When I first heard the news about the Florida High School shooting, my mind was already pondering a few other disappointing news stories of the day.

I was thinking about the Lutheran minister in New Jersey who had a name changing ceremony Sunday because she has “transitioned” from female to male. The Lutheran Bishop was glowing about it and the transgender ceremony in the church sanctuary that officially recognized her name change from Rosa to Peter. Sadly, her congregation accepts it all as normal.

I was also thinking about the reports of the major news and television network that had allowed one of their national daytime TV show hosts to publicly ridicule my Christian faith and Lord, Jesus Christ. She unbashfully joked about the One whom she will soon bow low before in judgment.

I was thinking about a few other stories regarding an anti-religious Atheist group in Wisconsin that keeps threatening lawsuits against school boards about prayer before sports events and military bases about Bible verses in the work space.

Then I hear the news that another liberal ideologue has acted upon his selfish anger and slaughtered 17 innocent Florida High School students with a rifle, leaving their families and friends in shock and unexpected grief.

A verse from Genesis came to my mind, a verse where God says “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt” (Genesis 6:3 CSB). The context is the time of Noah and the abomination of society and the judgement of the flood.

Now Genesis 6:3 is likely or primarily referring to the fact that the life span of man will be decreased after the flood, but there has been some theological thought that it has a larger secondary reference to the end-times (Matthew 24:37) when the Spirit of God will withdraw like the angels letting loose the four winds of strife (Revelation 7:1).

I don’t want to draw a line in the sand or hang a whole doctrine on that verse, but one thing I do know, we’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our nation.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our schools when the courts outlawed prayer.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our culture when the media flaunts perversion.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our businesses when we welcomed sexual predators to choose their own restrooms.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our government when we fund abortions with our own citizen’s tax dollars.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our families when we declare marriage as an unnatural union between same sex people.

We’ve told the Spirit of God to withdraw from our society and we ought not be surprised when the void of life is filled with acts of death.

In the tribulation chapters of Revelation we often hear the angels say “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Revelation 16:5-7 ESV) and “glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just” (Revelation 19:1-3 ESV) and there are others affirmations exclaimed in heaven during the time of our God’s wrath on the wicked.

There was once a time in my Christian walk when these angelic praises confused me, but now that I am older and seeing the bold and brazen assaults of Satan and his disciples of death upon our nation, I can only join with John in Revelation 22:20 and exclaim, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”