We Live in a Corrupt World Filled with Violence

When the disciples asked Jesus to describe the signs of His coming and the end of the age, He pointed to many signs. But one of the most often overlooked is the idea that when He returns, the world will be “like it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-41).

Does life today look anything like it did in the days of Noah? If so, we have yet another reason to expect the soon return of Jesus. So, what were those days like?

We don’t need to guess. We know exactly what those days were like. Both the book of Genesis and Jesus Himself tell us.

The World in the Days of Noah

The Bible tells us that God looked upon the world in Noah’s day and saw corruption, violence, and wickedness (Genesis 6:11). In fact, humans were so wicked, they continuously thought of nothing but evil (Genesis 6:5).

As in Noah’s day, the world today is filled with wickedness, corruption, and violence. And while we may not yet be to the point where every thought of mankind is continuous evil (we can’t know what’s in everyone’s mind), a look at what’s happening in our world shows we’re very close.

For example, think of some of the degenerate and evil TV programs that invade people’s minds on a daily basis. Programs that portray murder, rape, torture, and sexual immorality of every kind. In fact, sometimes the commercials are worse than the shows. And that’s just television. When you think of all the other messages society assaults us with every minute of every day, how could our minds notbe fixed on continual evil?

Our world is also home to a constant flood of violence. Less than two weeks ago, we witnessed the attempted assassination of former U.S. president and current presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. While this was a high-profile act of violence, most shooting incidents go unmentioned. In fact, here are some of the headlines from my local area as of the day I’m writing this article (July 22, 2024). I’m sure if you visit your own local news sites, you’ll find something similar:

• Hampton Police Looking for Suspects in Connection with Shooting Near Aberdeen Rd 7-Eleven
• Police: Man Dead After Shooting in Norfolk
• 17-Year-Old Charged in Norfolk Fatal Shooting
• Police: 1 Shot on Navajo Trail in Portsmouth
• Murdered Norfolk Man Remembered as a Former Marine Willing to Help Anyone
• Early Morning Shooting in Norfolk Leaves 1 Injured
• Hampton Seeking Assistance Identifying Suspect in Shooting
• Double Shooting in Portsmouth: Police Investigation Underway
• Suffolk Police Investigating Early Morning Shooting on Green Ash Court
• 19-Year-Old Dies in Shooting on Litton Lane in Suffolk

Even mass shootings are ubiquitous. I’ve lived my whole life in Virginia, growing up in the City of Chesapeake and attending college at James Madison University. And yet, four mass shootings have taken place in areas I’ve frequented in the past

1) On April 16, 2007, a mass shooting resulted in 32 people dead at Virginia Tech, a place I’ve regularly visited throughout my life.

2) On May 31, 2019, a mass shooting at Building 2 of the City of Virginia Beach Municipal Center resulted in 12 people dead. This is a building I once regularly visited as part of my work for a previous employer.

3) On November 13, 2022, a mass shooting resulted in three people dead at the University of Virginia. My wife and I were engaged on the steps of the Rotunda at UVA in 2005.

4) On November 23, 2022, a mass shooting resulted in six people dead at a Wal-Mart in Chesapeake – the city I grew up in. I had been to that Wal-Mart numerous times since the early 1990’s.

Do I bring this up to draw attention to myself? Absolutely not. I find it hard to believe I’m alone in my connection to the locations of multiple mass shootings. I know I’m not. Unfortunately, you can probably cite similar examples in your own life, which just goes to show – we live in a world filled with violence.

Why It Matters

Why is all of this important? Because Jesus said these same conditions will be present in the time just before His return. We see them, and this is just one of many signs that indicate we live in the season of the Lord’s return.

Do we see any other similarities between today’s world and pre-flood mankind? I believe we do, and combined with what we’ve discussed so far, we can know we live in a world that’s “as in the days of Noah.” Let’s look at three additional similarities between the world of Noah’s day and our world today:

1) The World Is Ignorant

The overwhelming majority of people on earth today remain ignorant of the coming rapture of the church, the seven-year Tribulation, and God’s impending judgment. Noah and his family were the only ones who prepared for the flood. The Bible doesn’t tell us what everyone else’s reaction to Noah’s ark-building efforts were, but we can imagine his neighbors likely responded with mocking and ridicule. At the very least, they were indifferent.

