“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man… It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:26, 30). Genesis 6:11 adds to the days of Noah, saying, “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.”
Not only will the last days be like the days of Noah, where people had little concern for their spiritual condition, but people were corrupt and violent as well. As the current baseball season came to a close, I watched this prophecy be fulfilled on national television.
Street Violence and Public Theft
When did sports celebrations, national disasters, or tragedy become the signal for street violence and public theft? This past week, people in Los Angeles celebrated as their Dodgers won the World Series. World Series celebrations often flow out of the stadium and into the streets, which can be somewhat expected, but how far is too far? According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), looting broke out on the streets of Los Angeles on the night the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the 2024 World Series. Even the media as far away as England reported on the chaos and violence that filled the streets of Los Angeles.
The LAPD said they had received reports of “looting at several stores in the area of 8th and Broadway,” and people were urged to stay out of the area. The Los Angeles Police Department shared footage of a mob of looters running in and out of a boarded-up Nike store carrying merchandise and throwing it into cars parked outside the store about four miles from Dodger Stadium just after 11 p.m. The LAPD said a “hostile crowd” estimated at between 200 and 300 people.
Around 12:35 a.m. local time, this crowd lit an MTA bus on fire about a mile from Dodger Stadium. Police said the crowd, many of them wearing Dodgers jerseys and apparel, surrounded graffiti-laced buses. It was revealed that many of the rioters didn’t even care about baseball.
Armed Robbery, Vandalism, and Trespassing
It is not just overzealous sports fans. This goes much deeper. For example, after the recent Hurricane Helene in September and Hurricane Milton in October, looters vandalized and stole from empty private residences. Florida deputies arrested 45 people for a variety of crimes, including armed robbery, vandalism, and trespassing, while nearly 200 others were told to leave when no probable cause for arrest could be found.
AP-NORC Poll
People expect this type of behavior to be almost as accepted in our society. For example, according to a recent poll released by ABC News, American voters are deeply concerned about the coming presidential election and what could happen after, including the potential for violence. This AP-NORC poll said 4 in 10 registered voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about violent attempts to overturn the results after the November election. This concern is not just on the national level. This survey also said 1 in 3 voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about attempts by local or state election officials to stop the results from being finalized.
Donald Trump has openly become the Left’s most hated candidate, and that hatred has spread to the public. It seems that no matter who wins this election, half the country will not want to be governed by whoever wins. America is a deeply divided nation, and the American evangelical church is a divided church. Each party has supporters on both sides of the pew, and the word tolerance is not a word used on the street or in the sanctuary.
Lee Smith
Lee Smith, the author of the recently released book Disappearing the President: Trump, Truth Social, and the Fight for the Republic, said:
“We are on the verge of a very troubling scenario. Prominent post-election scenarios forecast such widespread rioting that the newly elected president would be compelled to invoke the Insurrection Act. With some senior military officials refusing to follow Trump’s orders, according to the scenarios, the U.S. Armed Forces would split, leaving America on the edge of the abyss.”
Sporting Events, Natural Disasters, Elections, and Holidays
Sporting events, natural disasters, elections, and even holidays have all become doors open for violence and debauchery. Last week, on Halloween, Texas police released this news. Texas authorities are looking for a possible suspect who was wearing a Michael Meyers mask near the scene of a fatal shooting in Harris County, Texas. The deadly shooting occurred on Halloween around 11:15 p.m., and neighbors have told authorities before the shooting took place, a suspicious man in a Michael Meyers mask was seen near the scene of the crime. The victim was found unresponsive in his garage with multiple gunshot wounds.
Smash-and-Grab Crimes
“The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.” A wave of “smash-and-grab” crimes is plaguing upscale stores in major US cities, with mobs of thieves making off with expensive goods in brazen, nighttime raids.
At least 18 people recently broke into Nordstrom’s department store in Los Angeles. The city’s police chief said they stole thousands of dollars in merchandise.
A group of thieves in the San Francisco Bay Area swarmed the Southland Mall in Hayward, wielding hammers to smash cases at a jewelry store before grabbing items and fleeing. The same happened in Walnut Creek, east of San Francisco, as 80 suspects fled the outdoor mall in at least ten different vehicles. That robbery came after similar raids in San Francisco’s Union Square, where thieves targeted Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Bloomingdale’s stores, a Walgreens, and cannabis dispensaries.
And California isn’t the only place to grapple with “smash-and-grab” crimes. Fourteen robbers barged into a Louis Vuitton store in suburban Chicago and fled with more than $100,000 in handbags and other merchandise.
Proposition 47
Sadly, thieves may face fewer consequences. The decriminalization of low-level offenses in some states has created opportunities for criminals to manipulate the system, said the president of SRMC, an Ohio-based security consulting firm. For example, Proposition 47, a California ballot initiative passed in 2014, sought to alleviate prison overcrowding by reducing the penalties for some crimes. The measure raised the threshold for felony theft from $500 to $950. Security experts say that for low-level criminals, the benefit far outweighs the risk since the threshold for a misdemeanor offense is $950, meaning that a person can steal up to that amount and only be charged with a misdemeanor.
It’s not unusual for “smash and grabs” to increase around the Christmas holiday season because stores stock up before the holidays, which means there’s a bounty of merchandise to pick from, which means more opportunities and more convenience for the smash-and-grabbers.
“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man … the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.” More signs of the days we are living in!
Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
