A Land Full Of Blood

October 20, 2002

…and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. Ezekiel 9.9b (KJV)

The land is full of blood. Nothing could be more accurately stated about our world these days. In the last number of weeks we have certainly all watched with horror and astonishment as the body count climbed.

The “quicksilver sniper” in our nation’s capitol splashes blood over the newscasts.

Bombings in Bali brought back September 11th images.

War with Iraq, assassinations, car bombings and North Korea nukes.

The land is full of blood!

Among the most chilling of images I have witnessed recently (delivered by my own mailman this week) was the cover of U.S. News & World Report (Oct 21, 2002). The headline read “I AM GOD”. The reference was to the Tarot card left behind at one of the sniper’s deeds.

Inside the magazine were the grisly accounts of the profilers’ guesses at motivation and clues that will help solve the case.

Part of the article dealt with 8 serial killers – Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz, torturer/murderer and cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy the charming and cunning murderer of young women. And others; eight killers, 138 victims.

According to published reports (as well as folklore propagated and nourished in media), most serial killers play the role of God, choosing death for their victims, and daring authorities to do anything about it.

What has become of those monsters? Where are they now? Here are a few answers, according to the U.S. News article (Ibid)

Three have been executed (Ted Bundy, Aileen Wuornos, John Wayne Gacy).

One beaten to death in prison (Jeffrey Dahmer).

One committed suicide rather than be apprehended (Andrew Cunanan).

One is currently on death row (Richard Ramirez).

Two are serving a combined 203 years plus 7 life sentences in New York prisons (Berkowitz and Joel Rifkin).

The land is indeed filled with blood.

Abortion kills more children than all the prenatal and childhood maladies we can imagine combined. At the other end of the spectrum, euthanasia is growing in acceptance…be careful about getting older! Suicide is on the rise – men’s hearts failing them.

The land is filled with blood.

Recently a preacher shared these words in a sermon, “as I stand before you, there are approximately forty wars raging in this world. We have spilled more blood in the twentieth century than in the previous nineteen put together. The German philosopher Nietzsche reminded us that since God had died in the nineteenth century, the twentieth would become the bloodiest century in history.”

(Ravi Zacharias "The Lostness of Humankind", Preaching Today, Tape No. 118)

It is no secret we live in a land filled with blood! If art reflects culture, we have no farther than the network shows and movie producers to see the blood in the land. Our children see more murders and violence on screens than they will ever see acts of kindness.

Even apart from murder mysteries, occult and action shows, the most popular new offerings are “reality-based” TV; high-speed chases, robberies, eating bugs and animal entrails, emergency room gore and the like.

The land is filled with blood.

What is the likely observation, or at least the common outlook of folks about all that? What do people think is going on with all that? Two and a half millennia ago a Jewish prophet by the name of Ezekiel gave us the answer:

…and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. Ezekiel 9.9b (KJV)

In short, folks look around and surmise God is not in the equation; with all that happens, how could He be? If He ever was in the equation, He has bailed on us, and He isn’t watching.

With all the communication gadgets to help us “stay in touch” – email, TV, express mail, telephones on every hip – the most common feeling in the universe is “I’m alone. I’ve been forsaken. The Lord – whoever He is, and even if He’s out there – He doesn’t know my name. I had better watch out for me, because I am all there is!”

If this describes you (or describes you at times), or if you know some folks who feel like this, and you’d really like some good news to share with them – allow me to share four important words in two short phrases with you that make all the difference in the world. The first two words:

GOD KNOWS

Scripture tells us He really does…

but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Hebrews 4.13b