In a similar way, people today ridicule those who look forward to the rapture of the church and the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ. And the Bible tells us this is a sign of the last days. Almost 2,000 years ago, Peter warned us. He said, in the last days, people will mock the idea of Christ’s return. He claimed they would say exactly what we hear today:

“Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.'” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

Most people today don’t know what’s in the Bible. They mock what they think is silly, just as they most likely ridiculed Noah for building a boat on dry land.

In the days of Noah, people were unaware of the judgment about to take place. According to Jesus, they lived normal lives right up until the moment of their own destruction. They ate. They drank, and they hosted parties. The entire time, they remained ignorant of what was just around the corner. They were oblivious to the coming flood.

Likewise, the people of our world remain ignorant of and oblivious to the rapture of the church and the coming judgment of the seven-year Tribulation.

2) We Know What’s Going to Happen

Noah and his family knew the flood was coming, and they prepared themselves for it. How did they know? Because God told them. He directly told Noah He would destroy every living creature and wipe out everyone but Noah and his family (Genesis 6:13).

Unlike the mockers, if you’ve studied the Bible (and, in particular, bible prophecy regarding end-times events), you know what’s coming – just as Noah knew the flood was coming. Why? Because God told you, just as He told Noah. He may not have verbally spoken to you, but His Word reveals everything you need to know.

While the Bible says Jesus will come “like a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10) and “when least expected” (Matthew 24:44), it also says Christians will not be surprised. Here’s the full context of the passage (emphasis mine):

“But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).

Those who are alert and watchful recognize the signs. While the rapture can occur at any moment, and we can never know the day or the hour of His return (Matthew 24:36), we do have the ability to recognize the general timeframe or “the season” of His return.

After all, Jesus Himself said:

“When you see these things occur, look up. For your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28)

Like Noah, we’ve been warned. We can see the signs, and we know His coming is near.

3) We Will Be Saved

God saved Noah and his family. It wasn’t luck. God did it. Why? The Bible tells us because “Noah found favor with God” (Genesis 6:8). And the reason he found favor is because Noah was the only blameless person on earth – a man who walked in close fellowship with God (Genesis 6:9).

But how was Noah “blameless?” After all, the Bible tells us no one is righteous, not one (Romans 3:10). Noah was no exception. While Noah was not perfect in the eyes of the law, He had great faith in God. This is evidenced by his work on the ark for over 100 years, and the Bible tells us Old Testament saints like Noah were justified by their faith.

For example, Abraham was counted as righteous because he believed in and trusted in God (Galatians 3:6). So even though they lived and died before the crucifixion, the blood of Jesus still saved Abraham, Noah, and many others because of their faith.

Because of Noah’s faith, God saved him from the flood. In similar fashion, if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, not only will you receive eternal salvation, but you’ll be kept from the coming seven-year Tribulation. Why? Because the Tribulation will be a time of worldwide judgment (Revelation 6:15-17), and there is no judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Jesus also makes this promise:

“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world” (Revelation 3:10).

This is the rapture of the church, and it fits God’s pattern of past behavior. God spared Noah and his family from the flood (Genesis 6). He also brought Lot, his wife, and his two daughters out of Sodom and Gomorrah before He destroyed those cities (Genesis 19). Likewise, God will use the rapture to keep Christians from the Tribulation, just as He used the ark to keep Noah from the flood.

Emerging and Converging Signs

All the signs Jesus and the prophets said to look for are present in this generation. We see them emerging and converging. These signs include, but are not limited to:

• Israel Back in the Land (Jeremiah 23:7-8; Ezekiel 39:28; Isaiah 11:12; Psalm 107:3; Ezekiel 20:34; Isaiah 11:11-12)
• The Jewish People in Control of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28)
• The Gospel Preached Throughout the World (Matthew 24:14)
• An Increase in Travel and Knowledge (Daniel 12:4)
• Arrival of the Exponential Curve (Matthew 24:3‐8)
• Israel Surrounded by Enemies (Psalm 83:4; Psalm 83:12; Ezekiel 11:14‐17; Ezekiel 35:10)
• Israel’s Exceedingly Great Army (Ezekiel 37:10; Zechariah 12:6; Zechariah 12:8)
• The Rise of a United Europe (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17)
• The Rise of a Global Government (Revelation 13:7-17)
• The State of Mankind (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
• Denial of the Signs (2 Peter 3:3‐4)

Yet even with all these signs, the world continues on as if nothing is out of the ordinary. This is just how the people of Noah’s day acted before the flood arrived and swept them all away. Jesus said we should expect to see the same thing before His return. The fact we do is yet another sign He’s coming soon.

