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Is Terrorism Prophesied in the Bible?

by John Clark 
11/21/15
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The Bible does prophesy terrorism and continual evil. Luke 21:11 mentions terror specifically as one of the signs of the final days before the return of Christ and the Tribulation Period. Verse 26 of the same chapter says that people will be "fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world..."

     Continual evil is an earmark of the days in which we live. Matthew 24:37 and Luke 17:26 both reiterate that prior to the return of Christ it will be like "it was in the days of Noah" before the flood of judgment. Genesis 6 describes it. "Every intent of the...heart was only evil continually"(verse 5). "Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence"(verse 11). This is stated again in verse 13. Revelation 6:4 says that men will "slay one another" and will "kill with sword"(verse 8). Beheading is also prophesied in the Bible, mentioned in Revelation 20:4, in the context of the killing of Christians. "...And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God..." Isn't this a fitting description of what is happening today?

     Deuteronomy 28 has some striking parallels between what happened to people of that time who rejected God and our current world conditions, particularly America. Verses 49-50 state, "The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth...whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who shall have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young." The Islamic State  beheads and shows no mercy to even young children. It goes on to say in verse 43 that "the alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower." Furthermore, "the Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies"(verse 25). 

     Evil is gaining the upper hand and we are losing the war against terrorism. Evil and terror, combined with the judgment of God, are just going to get worse! Revelation 6:15-17 declares, "And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" Things will get so bad that people "will seek death and will not find it"(Revelation 9:6).

     Jeremiah 17:9 says that the human heart is "desperately wicked" without the redeeming grace of God. Jesus came to die for the sins of humanity and to set the heart free to live in peace. Each individual must, however, choose to appropriate that grace and forgiveness which will transform the heart to live and think righteously. The terrorism of our day is a reflection of rejecting God's love and grace. It is also a preview of things to come, only worse. Revelation says that eventually one third of the earth's population will be killed through various means:beheading, severe plagues and illnesses, destructive weather, and yes, nuclear warfare, described in Zechariah 14:12. The continued evil combined with the supernatural judgment of God, will result in the worst terrorism the world has ever known. 

     This is not a pretty picture, but nonetheless, the truth, based upon biblical prophecy. But, it wil not be the end of the world. After the seven year Tribulation Period, Jesus Himself will reign upon the earth for 1000 years (Revelation 20:4-7), to which "every knee shall bow...and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father"(Philippians 2:10-11).