Why is the world so “out of control”? (2 Thess. 2:7-8; Zechariah 5:5-11)

As I write we are watching ongoing reports of several terrorist attacks in Paris where over 150 are dead.  Earlier this week a Jordanian policeman killed several people, including 2 Americans.  A week and a half ago a Russian plane went down in the Sinai of Egypt, apparently a terrorist act, killing hundreds.  In Israel in the last month 11 Israelis have been killed from countless stabbing attempts.  Some 35 Palestinian attackers are dead including pre-teens and women.  Stories come regularly from every continent testifying to the violent nature of our times.

Some might say this is not necessarily the most dangerous era in history.  In our own country such times as our own civil war saw extreme loss of life.  WWI was particularly deadly for the western world.  But the difficulty today is the uncertainty of both when and where these events occur.  We are in an undeclared war, so to speak; and unlike previous wars, it is not tied to a general location.

The time leading to the return of Christ will be something like this.  The Bible says that generally man is not allowed to be as evil as he could be because someone or something restrains evil.  But in the end times that restrainer will be removed and evil will increase (2 Thess. 2:7).  

There is much discussion as to who or what this is: the Holy Spirit, government, the limitations of conscience or the Church.  I am not sure how important that discussion is; what is important is to know that just before or as the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8; the Antichrist) is revealed the world will become more and more evil.  It will be something unprecedented in history.

The Old Testament also predicted this time.  Zechariah’s 7^th vision (Zech. 5:5-11) is of a woman in a basket.  The woman is called Wickedness.  A lead disc is placed on the basket (i.e. it is restrained).  The basket is taken to the land of Shinar (Babylon, the area of Iran and Iraq today).  While Wickedness is headquarted in Babylon the wickedness is worldwide (v6: this is their resemblance throughout the earth).  This vision finds fulfilment in the mystery Harlot Babylon of Revelation 17-18 (no time to discuss this now but she is the system of wickedness that supports end-time worldwide society).  At that time the lid will be removed and wickedness will run rampant.

We should not be surprised at the increase in iniquity in the world, though sin should always grieve us as believers.  Further we should understand that the Sovereign God has said that this mystery of iniquity (the course of sin in the world) is part of the mystery of God (the exaltation of the Son of God/Messiah  by the Father, Psalm 2) .  The increased uncertainty will contribute to the rise of the lawless one, the one whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8).  Sin will increase, but the world will never be “out of control.”  Our God reigns!