I softly barked at one of His Beloved last night for asking that question and woke up rebuked, refreshed and cogitating on a scripture phrase. My deep apologies to the Beloved of God. My zeal for my God seems to have reached further than my Love for Him and His. Never a good thing.

Romans 1:18, 21-23, 28-32

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness....

21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures."

"28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. "

It's that little word unloving that we are seeing. It's the word astorgos which means lacking or without natural familial affection. Storge' love is a mother's love for her children. These people do not have it, having exchanged their natural affections for unnatural. In this verse, it is a cause of God pouring out His wrath. It's not a sign FROM God, it's a sign that His Wrath is forthcoming.

Also 2Timothy 3:1-7 "1But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. "

That little word unloving is again astorge, lacking the natural familial love. And the answer to why a woman who was near childbirth would stay in a household of sex offenders who kept small children bound to a bed. They were weak women held captive by their sin.

So, not a sign FROM God, but a sign of the times that God's wrath is ready to be poured out and that by seeing these things we know we have already entered the last days.

Tx Thom, not sure who you softly barked at last night, but that's besides the point. You were gracious enough to apologize to whoever it was, so that's the important thing. Only a true child of God would be sensitive enough to the leading of the Holy Spirit to do that.

You have made some excellent points here, and scriptures to back them up. I have noticed the increase of lawlessness myself, especially with children. I could not bring myself to read the thread about the six children bound in bed. It was hard enough to hear Pastor Begley talk about the poor girl who ran 3 hours to her death. I don't know if you watch Dr. Phil or not, but last week he interviewed a young teenager who was thrown into a closet and lived there from the age of 2 until she was 6 years old when she was rescued by police. The only time she was brought out of the closet was to be raped by her step-father, his friends and by her own mother. Yes, her own mother...who now is in prison and shows no remourse for what she did. Then after the girl was raped, she was beaten and put back into the closet with no food and was forced to eat her own feces and even the woodwork. As a result, she was bleeding internally when they found her. That show left me reeling afterwards.

Talk about mothers not having natural affection! It reminds me of Jesus' words when He said, "The love of many will wax cold." When I was reading your post, I keep thinking of the scripture in Isaiah 49:15 where it says:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you."

I wonder if that was a prophesy for today?

Thanks, TX Thom. Good post.

Oh, dear. I'm a mother, but even if I wasn't (thank you, Lord, for such a magnificent gift!), this kind of thing would make me just as upset. Lord, please, please, help these children! I'll take them! Bring them to me!

You  should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very Difficult Times.  For people will love on ly themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents and ungrateful...(2 Tim.3:1-50 ) Christians should PRAY and FAST for the sake of the Children of the World.They are the first victim of this cruel world.Let us start  with our own children and family. By being a good  example to our neighbors. They will know how God love the children by loving our own.