Anarchy is here!

What does the Bible say about anarchy and lawlessness?

Sin is defined as lawlessness in the Bible and lawlessness is the outright rejection and rebellion against God.  In fact when we see total anarchy and lawlessness as we are seeing across the world in Hong Kong and America and other places we know that the world is rejecting God.  Satan himself is the ultimate lawless one and during the last troublesome period of this world as we know it Satan will indwell his servant the beast.  Paul calls this wicked end times man the “Man of Lawlessness”.¹  Lawlessness is another sign indicating that we are not very far from the end.  Interesting that in the same sentence, the word apostasy/rebellion is mentioned as “lawlessness”.  There will be a great rejection of God and turning away from the truth during the last period of seven years led by the ultimate leader of lawlessness before the Day of the Lord comes.  We know that the Day of the Lord is the final day–the Day of Atonement–Yom Kippur in Hebrew when Christ shall defeat His enemies in Jerusalem and save His people.  When lawlessness and anarchy abound chaos is the only result possible.

Lawlessness and rebellion against the laws of the land as we are seeing at the moment across the world is rebellion against God and the rulers He has set up no matter how evil they may be in our own eyes.²  There are no two ways about it:  lawlessness is condemned in the Bible.

We know where this is all leading…

The ultimate man of lawlessness is about to appear

To the final chapter in the earth’s current age where the ultimate personification of lawlessness will appear.  This occurs before our Lord and Saviour comes to restore the earth and establish his kingdom.  It is always darkest before dawn and it will have to be something that we will have to endure and be patient.  As Christians, we have to be careful not to get mixed up and carried away by the politics and issues of the day even if we see injustices that need to be righted.³  Of course, if we have the opportunity to do right and protect the innocent then we must act, but much of what we see at the moment is just purely opportunistic lawlessness.  What it really is, is a sign of the times and what we are instructed to do by the Lord in the gospel of Luke is to watch for the signs and pray that we may be able to escape.⁴  Even though international travel is shut down at the moment, I believe when the time is appropriate that we may be able to escape as believers to the appointed place.  The pre-tribulation or pre-wrath rapture will not save you.  We are told as Christians to pray that we might be able to escape.  That is in the active voice and the way that the Bible translator J.B. Philips translates this is that “we may be strong enough to come safely through.  If the pre-trib rapture was true then why would we need to pray that we are strong enough to come safely through?

Lawlessness and anarchy will lead to some losing their faith

In the end at the judgment there will be many who will stand before Jesus claiming a relationship with Him and a reciting of the good works that they supposedly did in His name but Jesus’ reply is those who practice lawlessness must go away.⁵

Their end will be to be cast into the blazing furnace and Christ will have the ultimate victory over lawlessness. But lawlessness will increase at this time and it is a sure sign of the times that we live in. There is a warning for us as believers about lawlessness in the gospel of Matthew when Jesus says that lawlessness will abound.⁶

In other words, many people all over, including Christians, will be sorely tested in their faith in God and humanity and they will simply lose their belief that there is even a God.  And the reason is that they see such wickedness and lawlessness around them as in the days of Noah when wickedness also abounded.  Lawlessness is when every man does what is right in his own eyes.  That’s exactly what we are seeing in America at the moment with the looting and mob justice.

Be ready folks!  I believe that we are in the last throes of summer before the change of season.  The ultimate leader of lawlessness is coming.