Women are developing a taste for violence in their entertainment. Less and less are women put off by violence in their novels and movies. According to a frontpage article in today's Wall Street Journal, women are increasingly drawn to thriller novels where the hero is an assassin or a revenge killer. Women now make up 60% of the audience for the gory "CSI" television franchise that has three different series. Movie houses are also noticing that women make up an increasing percentage of the viewers at recent horror/terror films. Women are losing their squeamish nature when it comes to violence. One of the signs of the days of Noah was that "the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11). Jesus told us that "as it was in the days of Noe [Noah], so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man" (Luke 17:26).
Note: What follows is an introduction I just wrote to a lesson on Mark 6:1-26 entitled "Changes in the Ministry of Christ." I thought it might be an encouragement to someone who is presently going through some great changes.
One of the results of possession by evil spirits in the maniac of Gadara was self-mutilation. Mark 5:5 describes his actions: "And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." A recent survey of college students has determined that 20% of women and 14% of men "have cut, burned, carved or harmed themselves in other ways." This refers to behavior which inflicts harm without the intent of suicide. "The most common methods reported by both young men and women were scratching to the point of bleeding, cutting or punching with the intent of causing injury." This is not to say that all of these young people are possessed. However, it does reflect on the satanic influence in our society. In the case of the maniac, when the devils were cast out, he was found "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind" (Luke 8:35). We need to be taking our youth to the feet of Jesus instead of immersing them in the culture of the devil.
Alfred Edersheim wrote a major life of Christ called "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." Edersheim's Jewish heritage gave him interesting insights into many of the beliefs and ways of life during the time of Christ. In his book (Vol.11, p.12), he wrote of the Jewish traditions concerning the defilement of hands and the accusation that Jesus did not keep these traditions (as recorded in Mark 7:1-9).
In early April of 2006, many of the major news media outlets (including MSNBC's website: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12152740/) carried a story about a Florida State University professor who tried to help the Lord out by explaining a miracle, a supernatural event, in natural terms.
