If there is one comment I generally hear above all others (particularly amongst unbelievers), it is this: “What is the world coming to!?” The question implies that the world is subject to a series of uncontrollable events which mankind is a victim of. Naturally, if people believe that mankind is victimised, it absolves mankind from any responsibility for the state of the world. A far better question to ask (and one which correctly concludes that mankind is complicit in the evil taking place in the world) is that which was posed by the Psalmist in Psalm 2:1: “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?”
As you go through the table of nations in the world today, nearly every nation that we see across the world is in the same tumultuous and rebellious state. Other translations of the Bible would say that the nations are restless. It gives the picture of a restless sea that is constantly churning and it seems that in the last few years the nations have grown even more restless with their rage against God, against Christians and against God’s chosen people, Israel.
Why would the nations and its people rebel against the Almighty God who is enthroned in the heavens? Why do people continue in this futility? Although the details of this global conspiracy are largely hidden from our view, the Psalmist provides us with an insight into their fundamental goal. Psalm 2:3 reads: “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”
Whatever is talked about and whatever is decided at a leadership level, at the core of the decision making of the nations is the desire to act in open revolt against God and establish man as king of the earth. This is not just limited to one or two nations. Even though leaders of the world gather together at the United Nations with a supposedly measured and wise demeanor, what they are actually doing is gathering together in the name of spiritual anarchy. And this is not just limited to world leaders. Psalm 2:2 mentions “kings”, but it also speaks of “rulers.”
The word “rulers” refers to those whose word carries weight. Now, I want to point out a unique issue in our world today: who do young people pay most attention to? Not parents, not pastors, not politicians – it is music stars, celebrities, movie stars, social media influencers. Their words carry enormous weight in the minds of young people today. And what you see in the world is that at all levels of society – from political leaders to corporate boardrooms, to university presidents, to school principals, to cultural leaders and celebrities – they are all acting with one accord to say that they no longer want moral restraint. In other words, what was once unthinkable, what was once unacceptable, what was once unheard of, they now want to be unhindered.
In our present age, as the world continues to shake its fist against God, in effect it is saying that it wants to determine its own ruling system in place of that which God commanded through His Word. Therefore, in determining its own ruling system, mankind has set out on a path of redefinition in order to condition people to accept moral law as dictated by godless rulers. The family has been redefined; marriage has been redefined; gender has been redefined; the origin of life has been redefined. The purpose of this exercise is to develop the framework of a system founded upon spiritual rebellion.
After all, if you set out to upend the ruling system in the universe so that mankind becomes the highest ruling authority in place of God then with that comes an upending of the moral order. That is why Isaiah 5:20 is so relevant to mankind’s desire to break free from the moral authority of God. Because in order to convince people to follow this futile agenda, you must convince them that good is evil and evil is good. In other words, you must convince them that heaven’s ways are bad and earth’s ways are good. That is why people ignorantly support that which is immoral – they have been convinced it is good and if it is good, it should therefore be promoted and celebrated. God calls us to revere and delight in His Word, but for those who choose a path of ungodliness and unholiness, their rage leads them to seek the repudiation of God’s authority in their life.
Mankind is celebrating the fact that the moral restraints are coming off. But this is nothing to celebrate because the same people who cry for freedom from God’s moral authority will be the same ones who, like the rich man in Luke 16, will eventually cry, “I am tormented in this flame.” When the plotting of mankind takes its course, when their energy is exhausted, when all avenues of resistance are closed and when all that they can say or do is done, they will find themselves in a place where their rebellion no more reaches the eyes and ears of the righteous. Their time is done and their fate is sealed. They have rejected the free gift of salvation and with it, any eternal hope.
Let me end by quoting two important verses. Psalm 2:12: “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” John 3:36: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The formula is simple: if you reject the Son, you will receive the wrath.