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Britt Gillette is the author of several books on bible prophecy and the end times. You can find more of his work at brittgillette.substack.com

What will be the Cause of the Next Meltdown?

In the aftermath of the pandemic, governments and central banks around the world over stimulated the economy with cash giveaways and ultra low interest rates. In doing so, they created bubbles in multiple asset classes throughout the world. Now, faced with inflation, governments and central banks are trying to crack down and reverse the inflationary trend. But the damage has been done. We now stand on the verge of a massive global financial crisis. One of the only questions that remain is what will trigger the crisis. By definition, no one can know what the next black swan event will be. We can never be certain beforehand what the ultimate catalyst will be for a global financial crisis, but in my opinion, these are the six most probable triggers:

1) Chinese Property Market Meltdown

Starting in 2021, the Chinese property market experienced a massive decline. Many property developers failed, construction projects stopped, and the average Chinese citizen now avoids what was once the primary savings vehicle of choice. Earlier this year, a Hong Kong court ordered Evergrande, one of the largest property developers in China,to liquidate. With $300 billion in debt, it’s one of the largest corporate defaults in Chinese history. Country Garden, once China’s largest property developer by sales, is facing a similar fate. A creditor is currently seeking the liquidation of the defaulted Chinese developer in a Hong Kong court. The fall of these companies that once dominated the enormous Chinese property market indicates just how far property values have fallen. Several cities in China have lowered mortgage rates and down payment requirements in an effort to stimulate property demand, but those efforts are unlikely to impact the depressed Chinese property market.

The collapse of these companies and similar defaults on the part of other property developers and individuals threaten to spill over into the wider economy. As a result, the prospect of a deflationary spiral similar to the Great Depression is a real possibility. China is the second largest economy in the world. If it falls into the grip of a deflationary spiral similar to what the world experienced during the Great Depression, the rest of the world will find it nearly impossible to avoid the same fate.

2) Japanese Currency Crisis

Meanwhile, the world’s fourth largest economy is on the verge of a major currency crisis. The Japanese yen currently sits at its lowest level relative to the U.S. dollar since 1990. To prevent the situation from getting worse will likely require the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates or the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Given the recent persistence of inflation, it’s unlikely we’ll see the U.S. lower rates in the short term (absent a major financial crisis). This means the Bank of Japan may be forced to raise rates and take other measures to defend its currency.

But this will cause a number of problems. First, the Japanese economy is in recession. Raising rates will only make the problem worse. Second, Japanese government debt stands at over 260% of GDP. Believe it or not, that’s twice as bad as the United States. Raising rates means more interest on the national debt, potentially sparking a debt spiral that could destroy the country. Furthermore, if the Bank of Japan starts hiking rates, this could cause a reversal of the yen carry trade (succinctly explained here), which could quickly lead to a disorderly unraveling of financial positions all over the world. Along the way, we could see margin calls and exploding derivatives positions that crash global financial markets.

3) German De-Industrialization

Since reunification over three decades ago, Germany has served as the economic engine of Western Europe. Much of the economic might of German industry depends on cheap energy inputs, primarily in the form of Russian natural gas. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany has failed in its ability to consistently acquire affordable natural gas and other energy sources to power its economy. Initially, Europe saw skyrocketing energy prices. While those prices are nowhere near peak levels today, Europe still faces energy insecurity and volatile energy prices. This uncertainty has led many industrial and manufacturing companies to move their operations overseas to countries where energy is more consistently affordable and more readily available.

Nothing better illustrates the issues faced by Germany than this September 2022 article highlighting the insolvency of four German companies in the same day. Each of those four German companies boasted over a century of continuous operations. These companies – all in different industries – managed to survive World War I, Weimar Germany hyperinflation, the rise of Nazi Germany, World War II, and all the decades since. Yet, they all failed in the face of German energy insecurity. And this story is still unfolding. For example, BASF, Europe’s largest chemical conglomerate, is fleeing Germany. They’re investing billions of dollars in a new large-scale Chinese plant and closing some of their production in Germany. They’re hiring new staff in China while shedding German workers. As the German economy contracts, the impact could draw Europe and the rest of the world into depression.

