Lawlessness & Terrorism

Lawlessness and the Bible

Bible Prophecy

Bible prophecy says that lawlessness will increase at the end of the age. In fact, this increase will itself be a sign of the end of the age or of so-called 'end times'.

The Bible says 'difficult times will come' when men will be irreconcilable, treacherous and reckless. It speaks about a 'mystery of lawlessness' - something at work in the world, driven by unseen forces. It speaks of an on-going 'spiritual' war against mankind. It also speaks of a 'man of lawlessness' who is empowered by these dark spiritual forces and, for just a few years, becomes the end-time world dictator.



9/11 - worst ever act of terrorism

9-11 was the worst ever act of terrorism

See also
The State of Our Nation

Related topics:
End Times
Reality

An End Time Sign

When asked for a sign of the end of the age, Jesus responded by giving a whole catalogue of signs. One of them was:

"And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold" (Mat 24.12)

The actual Greek word used was 'anomia' meaning violation of law. Lawlessness is commonly taken to be a lack of civil order or peace, and could result from a failure of government, or from anarchy and defiance of the law. Common crime is defiance of the law and so can be labelled 'lawlessness'. Is terrorism also to be included under the heading of lawlessness? There are many types of terrorism but these all have the following characteristics:

"terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence"

This could range from threats against individuals to intimidating a whole population. It is certainly a lack of peace and defiance of the law and in this sense many would consider terrorism to be synonymous with lawlessness. In fact, the US Federal Criminal Code defines terrorism as 'violation of the criminal laws'. The question then is:

Do we see an increase in civil disorder, crime and terrorism today?

Timeline Statistics

Consider a few spot statistics:

  • USA: 9-11 was the worst ever act of terrorism
  • USA: each day 135,000 school children bring a gun to school
  • UK: there were 116,000 violent or abusive incidents against NHS staff in 2002/3
  • UK: in 2001 there were 930 organised gangs working in the £ 8.5 billion illegal drugs trade
  • Worldwide: 5 million images of child abuse were circulating on the Internet in 2001

Whilst these are shocking incidents of lawlessness, they do not show any trend or 'timeline'. A timeline example is found in the British Crime Survey (BCS) published by the UK Home Office [HO]. It is claimed this gives an accurate picture of crime since it asks people about their actual experiences. For 2005/6 the BCS for 'All Crime' shows a fall of 44% in the number of offences since 1995 and a 43% fall in 'Violent Crime' over the same period (see UK Crime Statistics). This seems like good news. But the BCS does not cover businesses and so, for example, it must exclude the 31m acts of shoplifting in the UK each year. Also, the BCS is misleading for local areas and it presents a completely different picture to the HO long-term national recorded crime trend. On these statistics, 'Violent Crime' shows a 100% increase between 1998 and 2005, and 'Sexual Offences' shows a 100% increase between 1995 and 2005. More timeline data:

  • USA: violent crime per 100,000 people:- 1960: 161 , 1971: 396 , 1981: 594 , 1991: 758 , 1999: 523 [FBI]
  • USA: aggravated assult per 100,000 people:- 1957: 60 , 1992: 440 [USA FBI]
  • UK: number of crimes in England and Wales involving hand guns:- 1995: 299 , 2006: 1024 - a 242% increase [NewsBusters]
  • UK: recorded drug offences in the UK:- 1987: 26,000 , 1998: 128,000 [Drugscope OnLine]
  • UK; drug seizures by HM Customs:- 1987: 31,000 , 1992: 72,000 , 2002: 137,000 [HO]
  • Uk: Operations where firearms were issued to the police:- 1987: 2,185 , 2000: 10,913 [HO]
  • UK: prison population:- 1918: 10,000 , 2004: 73,000 , 2010: c91,000 [HO]
  • UK: recorded annual offences in England and Wales:- 1920: 0.1m , 1950: 0.5m , 1980: 2.5m , 2003: 12.3m [HO BCS]
  • Worldwide: 'Significant' terrorist attacks:- 2003: 175 , 2004: 651 [USA NCTC]

Terrorist incidents worldwide appear to have increased significantly over the 20th century. Consider an incomplete list of 'non-state terrorism' incidents worldwide:

  • 19th century: 12 , 1900-1940: 16 , 1950s: 9 , 1960s: 18 , 1970s: 87 , 1980s: 90 , 1990s: 88 , 2000-2006: 164

Although some statistics show a decrease since the mid-1990s, the general trend is up. In fact, generally speaking, lawlessness in its broadest sense is increasing exponentially with time, as opposed to a linear increase (see graph below). A linear increase in crime incidents might be expected with population increase. For example, between 1950 and 2003 the UK population increased by about 20%, but the 'recorded annual offences' increased by far more than 20%; infact, by some 2360%. A similar exponential increase is seen in UK recorded drug offences between 1987 and 1998.

Typical exponential increase with time

The Implications for YOU

The general increase in lawlessness could be a fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy that lawlessness will increase at the end of this age. This seems highly probable given that other End Time prophecies are also coming true, such as the emergence of a World Government, the emergence of Israel, the emergence of electronic ID, and climate change.

The good news is that you can have peace in an increasingly lawless world by putting your trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

"My peace I give you, not as the world gives ... don't be troubled or fearful" (John 14.27)