"As it was in the days of Noah..."

I officiated a beautiful outdoor wedding Saturday night. Though I could not attend the rehearsal, the report I received from the bride regarding the behavior of the wedding party that night was they were so disruptive, the engaged couple almost walked out! Imagine my surprise when the groom showed up at the ceremony with his asthmatic, tuxedo-clad boxer dog on which he'd placed a doggy tuxedo while holding his leash during the vows. Big crowd, expensive venue. Great catered affair with a DJ, a bar and a dance floor.

As a minister who loves to officiate weddings, I often wonder why so much more is invested in weddings than in marriages. Frankly, the greatest problem with today's married couples is so very few are engaged in the process. While having my teeth cleaned at the dentist yesterday, I was informed by the gal cleaning my teeth that she and her husband of over two decades had divorced since my last visit. 

It's rampant.

Even the Great Flood of Genesis was preceded by four generations of prophets and preachers warning of the coming judgment: Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and, of course, Noah.  “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,” (Matthew 24:38). 

Hmmmm. In Noah’s day - just as it is today - there were plenty of weddings and warnings, but no preparedness. Why? Because the people didn't take heed. They probably mocked him, became angry with him for cramping their style. They may have accused him of 'judging' them. Perhaps they even called him a "Prepper" for building an ark when it had never previously rained upon the earth. Likewise, most of the Church today has reduced their faith to two things: 1) Church attendance and 2) Trying to be seen doing good things. Dead works at best; God is not impressed. Warnings are being given but are so rarely heeded.

In a recent NewsWithViews.com article, Dr. Patrick Johnston wrote: 

Listen up religious conservatives: God is a greater threat to American liberty than Obama. As news spreads on the front pages of newspapers all over the country that hundreds of thousands of people have added their names to online petitions encouraging the secession of every state in the union since Obama was re-elected, and as the number of signatures grow exponentially, let’s keep the true cause of our loss of liberties at the forefront of our minds. Just because our freedoms and prosperity began dwindling dramatically when Obama took office, it does not mean that Obama is the principle cause.

Why is God a greater threat to American liberty than Obama? There are three sins that repeatedly are mentioned in the Bible as reasons God punishes and destroying nations:

1. the shedding of innocent blood, 
2. the toleration of sodomy, and 
3. idolatry.

Judgments are pronounced in Scripture, not only against the nation of Israel – the “apple of God’s eye” – but also Gentile nations (Jeremiah 18:7-10). Nations that slaughter as many people as our nation has – almost 55 million since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion-on-demand – deserve tyranny. When we promote the toleration of sodomy at taxpayer expense to our nation’s public school children, in our federal and state bureaucracy policies, and in allowing tens of thousands of sodomites to march the city streets at annual gay pride parades (they march nude in Columbus, Ohio) – we deserve tyranny. Nations where the public proclamation of God’s law and Jesus’ lordship in our courthouses and schoolhouses can get you sued, expelled from your teaching position, or booted out of office – such nations deserve tyranny.

Tyranny is a beast worthy to be feared, but if you fear tyranny more than you fear God, you’ve not identified the proper cause of the threat to your liberty and you’re consuming the wrong remedy. You’re like an athlete who’s running the race in the wrong direction. You’re like a patient with a diabetic foot infection eating donuts to make his infection go away.

Now, I am a man who daily praises God for His immeasurable grace, His unmerited favor and His un-earnable forgiveness. But I also understand we will reap as we've sown... and we've sown LOADS of bad seeds. The Bible says we will be marrying and giving in marriage. Today, we're marrying and divorcing multiple times each. Malachi 2:16 “For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence.” I contend this has greatly contributes to America's societal breakdown: no commitment, no love. The nation is only as strong as The Church and The Church is only as strong as its families.

Genesis 6:11-12 says, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” Today, our world is constantly threatened by terrorism. We even have hate crimes, drive by shootings, mothers killing their own infant children, parents killing their children, children killing parents... demonic, unrestrained behavior is the fodder of the nightly news. It’s lawlessness. There's less fear of God than there is being pegged as "intolerant." In Israel’s apostasy at the end of the Book of judges, just as in our society today, “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” People go to suicide because they have no hope. Euthanasia is becoming an accepted alternative. Light is called darkness and darkness is light. President Clinton's sex scandal had no affect on his popularity.  People don't care. To point fingers would only make them guilty of the same behavior. These days, we vote for whoever gives us the most that will keep or make us comfortable.

Joel 3:19 says, “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. In Jeremiah 22:17 we read, “Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence.” Innocent blood can be those of age and those without ever seeing the outside of the womb. I'm attending a Crisis Pregnancy dinner tonight; fifty million babies are aborted worldwide each year - 137,000 every day! The land is defiled by blood and we have brough upon ourselves a curse. Alcohol kills 65,000 people a year, 22,000 on the highway. A hopeless people, we are turning to anything we believe might ease our pain only to discover it only hastens our death.

Luke 17:28, 29 reads: “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built... but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven..." What took place in the days of Lot that deserved this kind of judgment?

(Genesis 13:13) “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” The people gave themselves over to blatant sexual sin. They were homosexuals, pedophiles, adulterers and engaged in any thing their wicked heart desired. It became a normal thing in their cities to live in this way. Truth is, every one of the world's great empires fell soon after they embraced these abhorrent sex practices.

What does God say about violence? Psalms 11:5, “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence.” It also says “all those who love death hate me."

Video arcades are filled with death-themes. Like Romans in the Coliseum, today's entertainment is filled with violence.  We can't blame Hollywood! Because Followers of Jesus did not speak out and lift up a standard, they kept cranking out what we, apparently, had no problem watching. From Hollywood's perspective – because so few complained - it's good business to promote entertainment filled with murder, sex and violence. At this point, our entertainment has permeated our culture.

The storm clouds are gathering in the distance. We're seeing the days of Noah manifesting before our eyes. Noah knew rain was coming, having heeded God's warning. He, too, watched as dark clouds gathered. We have been provided with our own ark: it's the Gospel of the Kingdom. This Gospel must be proclaimed loud and clear in this hour!

“The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy.” (Psalm 147:11)

Let's cry out for mercy upon nation. Let's return to our first love.

Let's REPENT!

Every blessing,

 Michael Tummillo

 Founder, The Church @ Work