Is Society Improving Part One?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

The short answer is NO, society is not improving overall. However, there are pockets of “good” things happening in society, as evidenced in President Trump’s latest State of the Union address to the nation last night. In general though, this world continues on its ill-fated course toward judgment and nothing will change that.

I personally believe that every once in a while, God pours out a limited amount of wrath on a particular culture or part of society and I believe this all has to do with His timing for the coming Tribulation/Great Tribulation where the entire earth will become engulfed in the outpouring of God’s wrath.

God did this during the time of Noah when He flooded the entire earth with water that rose well above the highest mountains on earth to ensure the death of every living creature. I cannot imagine how bad society had become by that point, with quite possibly several billion people alive on the earth at that point (due to longevity of life). Out of a few possible billion, only eight were saved from death, along with the animals on the Ark (Genesis 9-10). This is one example and it happens to be a global judgment that restarted life one earth.

There have been other examples in Scripture of God stepping into human society and deleting aspects of it or modifying it severely (Philistines, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, etc.). Daniel 2 defines several kingdoms that would dominate their geographical areas including the area of Israel, which would take us through to the very end of the coming Tribulation that ends with Jesus’ physical return.

Aside from the Flood, one of the most notorious areas of the world as referenced in the Bible was Sodom and Gomorrah. Recorded for us in Genesis 18-19, it becomes clear that the entire society there was so evil that evil is how they thought, lived, and spoke continuously. They had literally given themselves fully over to the dark side, if you will. They had so aligned themselves with Satan that in essence, except for his supernatural power, the people had become indistinguishable from Satan’s purposes. It wasn’t simply homosexual rape and violence that God chose to judge these twin cities for, but for the fact that the people themselves had sunk so low, there was no chance of redemption for them and had God done nothing, the evil that highlighted their lives would have become part and parcel to other societies and civilizations as well.

God had no choice but to destroy the twin cities of the plain to save the rest of the known world from being taken over by that same recurring sins. According to Scripture, God’s messengers came to Sodom and Gomorrah on a mission. The mission was to destroy utterly and they did, using fireballs from heaven. There are actually eyewitness accounts of those who saw the destruction from afar and wrote about it.

Of course, as we can clearly see, no matter how much God ends up having to destroy a group of people, the sins which catapulted them to that terrible end are never fully eradicated from society. God’s judgment simply slows things down for a time. Society always gets to a similar point either in part or whole. God’s destruction against these societies, like the account of Noah and the Flood, simply staves off what is inevitable. Essentially, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah not simply because or rampant, unchecked homosexuality as well as other evils, but because it caused a break in the flow so that the destruction would serve as a warning for other societies.

This is exactly what happened following the Flood at Babylon (Genesis 10-11). Had God not stepped into separate people by language and culture, we can only imagine how corrupt, base and debauched global society would now be.

Destroying Sodom and Gomorrah did not destroy homosexuality or any other sin that existed in those cities. We’re seeing proof of that today. In fact, we’ve actually gone beyond homosexuality to what is transgenderism. Sin, if left alone, will conquer the world, but God keeps it in check and at times, uses His wrath to judge specific societies either through the use of one empire against another, natural disasters, or both.

In each case, starting with Babylon officially (as part of the “times of the Gentiles” though Babylon overcame the previous empire of Assyria), a successive empire was brought along to “judge” the previous empire. So, Babylon is swallowed by the Medes-Persians, which is then conquered by Alexander of Greece, which is then engulfed by Rome and finally, in front of us, the final “times of the Gentiles” kingdom will appear over which Antichrist himself will rule (Daniel 9:24-27). The book of Daniel shines much light on how God works to bring about His purposes.

Because God allows these things to happen, it does not mean He wants them to happen or that He is the Author of those things anymore than a parent wants their child to fail so he/she can punish that child. Those directly involved in the actions are responsible as we clearly see in Ezekiel 38-39 (Northern Invasion), where though God allows or even places specific thoughts in the mind of Gog (a title) of Magog, it is Gog himself who is held responsible for his desire to attack Israel. Gog pays the full price for his arrogance.

So from the Old Testament alone we know that God has at times, used specific societies and empires as His arm of judgment against other nations which are far worse off than the empire used to bring judgment. Unfortunately, as is also very clear, the empire that is used to bring judgment against another is usually judged by a future empire because of their increased sin resulting in their “cup” being full.

But God has also chosen to use natural disasters to bring about the end of societies or even civilizations. Noah’s Flood is one such natural disaster because God used the forces of nature to achieve His desired end. Sodom and Gomorrah is another.

