Talking a lot on here about the end of days because of all the stuff that is going on in the world, and it is scary to me because I just started my 30s and if the world is going to end, in the meantime here life will be very dark and miserable anyway. My question is why couldn't God just zap all the "problem" people away but otherwise allow this world to live on as usual and let the more benevolent people go into leadership and institutional positions again. Why does God sound like he wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater? I know what the Bible may say, but why do I even need to be part of his plan, whatever it is?
Evil can multiply on itself, growing over time, intensifying, so that what was once a shocking evil begins to seem just normal to the people.... So that slanders for example become normal, just what everyone does.... (we are not there yet, but it's been getting worse....)
...gradually evil can become the most powerful influence, overwhelming any other influence -- so that even every child becomes corrupted by the evil influence and trained into the evil... -- so that matured, the evil begins to totally dominate a culture/nation/region. Even the world.
For example:
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was
full of violence.
-- Genesis chapter 6
Notice the wording of that situation: "
every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was
only evil
all the time."
Once things get to that point, with zero love or compassion or kindness, just violence: "Now the earth....was
full of violence."
Then a massive reset is the only practical possible course of action.
It's like a field totally overgrown with harmful weeds....
No amount of pulling weeds would help...seeds are everywhere for new weeds, and they are sprouting everywhere. The field cannot be weeded....
The the only course of action is something like: plow it under. Make a New World. Like this:
Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
It will happen.
In the end,
when evil overwhelms the world again, even though Christ came to teach what is good, and make an easy way for all to turn and repent -- when evil overwhelms the world again
even despite
that....then it will be time, I think, to end this world as it is, and bring the New one to come.
As that final collapse into evil gets nearer, it will look like this along the way:
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
We are not even close to that yet, I think.
There are still
many people that love what is good, and won't slander others, and act with kindness, doing charity, and loving their neighbors....
So, we aren't yet close to that.
But, it might be the world is gradually starting a slide towards that. Watch to see if the evils listed above in those 5 verses just above begin to increase and increase....