12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12 ESV)
In Matthew 24, Jesus warned of a series of events such as earthquakes, and wars, that would start taking place on Earth leading to His second coming.
One of these signs, which Jesus described as birth pangs (Matthew 24:8), was the increase of lawlessness that would result in many people’s hearts turning cold.
According to Thayer’s Greek Dictionary, the word ‘anomia’ translated as lawless refers to ‘the condition of without law,’ and a ‘contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness.’
Today, I read two articles that indicate we could be entering this phase, and sadly, politicians are largely at the root of the problem.
The first involves a statement made by a New York broker who recently had a home she manages illegally invaded by alleged squatters and is fighting both the government policy and the squatters to have them removed.
In an interview with Fox News, Ejona Bardhi Shyti said New York, which has gone soft on crime, has created a ‘culture of lawlessness.’
The two alleged squatters not only moved into the house, they also changed the locks, and are refusing to leave, even though Shyti has tenants ready to move in.
They have become so brazen that, “The alleged squatters claimed they could legally occupy the property and sued Shyti and the firm that owns it,” writes Fox News reporter, Megan Myers.
Yes, they are not only claiming they can legally live there because of government policy, and are even suing Shyti and the firm managing the house.
“There’s a general culture of lawlessness that’s taken over New York City right now, as evidenced by the migrant influencer who was brazen enough to encourage people to go into people’s homes and become squatters,” Shyti said referring to TikTok videos where people explain how others can take over homes.
UPDATE: The two alleged squatters have finally left the house, which they had occupied since March. Under New York law, squatters get special legal protection if they can manage to stay in a house for 30 days.
Meanwhile, in Britain, people in Barnham are afraid of leaving their homes because their village is being terrorized by what is described as a group of ‘feral teenage girls.’
Again, the word lawless turns up in the headline.
Not only have videos surfaced of a group of teen girls attacking emergency workers but also of a large group allegedly looting a local coop store.
According to reports, the girls are not even from the village but are traveling to Barnham by train. The village is a train hub for the area.
One railway worker said, “They just think there’s nothing you can do.”
“What am I supposed to do? Half the time they’ve got balaclavas on so you can’t identify them and how do I know who has a knife?”, he said.
The Daily Mail adds that over the Easter weekend “members of the public, including security staff, and officers were assaulted” by a group of girls at the Barnham station.
Though police arrested a few of the girls, they were bailed almost immediately.
The Daily Mail also said that a group of girls known as the West Coast Nominals has been doing this for two years. The group, which now includes boys as part of their gang, is becoming increasingly violent and one man suffered permanent brain damage after being attacked by the group.
With politicians going soft on crime, we see a growing contempt for the law and unless things dramatically change, it is only going to get worse. The sad spin-off from this is that people’s hearts are going to start turning cold.
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