Lawlessness Is Rampant – The Bible Open
The seventh in the list of the descendants of Adam in the genealogy of Cain was Lamech, evil personified, Genesis 4:17. The seventh in the list of the descendants of Adam in the genealogy of Seth was Enoch. In the Bible ‘seven’ is the number of perfection. Lamech is perfection in evil; Enoch is perfection in faith and a holy walk with God. One is aimed for destruction, the other one for perfection and everlasting glory. Living in the End times means that the truth of Revelation 22:11 becomes more and more visible: “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” Ezekiel 3:27 says “But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.” And Daniel 12:10 “Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”
Jude 14 says about Enoch “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones” to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Like Elijah who was taken to heaven – 2 Kings 2:10 – Enoch was taken away to the presence of God without experiencing death. Hebrews 11:5-6 says: “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Psalm 49:15 “But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; He will surely take me to Himself”; Psalm 73:24 “You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory”
When we look into the world today and remember all the ‘signs of the times’ that Jesus mentioned, one thing becomes very clear: lawlessness is rampant. Jesus says in Matthew 24:12-13 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Paul calls the anti-Christ in 2 Thessalonians 2 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God…The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
Big rifts are becoming more and more visible in the world and in the Church: wickedness, lawlessness, vileness, godlessness on the one hand, and purification, holiness, spotlessness, righteousness on the other hand. What does that mean for our personal life today? Which side are we on? Jesus promises something incredibly beautiful to those who follow Him. In Revelation 2:26-27 He says “To him who overcomes and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— He ‘will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from My Father.” Israel is coming home. Messiah is on His way. Kingdom is coming, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end.