4) U.S. Commercial Real Estate Crash

The pandemic pushed millions of workers out of urban office settings and into work-from-home jobs. Four years later, many of those workers continue to work from home. This means vast amounts of commercial real estate square footage are no longer needed. Keycard entry data for these offices indicate only half the pre-pandemic workforce has returned to the office on a daily basis. As companies consolidate space, renegotiate leases, and allow current leases to expire, the cash flow of commercial real estate properties has come under great strain.

Making matters worse, most commercial real estate is purchased using five to seven-year loans, and 89% of those loans are interest only loans. As those loans mature, they must be renewed at much higher interest rates. In many cases, the value of those properties has declined significantly. This means the borrower has to put up millions of dollars in additional cash in order to refinance. Instead, many are choosing to simply walk away. This leaves the bank that made the original loan left holding the property. Properties once worth hundreds of millions of dollars are now worth pennies on the dollar. Many sit empty in hollowed out urban core areas where crime and homelessness run rampant.

The implosion of commercial real estate threatens to bring down a number of regional banks with high exposure to this market. Similar to the residential housing crash which led to the Great Financial Crisis, this threatens to drive ripple effects throughout the U.S. economy as well as the global economy.

5) Widespread Bank Failures

In March 2023, a run on Silicon Valley bank triggered a wider banking crisis. Within just a few months, the United States witnessed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4thlargest bank failures in U.S. history. At the same time, Credit Suisse, a global systemically important bank, was forced into a shotgun marriage with UBS in order to avoid failure. The world managed to dodge a full-fledged banking crisis with contagion spreading to banks throughout the world because of a number of measures undertaken by central banks. These included the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Bank Term Funding Program, which gave over $160 billion in low interest loans to the banking system.

Today, the health of the U.S. banking system is not much better than it was in March 2023. According to the FDIC, U.S. banks currently sit on hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized losses on their bond portfolios. High interest rates also make their mortgage portfolios less valuable and place additional strain on commercial real estate portfolios. If another bank run begins, a real possibility exists it could get out of control, spreading contagion throughout the global banking system.

6) The Rapture of the Church

I mentioned this in a previous article, “6 Global Events that Could Rock the World at Any Moment,” and it applies in this instance as well. The Bible says Jesus will come in “the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52). This means, in a fraction of a second, Jesus could snatch every born-again believer from the face of the earth.

When that happens, it will trigger a number of second order events, and one of those is a global financial crisis. Imagine the implications. Millions of homes will sit empty, and no one will pay the mortgages or taxes. Millions of key employees and community leaders will disappear. The impacts on the global supply chain, consumer demand, and global productivity will be significant. In fact, the rapture of the church would likely exacerbate all of the potential global financial crisis triggers discussed so far.

A Global Financial Crisis is Inevitable

Any of these triggers could set off a global financial crisis. The world economy now faces its greatest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. According to the Buffett Indicator– a measure used by world famous investor Warren Buffett – the U.S. stock market is currently more overvalued than it was at the 1929 peak or the top of the Dot Com Bubble in 2000. The U.S. housing market is also in a bubble. Right now, the home price to median household income ratio is the highest in recorded history – higher than the peak of the housing bubble in 2006, which eventually led to the Great Financial Crisis.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasuries, long considered the “risk free asset,” face an enormous challenge. The United States is $34 trillion in debt, and interest on the national debt alone is over $1 trillion per year. In fact, interest on the national debt now exceeds defense spending. This means the United States, the world’s largest economy, has bubbles in its three largest financial markets – stocks, bonds, and real estate. On top of these massive bubbles is a global derivatives market in excess of several quadrillion dollars. No one in the world truly understands how many derivatives exist or what would happen to those derivatives in the event of a major global financial crisis. This means the global financial system is nothing more than a house of cards ready to topple over at any moment. In fact, such a collapse is inevitable. The only questions are when it will happen and what will trigger it.

When the crisis takes hold, you can be sure the solution offered by politicians and central bankers throughout the world will involve granting more power and control to centralized government authorities. They’ve made no attempt to conceal their desire to roll out central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and the next crisis will give them the opportunity they seek to offer CBDCs as “the solution.” This means tyranny on an unprecedented scale, and it sets the stage for the mark of the beast system outlined in Revelation 13:16-17.

The stage is set. A crisis is coming. But the good news is that all these things that are happening mean something else is coming – the rapture of the church and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!

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Britt Gillette is the author of several books on Bible prophecy and the end times. You can find more of his work at brittgillette.substack.com