Many people would argue that this century really started in 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The short century (or long war) started in 1914 — and during that period the imperial system that the Victorians and Edwardians perfected was destroyed. It was also a time of the rise of ideologies, who measured the loyalty of people by the length of the execution lists.
There is nothing new in that. Tyrants have always killed and done evil.
Psalm 5:4-6
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.2 Kings 21:10-18
10The LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11“Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these abominations, has done things more wicked than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has caused Judah also to sin with his idols; 12therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such evil that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line for Samaria, and the plummet for the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14I will cast off the remnant of my heritage, and give them into the hand of their enemies; they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their ancestors came out of Egypt, even to this day.”
16Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he caused Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
via Daily Lectionary Readings — Devotions and Readings — Mission and Ministry — GAMC.
The Amorites had practiced infanticide or infant sacrifice (Molech, passing your child through the fire). Israel had not. Judah, which had been rescued by the hand of God in the previous generation, now was. The first thing one can take from this is that no people, no nation has a right to exist. They will rise… and if (when) they get corrupt and tolerate evil, they will fall.
We may not sacrifice infants, but we abort them at an industrial scale. And here we have a duty. God does not send prophets to kings. He has his church to do his work. And the church must oppose evil. In fact, the church must oppose the evil that is fashionable. From abortion, to misandry. In this day, the duty of believers is to be anti-feminist — because feminism is this centuries Manasseh.
To fall under God’s judgement is indeed a frightful thing.
Amen