Chapter 1 -

The days of Noah and Lot

 

 

 

 

If we start examining the signs preceding the coming of Jesus, then the words spoken by Jesus himself, in which He referred to the days of Noah and Lot concerning the generation experiencing the coming of Jesus, are a good starting point. He stated that the conditions just before His coming would very much resemble the societies of the time of Noah and Lot, and that before His coming, people would be as unprepared as then; in other words, history would in a way repeat itself.

 

- (Luke 17:26-30) And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28  Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

29  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

 

When we start examining the issue of whether we can, in the current society, see marks of the same kind of times as in the days of Noah and Lot, it is startling to note that we are moving towards that kind of society at a fast rate. For the prophecy says that the condition of mankind will drop lower and lower and become more immoral as the world is drawing closer to the evening of time, and the closer the coming of the Son of Man is. Keeping this in mind, nowadays we can see just such signs and development; in other words, development that indicates that the old prophesies are becoming true right in front of our eyes.

   In the next paragraphs, we are indeed going to show some examples indicating the direction of development today. This development becomes best apparent by comparing the points of time and decades.

 

EMPHASIZING SEXUALITY ABOVE MEASURE

 

In the days of Noah and Lot, one feature of society was over-emphasizing of sexuality and appreciating it too high which can be seen in the verses below. The immorality of these societies and how the Earth was completely corrupt in God's sight is mentioned. The list of verses also includes Paul's reference to the last days and what it will be like then. He pointed out, for instance, that people then would be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God:

 

- (Gen  6:11) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

 

- (Jude 1:7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

 

- (2 Tim 3:1-4) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3  Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4  Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

 

On the other hand, when we think about the fulfilment of this sign at the present time, the situation has already advanced quite far. If we compare for example the 1950s to today, the difference is quite apparent, even though not even a normal human lifespan has passed since then. Then, in the 1950s, the extent of immorality, indecent use words, and perversity, which is now so characteristic especially to the Western societies, was nowhere near that we can see today.

   Also David Wilkerson has anticipated this issue, or development, quite accurately, in his well-known book Näky (The Vision) that was published in the beginning of the 1970s. He noted already then that the world would experience a collapse in morality, when Satan would try to deceive people and tempt them. It would be very difficult for people to resist this development and to stay out of it:

 

Moral collapse is on its way - 1

 

Oh, all residents of the earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in his great anger to deceive, if possible, even the elect of God. And how does Satan try to tease and deceive even the elect of God? I believe that Satan will try to tempt mankind by bringing about a collapse in morality. He will open the floodgates of hell and try to sink the world under erotic dirt, indecency, and sensuality.

   This collapse in morality can be won by nothing the human mind can conjure. Already, the demonic spirit of lust wipes over many nations bringing about nakedness, perversity, and the flood of dirt. (...)

   We say that the pendulum moves from one extreme to another. Many have said optimistically that we have seen all nakedness, dirt, and indecency that the nation can tolerate, and that the pendulum is now moving in another direction. I hope with all my heart that this could be so. But I believe without a doubt that the flood of dirt I have seen coming is the same of which the prophet Nahum has spoken.

"Behold, I am against you, said the LORD of hosts; and I will discover your skirts on your face, and I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. And I will cast abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you as a spectacle. (Naah 3:5,6) (1)

 

In any case, the development of society is perhaps manifested best in the following examples, which we will study. From these we can see what has taken place in the last years and decades, and how the situation has constantly developed in the same direction. What will the situation be like if we go 10–30 years forward and if the change continues the same and at the same rate as up till now?

 

Decaying of the institution of marriage is a issue that has been fulfilled especially during the last forty years, and that becomes apparent for instance in that several young people simply live together without getting married – also David Wilkerson prophesied that "The moral examples begin to shake among people who go to church. Changing husbands and wives will increase, and multitudes of young people simply live together without getting married", (2). 50 years ago common-law marriages were hardly known and living together was only started after marriage, unlike today. In those days, when our grandparents were young and up to the 1950s, these kinds of couples were deemed odd.

   This matter and change can also described very well by the next quote referring to the situation in Finland about 40 years ago. In those days, Finland and many other countries, experienced a so-called "sexual revolution" brought about by the youth of the time. Nowadays, the ones who experienced the "sexual revolution" are already parents and have raised their children in accordance with their way of thinking:

 

I was away from my homeland for three years, the years 1965–1968. When I returned in the autumn of 1968, I was very surprised at the change that had taken place in the atmosphere of public conversation. This concerned both the tone of conversation and also the framing of questions.

