O Perverse Generation!

By David Ettinger

Exasperation
Jesus was exasperated.

The father of a demon-possessed boy had brought his son to the Lord’s disciples hoping they could banish the demon. They could not, and Jesus was displeased.

They should have been able to. They had been with Him long enough, and knew that by faith in God the Father and calling upon the name of the Son for power, Jesus would have granted them authority to expel the demon.

In his exasperation, Jesus did not hold back from voicing His disappointment. “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” He chided the disciples, “how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?” (Matthew 17:17).

“Unbelieving,” yes, but “perverse”? That’s pretty strong language. The Greek word used here for “perverse” is diastrepho, which means “to distort,” “to turn aside,” “to corrupt, “to turn from the right path,” “to pervert.” The sense of diastrepho is “to oppose, or plot against the saving purposes of God.”

Perverse Headline
That last statement is insightful. Think of all perversion as being opposed to and plotting against God’s saving purposes. This is the essence of the Greek word for “perverse” in the Bible – something that not only opposes God’s plan for salvation, but seeks to destroy it.

Therefore, that which is perverse – from a Christian perspective – is a heinous thing. Of course, the world is ever increasing in heinous things, and if we were to give vent to every one of them, our days would be consumed doing so.

But once in a while, something so perverse comes along that I can’t help but to vent. What came along is this headline on the Fox News website: “Oregon’s ‘Menstrual Dignity Act’ Requires Schools to Place Feminine Products in Boys’ Bathrooms.”[1]

The subhead reads: “The law also requires schools to post instructions on how to use menstrual products.”

The first paragraph reads: “Oregon public schools will be required to provide feminine products along with instructions on ‘how to use’ those products in all K-12 bathrooms regardless of gender, in accordance with the state’s ‘Menstrual Dignity Act’ signed into law last year.”

Should you wish to read further, the link to the story is at the bottom.

I can give a number of Bible verses highlighting the growing perverseness and wickedness which will continue to descend upon this planet, but there’s no need. Bible readers are pretty familiar with such verses, and know that this world is going to get far worse before it gets wonderfully good at the return of Jesus Christ.

If Jesus called His generation “perverse,” how much more so this generation!

Stand Firm
I have no desire to analyze the above story, only to say that this is indeed where we are heading, and things will only worsen. Our world is becoming ever more a stench-filled cesspool as Satan employs the vast majority of the human race to achieve his purposes.

Believers in the Lord Jesus, however, do not belong to Satan, but to God. Regarding the evil perversity of this world, the Bible encourages us to:

• “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
• “Detest what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
• “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good” (3 John 11).

The perversity noted above will increase, and to more shocking degrees. But God’s Word to us is solid: We are to do good in the face of evil and perversity and always be ready to share the light of the Lord Jesus in these ever-darkening days!

May God give us the fortitude to stand firm!

David Ettinger is a writer/editor at Zion’s Hope, Inc., and has written for Zion’s Fire magazine since its inception in 1990.

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[1] https://www.foxnews.com/media/oregons-menstrual-dignity-act-requires-schools-place-feminine-products-boys-bathrooms

Tagged: christian living, Christianity, Fall of the West, Immoral Nation, Moral Sin of U.S., Perverse Generation, Practical, the New Testament, The Sinful Culture

Posted in: Application, Bible study, Bible teaching, Christ's Deity, Christianity, Commentary, Culture, Current Events, Deterioration of the U.S., Devotional, Editorial/Blog, End Times, God's Divine Plans, God's Judgment, Jesus My Savior, Making a Point, Moral Corruption, Moral Fall of the West, New Testament, Obeying God, Practical, Rejecting God, Salvation in Christ, Satan, Sin, Society, The Return of Christ