Trilogy of Last-Time Trends

by Terry James 

A trio of issues in today's news smacks of the reality that this generation stands near the very end of “the last time” John wrote about nearly 2,000 years ago. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (2 John 18).

Let’s look at these particular items –out of literally hundreds in our daily news—which tell the observant watchman where we stand today on God’s prophetic timeline.

The first we will examine is the story of a supermodel, regarding sexual morality and sanctity of human life. The crux of the issues involved are found in this brief news snippet.

“SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Supermodel Gisele Bundchen stepped into the debate over birth control and sexual behavior in Brazil on Tuesday, saying Church opposition to condom use was ridiculous and women should have the right to choose on abortion. Gisele is idolized by many young women in Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic country, where debate over sexual issues has intensified around a visit by Pope Benedict last month…”

She went on to say that the Catholic Church’s position on contraception is hopelessly outdated because it was adopted when “the women were virgins, the guys were virgins. Today, no one is a virgin when they get married.”

Time and time again we see, hear, and read about in the news the behavior of young women held up as the glamour queen role models for girls to imitate and emulate. We are all quite familiar with the public displays of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan.

There was a time when women held the societal key to the lock on virtue. America’s entertainment industry, as chief agent of and distributor for the materials of lasciviousness and depravity, to which sin brings any people, has long since stripped our nation of women understanding the need to use that all-important key with great wisdom and care. It’s not hip, not cool, or is just plain puritanical to think in terms of such old-fashioned moral perspectives.

Jude told of the type people produced by reprobate thinking: “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 19).

Ms. Bundchen, Ms. Spears, Ms. Hilton, Ms. Lohan, and others do and think what they please. The world holds them up as entertainment icons. But, God is not mocked. About doing whatever we please without regard for our Creator, God’s Word says the following:

“Every way of a man [is] right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts” (Prov. 21:2). “[There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness.” (Prov. 30:12). "Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isa. 5:21).

The final disposition of those who choose to do what is right in their own eyes is summed up in this terrifying truth: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6: 9-10).

The second of the trio of last-time trends we will take a look at involves an issue that is at the center of some degree of debate among Bible prophecy students. The debate is over whether the endtime Babylon prophesied in God’s Word will be rebuilt in the location once occupied by ancient Babylon.

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Rev. 18:2-3).

The relevant news story, in brief, is captured in the following. "The idea of moving U.N. headquarters seems to resonate with many—those who believe that the U.S. is being manipulated by anti-American and anti-Israeli elements within the U.N., as well as those who feel that the U.S. is doing the manipulation… Where should it go? Try Iraq. While moving the U.N. headquarters to Venezuela or Iran is probably not wise, moving it to Iraq might be a strategic coup. There is even a ready-made location for it—Saddam Hussein’s 600-room palace and compound constructed over the remains of the ancient city of Babylon…” (Need to Know - PostGlobal: PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com, June 5, 2007, Want Middle East Stability? Move UN to Iraq, by Prof. Cynthia E. Ayers and COL (R) David W. Cammons.).

There is a grassroots swell of demand to move the world geopolitical headquarters –the United Nations—to the place many believe Bible prophecy foretells man’s final attempt to rule himself, apart from his creator, will meet its fiery destiny. If the U.N. ever does indeed move to that site, a city will almost certainly spring up overnight, much along the model of Dubai. Such a city could be constructed within months.

The third of the last-time trends we will look at is Russia reasserting her hegemony in a way that might presage a return to cold war status. The following excerpt frames the brewing storm to the north of Israel.

“…Whether by waging cyberwarfare on Estonia, threatening the gas supplies of Lithuania, or boycotting Georgian wine and Polish meat, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] has, over the past few years, made it clear that he intends to reassert Russian influence in the former communist states of Europe, whether those states want Russian influence or not. At the same time, he has also made it clear that he no longer sees Western nations as mere benign trading partners, but rather as Cold War-style threats…” (Putin is playing a dangerous game, by Anne Applebaum, Last Updated: 12:01am BST 05/06/2007, telegraph.co.uk).

Trends that look to be straight out of words spoken and written by Bible prophets continue to proliferate, and move swiftly within every aspect of this generation. Luke 21:28 was never more appropriate to consider than at present.

SOURCE: Rapture Ready