(...) In the world of high school, those who demanded justification of sexual relationships were the ones blowing their trombones loudly. They insisted, for instance, that boys and girls should be allowed to live together in university dormitories even though they were not married.

   It seemed as though the Teenager Union had been conquered by new leaders, who announced not only socialism and school democracy but also an idea of free sexual relationships.

   All in all, what was new with the situation was that there were reference groups speaking about sexual questions much more openly than it had been normal in public. These groups accused the society and the church of double standards.

   The tone of the conversation was to a large extent ethical. Morals were regarded as bad, and blamed. However, a new moral was simultaneously announced, often very moralistically and intolerantly. It had been discussed earlier that the sexual behavior of young people must be understood, but now some groups announced that it is right to have free sexual relationships. The institution of marriage and real genuine love were even set side by side. Illegal couples were interviewed in public, as though they were some kind of heroes of a new moral standard, who had dared to rise against the morals of the bourgeois society. Homosexuals were interviewed in the same way and people demanded abortion to be legalized.

(...) Even though, according to my observations, the atmosphere of public conversation in Finland had changed surprisingly much between the years 1965 and 1968, the topical questions discussed everywhere else in the world were the same as in Finland. The difference was only in the vehemence of conversation and perhaps in the fact that in a small country like Finland, small active groups can almost overpower the media. In addition, we are probably still unaccustomed to public conversation. So the simple attitude of being right becomes dominant in a small country like Finland much easier than in larger countries. (3)

 

Anton LaVey, who acted as the high priest in the church of Satan, describes the change that has taken place especially since the 1960s. He was quite right in saying that a great change in the area of sexuality took place in the mid-1960s:

 

"The period of Satan started in 1966. At that time, God was announced to be dead, people started to defend sexual freedom, and the hippies developed a free sex culture." (4)

 

Divorces are connected to the above-mentioned decay of marriage. At present, in Finland – which is one of the most immoral countries in the world along with the other Nordic countries – almost every second marriage ends in divorce, for example.

   However, if we compare the divorce rate to that before, the current negative development has lasted only for some decades. It becomes apparent from the following figures.

 

- 1881–1890 there were about 53 divorces in Finland

- 1901–1910 there were about 125 divorces

- In 1930 were 1,106 divorces

- In 1938 were 1,784 divorces

- In the years 1946–1950 there were about 5,000 divorces annually

- In 1979 there were 9,624 divorces and 5,547 judicial separations, and as a consequence 11,000 orphans. Almost 35 out of 100 marriages broke up

- Nowadays, breaking up of marriages and also common-law marriages are even more common than in 1979

 

Change in television. If we are seeking reasons for the decaying of moral standards, one significant factor must be the television, which can be used for good purposes but also for bad. It has assisted the perfect collapse of the moral standards and spiritual life of our nation in the last few decades, perhaps more than any other thing. (The rapid increase of the popularity of television and its influence on society can be clearly seen in the fact that when, for example, in 1945 there were only 5,000 televisions in the United States, nowadays there are over 100 million of them. In Finland, for example, there are as many televisions as in the USA per capita).

   We should note, however, the change that has occurred in the programs shown on television. Nowadays, there is much more nudity, the use of language has become more and more indecent, and even hard porn has become a reality. For instance, David Wilkerson prophesied this sort of development already in the beginning of 1970s. He stated that "most television companies will fall into this collapse. I prophesy that there will soon be programs with nudity scenes. The crossing of borders is a fashion craze among those people, who try to make media more liberal. When the initial resistance of this absurd hubbub dies, there will be programs with 100 % nudity content. It will begin tentatively, but as artists join to praise this breakthrough of freedom in the media, the floodgates will open, and then in the future anything might follow. (...) In fact, just about nothing is done to suppress this uprising. The surprising thing is that the people who speak against nudity are not preachers and devoted Christians but rather certain celebrities of Hollywood and famous TV performers." (5). The things that are being done now would have seemed impossible a few decades ago and they make the TV programs of the 1960s look nice and harmless, not to mention the Finnish films of the 1950s. We can note at this point that the prophecies of the Bible are really being fulfilled.