Do we have more modern examples of how God might have stepped in and brought a particular society to its end? There are a number actually and one that appears patently obvious is what occurred at Port Royal Jamaica in 1692 in just mere moments.

What is interesting about Port Royal is exactly how evil and base the people were who lived there. As it turns out, Port Royal itself was geographically, a time bomb waiting to happen. It was a small island made of shifting sand just off Jamaica. Of course, those who colonized Port Royal were not aware that though they understood they were building on a sandy base, at some point, devastating forces of nature would bring the city down into the ocean.

During the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Port Royal was one of the most notorious pirate hubs in the Caribbean, described by many at the time as the ‘most wicked and sinful city in the world’. [1]

The type of “sin” that occurred there was beyond the pale. It is difficult to read about, frankly. Port Royal was a favorite haunt of buccaneers/privateers (most who became pirates after privateering was outlawed), and even religious people (because of the freedom of religion).

Port Royal was right in the main shipping lanes between the old world and the new and any ship from the New World (specifically Spain), would have to try to sneak by Jamaica and Port Royal. Both Spain (Roman Catholic) and the UK (Protestant) locked horns over possessing and controlling that area of the world. At one point, the British governing authorities literally invited and hired privateers to act as the defense for Port Royal. Their “job” was sanctioned by the local government to harass, pillage and steal from Spanish ships passing close to Port Royal. This made Port Royal one of the wealthiest cities in that part of the world, rivaling with many large cities of Europe. The UK took 25% of whatever the privateers stole.

At its height, there were nearly 8,000 people living in Port Royal crammed together among some 2,000 buildings. The debauchery is well known. Not only did privateers live there (or travel to and from there), but there were tons of bars/saloons and plenty of prostitutes to go around. The amount of money (gold and silver) spent by privateers on drink and prostitution is staggering, especially for that time period.

After the Treaty of Madrid was signed in 1680, privateering was outlawed. Many of these privateers simply became pirates and lived outside the law, continuing to enrich themselves from thievery. It was shortly after this that Port Royal became a home to pirates, prostitutes and criminals. It is at this point, that the real character and corruption of Port Royal came to the fore. Life was cheap; extremely cheap. Murders occured often with few knowing what to do to slow or stop it. It was as though “every man did what was right in his own eyes,” a redo from the Old Testament (Judges 21:25). This is exactly what people will become if left to themselves.

But since Port Royal, unknown to those who built and lived there, was literally built on a bed of sand, it seemed destined for destruction. In 1692, a huge earthquake not far away sent out severe ripples that at once, began to devastate Port Royal. In short order, three things occurred:

• earthquake
• liquefaction, and
• several tsunamis

Liquefaction is when the sand is infused with highly pressurized water below it (in this case, the ocean), causing the surface of the ground to literally turn to quicksand, swallowing anything in its path. Buildings, ships and people were sucked down into the ocean in a matter of moments. Many people fell into the opening earth only to have it close up again at their necks or with other limbs sticking out, to be eaten by surviving dogs.

Shortly after the first earthquake hit, with the liquefaction occurring, one tsunami and then another washed over Port Royal. The total death count for that event rose to several thousand. Many were trapped in the buildings they were in, so quick was the disaster that overcame them. Over the days and weeks to come, rotting corpses floating in the nearby ocean and sticking partly above the ground created tremendous disease that took even more lives.

Port Royal is the setting of the “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Though Disney’s work is rather tongue-in-cheek, the debauchery, vileness and inhumanity to man was vividly real. There are survivor accounts and books written about daily life in Port Royal that are shocking. The level of violence especially with those who survived the near total destruction of Port Royal is harrowing.

Did God take out Port Royal? The same people who would argue that it was simply a “coincidence” that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by nature also believe that the same nature and poor choice of where to build a city created a situation that proved to be the end for thousands of people living in Port Royal.

Is it possible that God stepped in? Certainly, if God is God, then the notion that He controls all (either directly or indirectly), would highlight the fact that as this world grows more evil, God’s timing and patience will meet in what will usher in the final pouring out of God’s wrath onto this world. This coming Tribulation period will set the stage for Satan’s man-led war against God.

We’ll be back next time to discuss society today and why God will eventually see fit to pour out His wrath on the entire world. We’ll also discuss what the Christian’s demeanor should be in this world at this time.

[1] http://piracyinportroyal.blogs.wm.edu/

Further Study:

• https://piratesoflore.com/port-royal.html
• http://www.jamaicansmusic.com/news/Culture/Port_Royal_The_Wickedest_City_in_the_World
• https://docudharma.com/2011/06/port-royal-destroyed-by-an-earthquake-1692

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective