, since it will not just be a time without any government restraint of evil, but a time when governments are actually protecting and spreading evil, along with punishing and suppressing righteousness. No wonder Jesus characterized the end-time as a time of unprecedented and “great tribulation” that will have to be cut short by His Second Coming, lest no human being be left alive on this planet.
This also explains how our present-day world, like the world in Noah's day, is so grievous to God that it too has incited His burning wrath against it. However, as the Apostle Peter teaches, on the approaching and final day of God's judgment, God will not destroy the world again with a flood, but with fire (2 Peter 3:3-10). In His fierce anger He will burn it up to nothing. The only ones to be spared from His all consuming wrath are those who have entered the Ark of His salvation―His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.