Jesus was telling His Disciples about the signs of His coming when He said, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:37).
Following the creation of Adam and Eve, we have the story of Cain and Abel. The Word of God reads, “And it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him” (Gen. 4:8).
Cain’s sin weighed upon him. He told God, “My punishment was greater than I can bear” (Gen. 4:13).
He went out from the presence of the Lord, got married, had a son, and established a city (Gen. 4:16-17).
Five generations later, Cain’s great, great, great grandson, Lamech, had two wives; and he killed two men (Gen. 4:19, 23).
Time passed, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11).
Notice the stories and progression of sin: murder, mental anguish, lived in a city, multiple wives, multiple murders, great wickedness, minds continually thinking evil thoughts, and violence everywhere.
Jesus said, “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” (Luke 17:27).
Stephen Paddock was the son of a violent criminal that spent years in jail. He went to a city (Las Vegas, Sin City, the Gambling Capital of the World), a place with a reputation for easy marriage, easy divorce, legal prostitution, strip clubs, and more.
He got a room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, overlooking a country music festival.
He was divorced twice and was spending time with women he was not married to. He was overheard telling the woman he lived with that he owned her.
There is evidence that he was having mental issues (like Cain, who didn’t repent, but couldn’t bear his punishment), because he was taking an anti-anxiety medication called diazepam (Valium).
In fact, the woman that he lived with (and went on cruises with) said he would lie in bed moaning and screaming, “Oh, my God!”
There is evidence that he was thinking on evil continually. Because his plan was so detailed, some authorities said he had to have had help.
He murdered 59 innocent people, and more than 500 were injured because of his evil. It was only by the grace of God that it wasn’t more.
As great as his wickedness was, Mr. Paddock apparently had greater wickedness in mind. He tried to set off a powerful explosion by shooting at nearby tanks filled with aviation fuel. He traveled to Boston and Chicago to check out other potential targets. There were traces of bomb- making materials in his car, etc.
Four days after Mr. Paddock’s terrible deed, Dr. Franklin Graham, no doubt one of the world’s premier preachers today, posted a Facebook message with the warning that wickedness is rising in America. His post urged people to examine the evil in their hearts.
I wondered if Dr. Graham was thinking about what Jesus said, concerning the Days of Noah, when he posted that message.
And something else was on my mind.
On Aug. 21, 2017, the U.S. experienced a total eclipse of the sun. Because darkness was one of the Ten Plagues of Egypt and a warning from God for Pharaoh to repent, some Jewish Rabbis and several U.S. pastors said the eclipse over the U.S. was a warning from God for the U.S. to repent.
For many reasons, they believed God would give America 40 days (Nineveh had 40 days, Jesus was tempted by Satan 40 days, Goliath tormented Israel 40 days, it rained 40 days in the Days of Noah, Moses was on Mt. Sinai 40 days after Israel made the golden calf, etc.). Some of these Jewish Rabbis and pastors said the 40 days would begin on the morning after the eclipse and end on Sept. 30.
The first day after the 40 days ended was Oct. 1, 2017. It was a day of wickedness, and one must wonder if God had removed His hand of protection that has often protected the U.S.
On that day, the wickedness of Stephen Paddock was great. For several terrifying minutes, his thoughts were continually on evil as he shot more people than one person has ever shot in the history of this once great nation.
When a nation rejects God, wickedness will rise, and these things will happen like birth pains.
What is next? Where do we go from here?
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com