“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
All of us who have lived many years in this world have seen many changes in the cultural and morality of our population. Often we are so dismayed at the immoral cultural change that we are so troubled that we say, “Things are worse now than they ever have been.” Over our individual life span that may be true. But we must consider that our observation relates only to a relatively few years when compared to the history of mankind.
If you think things are bad now, consider the way man lived in the days of Noah: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and the every imagination of the thoughts if his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). The judgment of God over those who lived in Noah’s day was to destroy with the great flood all of His creation. Only eight people (Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives) were spared, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Do you think the people in Noah’s day were less evil than today? Of course not. They were guilty of the same sins that people are today! There may have been sins that were named different than today but they were the same kind of sins.
We must remember that our Almighty God is in control of His creation. He still rules in the kingdoms of mankind. (See II Chronicles 20:6.). Jesus has all authority in heaven and in earth. He sees all things infinitely better than we do.
God’s long-suffering continued in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. But there is a final consequence of the sins of mankind. The account of Sodom and Gomorrah should be noted. It was God who destroyed those places. They were destroyed for sins that are now rampant in our country, and in most other countries of the world.
Let us not be discouraged; let us faint not. Let us trust in God and continue to pray that His will be done.
– Glenn B. Ramsey
