In writing many of these commentaries over the months—and even years—my continuing mantra has been that I believe Jesus’ words about “the days of Lot” found in Luke 17:28-30 constitute the most prominent indication of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline.

Here we have the Creator saying simply and without equivocation that the day when He next catastrophically intervenes into the wicked affairs of humankind will be a mirror image of Lot’s time in Sodom. Jesus will, He said, next be revealed when business is going along as usual.

Just as Jesus removed the only righteous people from that evil city, He will remove the only righteous people at that future time. Destruction of the rebellious people who are left behind will, the Lord said, begin that very day. This is the great event we know as the Rapture of the Church (all believers in Jesus Christ for salvation of their souls).

Just prior to the statement about the days of Lot and Lot being taken to safety from the destruction to come, Jesus said this about a rescue previous to Lot’s:

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27). 

That antediluvian world had become so corrupt, both morally and genetically, that God destroyed it all, except for righteous Noah and his family, plus two of all species. Again, Jesus said it will be the same, in the sense that at the time of Rapture, the righteous will be placed in Christ as a type of “Ark” in the clouds above the earth.

We’ve looked many times at the indicators that our days are like they were during the days of Lot in Sodom. The wickedness of today—rapes and murders; sex trafficking; evil perpetrated on children; the murder of little ones in their mothers’ wombs; anti-God evil that goes against God’s order of things, like transsexual activities, homosexuality, and pornography spread by internet across the world—has likely exceeded the evil of Lot’s day.

And God warned Noah of what He was about to do in those days for all the anti-God wickedness He saw on the earth:

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:11-13).

The one feature of the evil that seemed to most disgust God in this scriptural description is the violence that had, to the Lord, become intolerable. The following informs of the end-times violence of these evil days in which we live.

Violence is more widespread today than it has been in decades, with armed conflict touching every major region, according to data analyzed by The Telegraph.

Last year, varying levels of conflict were reported across at least 50 different countries, from the civil war in Myanmar to extreme violence between drug cartels in Mexico, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED).

Experts predict that the trend will probably continue throughout 2025 and beyond.

Across the 50 countries, there were at least 56 active conflicts—one of the largest quantities since 1946—“with fewer conflicts being resolved, either militarily or through peace agreements,” the Global Peace Index estimated.

“The level of violence happening is certainly at one of its highs since the Second World War,” said Clionadh Raleigh, the founder and director of ACLED.

The only year to exceed 56 was 2023, which recorded 59 armed conflicts, according to certain estimates.

Armed conflicts are increasing everywhere. Source: “World most violent it has been in decades.” The Telegraph, Rapture Ready News, May 25, 2025

Each and every day, reports come in of violence—much of it of the most heinous sort. All we have to do is remember October 7, 2023, and the savage attacks on the Israeli gathering to understand the incorrigible nature of the violence we’re witnessing.

The evil is incorrigible because the rage is the reprobate, fallen minds of humankind being led by Israel-hating, humanity-hating demonic forces, with Satan directing the violence.

Jesus said that if He did not return at a specific time at Armageddon, no flesh would be saved. Thankfully, He will do just as promised.

Thankfully, too, He will return in the clouds of Glory above this judgment-bound planet to remove all believers to Himself—the Ark of safety—just as He lifted Noah and his family above the destructive waters that fell upon the incorrigible world of that antediluvian time.

Here again is how to be aboard that Blessed Ark just before God’s judgment must fall:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Those who write on current issues and events as related to Bible prophecy yet future have, as often as not, been somewhat off the mark. For example, I’ve viewed the weather (the climate changes in the seasons) just as weather, with little prophetic significance; others, however, see weather as, in some cases, pointing directly to prophetic development.

Bill Koenig and John Maturin’s take on the weather as related to treatment of Israel does intrigue me. And others writing and speaking in that vein have occasionally captured my curiosity—like, for example, Hurricane Katrina during the George W. Bush administration and things going on at that time with the treatment of the Jewish state.

That hurricane was indeed an attention-getter, and it remains one of the most violent on record to have hit our nation.

Most writers of this sort have based their regard of the increase of violent weather as a sign of the end times on the following Scripture:

Again, I have, over my many decades on the planet, known of violent weather phenomena—especially since I’ve lived for much of that time here in the mid-South, which is considered on the fringe of Tornado Alley. As a matter of fact, we missed being hit directly by a tornado while living in Jackson, Mississippi, by less than a city block.

So when learning of foul weather, even the sometimes unusual outbreaks across the region or the world, I haven’t been particularly turned toward the “seas and waves roaring” of Luke 21:25 as being a significant indicator of end-times prophecy.

However, learning of the current weather phenomena raging across the nation and world, in conjunction with the other geophysical activity—earthquakes and the like—we are, I believe, experiencing the forewarning in Luke’s account.

Some of the stories of such concurrent, angry weather plaguing diverse regions are listed on Rapture Ready News on May 20:

• Tornado hits St. Louis metro area, leaving 5 dead and causing widespread damage

A destructive tornado struck the St. Louis metropolitan area, Missouri, on May 16, 2025, killing at least five people and injuring dozens, according to city officials. The storm caused significant damage to infrastructure and homes, with over 5,000 properties affected. At least seven storm-related deaths were reported across multiple states on May 16, with some reports mentioning at least 10 fatalities.

• First-ever Dust Storm Warning issued for Chicago, visibility drops to near zero across metro area

The first-ever Dust Storm Warning for the Chicago metro area was issued on May 16, 2025, as winds of up to 113 km/h (70 mph) carried dust into the city. The storm reduced visibility to near zero and affected major routes across Chicago and surrounding areas.

• Tornado Emergency issued as violent tornado strikes Marion, Illinois

A violent tornado struck south of Marion in Williamson County, Illinois, between 18:00 and 19:00 CDT on May 16, 2025, prompting the U.S. National Weather Service to issue a rare Tornado Emergency for the area. The tornado destroyed homes near Market Road, caused significant structural damage across southern Marion, and formed part of a broader Midwest outbreak that killed at least 16 people.

• Violent tornado strikes London, Kentucky, killing at least 9

A violent tornado struck the city of London in Laurel County, Kentucky, at 23:49 LT on May 16, 2025, killing at least nine people and injuring many others. The tornado caused extensive damage along Keavy Road, KY 1006, and Old Whitley Road.

These were but a few storms raging within the US. Tornados are also striking in places around the world where such storms are almost never reported.

My own lack of discernment to this point regarding the “seas and waves roaring” has received enlightenment, it seems.

Jesus, when standing in the midst of them while He walked the streets of Jerusalem, chastised the religious hierarchy for failing to discern the prophetic times. They were looking into the eyes of their Messiah—the King of Israel and the very Son of God. Yet they, with all their training and religiosity, couldn’t discern the matters they were supposed to relay to the people.

It is most interesting, in the context of our commentary here, that the Lord used weather to make His point:

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:1-3).

It seems that lack of discernment regarding the matter of the weather, in my case, needed adjustment—no, needed correction!

The prophecy regarding the seas and waves roaring, which I’ve mostly considered to mean the sea of humanity in tumult among the nations of the world, it’s obvious to me now is primarily a geophysical phenomenon that will mark the end times. I continue to believe that, secondarily, the “seas and waves roaring” also refers to humanity in turmoil as the time of Christ’s return nears. It has, I’m of the conviction, a dual meaning.

As with all other prophecies in God’s Word, we must, as believers, discern the times we’re in with regard to Christ’s Second Coming. The next prophecy is the one from which we in God’s family should take great comfort, as Paul urged:

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and     with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess 4:16-18).