 

It seems an eternity from the times of old Clark Gable. In those days the bravest scene in the film It Happened One Night was when Gable and Claudette Colbert made a curtain from a blanket between their beds when they had to spend their night in the same cabin. They named the blanket "the wall of Jericho", but the filmmakers of today have overturned the walls and exchanged them for wrinkled sheets. (6 )

 

Internet and other channels. Paul stated, referring to the people of the last days, that they will be "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Tim 3:4), and nowadays there are, in addition to television, also many other channels that can lead us into this direction. Many of them did not even exist 20–30 years ago.

   Internet is one example of these kinds of channels. It has become widespread only in the last 15 years and perhaps it will be as common as television one day. The web can also be used for good and bad purposes alike. It is a good channel in spreading of the Gospel and good things, but you can also lay hold of very harmful material, such as porn, which is the most popular material there, just by clicking a few buttons. Therefore, this channel is often a major distributor of filth and corruption that can easily lead us astray and into separation from God – many fathers and young men are slaves of this kind of sexual material, from which they cannot free themselves by themselves. They use their time and perhaps also their money on it. It is certainly true that the Internet is, in addition to television, the most important factor in the decay of the moral atmosphere of the society during the last years.

   A good indicator of the development we are experiencing are the sex shops on the streets: there can be many of them even in small towns. Those and other places that spread pornography – such as topless restaurants, which for example in the 1950s would have been regarded as quite impossible – have become more and more widespread and they are one sign of the phenomena of our time. These matters prove that we live in the midst of such a collapse in moral standards, which for example in Finland and in other countries has not been experienced in the earlier centuries. Even if we go back hundreds of years, similar over-emphasizing of sexuality has not appeared in the Nordic Countries and hardly elsewhere.

 

The increase of homosexuality. When Anton LaVey, the high priest of the church of Satan, announced that the period of Satan started in 1966, when "God was announced to be dead, people started to defend sexual freedom, and the hippies developed a free sex culture", it is interesting to note that almost simultaneously, homosexuality became a generally accepted matter. This was not true yet in the 1950s, but has become more and more generally accepted especially during the last ten years. Its acceptability has certainly been affected by conversation programs of TV, series where actors in major or minor roles have been homosexuals, and  newspaper articles that have kept this issue in the open all the time. The development has gone in our time in the same way as in the days of Noah and Lot. Sodom was especially famous for this. The next quote from the well-known book The Vision by David Wilkerson refers to the same issue. He stated already in the beginning of the 1970s that something like this will take place:

 

"There are two forces that prevent gays from dedicating themselves completely to their sin: society does not accept them and the church's teachings are against them. But these barriers will disappear when society no longer resists their sin and deems it abnormal, but on the contrary encourages them to continue, and when the church no longer preaches about their sin but supports them in their sexual activities. The floodgates will open, and the gays will be encouraged to continue in their sin. I have seen in my vision that these two obstacles will be wiped away and when they are taken away, chaos will follow."(7).

 

Another thing worth noticing as comes to the increase of homosexuality are the great marches connected to the issue. In New York and other cities around the world, marches have been organized since the 1970s, and hundreds of thousands of people have participated. They have been in the newspapers and the issue has become well known. The quote below  indicates how this matter has become common only during this present generation, mainly in the last twenty years. It is an indication of the moral revolution that has happened in our society. They were not known yet in the 1800s or in the childhood of our grandparents.

 

Since the 1970s, the homosexual movement has regularly appeared in public in the spirit of the so-called "Pride parades". There are annual "Gay Pride" days during which many homosexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, etc. march around the streets of cities around the world "celebrating" their sexual behavior. As a certain kind of motto, they use the words "Proud to be gay".

SETA (Finnish association for sexual equality) arranged a Helsinki Pride day in Helsinki in July 2000. The people of SETA and their supporters marched on the streets of Helsinki. The event was a part of the worldwide Gay Pride 2000 event being arranged at the same time. Perhaps the most notable Gay Pride 2000 day march in the whole world occurred in Rome where tens of thousands of homosexuals marched trough the historical city causing grief to the Pope. The authorities estimated the number of marchers at about 70,000, the newspapers about at 200,000, while the marchers themselves spoke of even about 400,000 marchers, who were "celebrating their homosexuality". (8)