Will Sin and Evil Increase at the End of the Age?

It seems that every time you turn on the news any more, there is some report of a mass murder at a shopping mall or college. Or, a mother has killed all her children. Then again, maybe it’s the son who has wiped out his entire family in a killing spree. You think to yourself, “Things are really getting bad. Evil is increasing.” You just don’t remember so much evil going on thirty or forty years ago. You sigh and you cry. But then you get into a conversation with someone at work or maybe a relative. You express the opinion that social conditions are getting worse and worse. And they say something like, “No, things have always been like this. Human beings are no worse now than they were thousands of years ago. What we have today is better reporting, and of course there are a lot more people, so it just seems like things are worse.” Then they go on to cite several instances of butchery and mass murder in the past – Hitler and the Holocaust, the persecution and martyrdom of Christians, and child sacrifice by various tribes.

When you hear such statements, do you begin to doubt your feeling that things are getting worse? Is there more evil now, or are you just sadly mistaken? Will sin and evil increase as we near the end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ? Or will things continue on as they were from the beginning? What is the truth?

To answer these questions, we need to review some basic facts about sin and evil - what sin is and where it comes from. We know the basic Bible definition of sin. It’s “the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4, KJV). Sin is committing murder, lusting, lying, stealing – breaking any of the Ten Commandments. But where does sin come from? It has been said that evil comes from three sources: Satan, self, and society. Satan introduced sin and evil to man in the Garden of Eden. And guess what? The woman and the man liked it. Satan was crafty and sly. He knew the right words to use to trip Adam and Eve up. And six thousand years later he knows the right thoughts to project to trip us up. Look at what Christ said about the devil.

John 8:44
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. NKJV

Christ indicates that Satan is a murderer and is the father of lies. If there is no truth in him, then Satan is filled with sin and evil. He is the originator of sin.

Humans are prone to sin and evil naturally. Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul wrote that “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

Society – which is just a group of individuals or collection of “selfs” – does lead or put pressure on individuals to commit evil. If you had grown up in a Muslim household in the Middle East where hatred of Jews is taught every day, you might easily go out and commit a suicide bombing. Most societies the world over have lived apart from God and commit various forms of evil as a regular way of life. In societies that have been exposed to the Bible and godly principles, the individuals choosing to live the right way have benefited. In our society today, you see tremendous pressure being exerted for everyone to accept homosexuality and other behaviors that once were considered vile by the vast majority.

So is Satan, self and society getting worse? Look at what the Bible says.

2 Timothy 3:1, 13
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:… 13 But evil [wicked] men and impostors [seducers, KJV] will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹

Vines Expository Dictionary: ‎"shall advance to the worse."

Thayers Greek Lexicon: “will increase… will grow worse, i.e. will make progress in wickedness,”

The apostle Paul clearly indicates that at the end perilous conditions will come. He doesn’t say they will continue on as they were when he wrote the letter to Timothy. Parallel to this change in world conditions is an increase in evil and wickedness. Could it be that the increase in sin and evil leads to the perilous times?

Christ Himself told about how it would be at the end of the age.

Matthew 24:12
12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many [most, RSV] will grow cold. NKJV

ESV: “… because lawlessness will be increased,...^”

NET Bible: “…because lawlessness will increase so much,…”

If you look up the word abound in Strong’s, Thayer’s, and Vines, they all indicate that lawlessness – or sin – will increase and multiply.

In Luke 17:30, Christ said, “Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” In the previous verses - Luke 17:22-29, He had cited the times of Noah and Lot as examples of how it would be at the end. Part of the point being made was that they were busy living their lives and did not have a clue that their destruction was upon them until it was too late. But why did their destruction come? Why were these two cases cited as examples that we need to learn from as we approach the end? Let’s look at how the Bible describes their problems.

Genesis 6:5, 11
⁵ Then the Lord^* saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually... ¹¹ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Noah’s age was noted for extreme violence and man being given over to evil and wickedness – in thought and in action.

How about Sodom?

Genesis 18:20
20 And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,

Jude explains why Sodom’s sins were very grave.

Jude 7
as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The Bible confirms what we can see with our own two eyes. Conditions are worsening.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: [Why?] ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! NKJV

Christ said iniquity – sin – will increase and multiply at the end. There is a reason why perilous times will come. Every one of those things that Paul wrote to Timothy about will increase and multiply. Why are we having the rash of murders and other weird and vile sins we hear reported today? Sin has increased and parallel to that the love of many has grown cold. Divorces have increased, family breakdown has increased, there is increased pressure to accept and participate in homosexual activity. We are not wrong when we look at world events and see that evil has increased. Yes, there has always been evil – from the time of the Garden of Eden, man has committed an array of vile acts. But at the end of the age, conditions will worsen. The good news is that when we see such social trends occurring, we can know for sure that the return of Jesus Christ is drawing very near!