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Another condition that Jesus indicated would be prevalent immediately prior to His return would be pervasive violence.

How were things in “the days of Noah?” The book of Genesis tells us “the earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11). We are all painfully aware that today’s headlines are full of tragic stories of violence.

Political violence is the term used to describe the violence perpetrated by governments on their own or conquered people, or violence committed by political and ideological groups. In the 20th century it is estimated that around 110 million people died as a result of wars. However, this pales in comparison to the 170 million estimated to have been killed in political violence during the same period [in fact, just from 1900–1987]. 170 million deaths translates to around 4,600 people (close to twice the amount killed at the World Trade Center towers during the 9/11 attack.) being killed every day for 100 years.

Aside from political violence, violence in all its forms surrounds us. One country that has statistics readily available on this is the United States. In the U.S., more people died from gun-related killings in the 19 years spanning 1979–1997 (651,697) than U.S. servicemen and women that died in combat in war from the Revolutionary War (1775–1783) through to the end of the 20th century (650,858).

Violence is a universal scourge that tears at the fabric of communities and threatens the life, health and happiness of us all. Each year, more than 1.6 million people worldwide lose their lives to violence. For everyone who dies as a result of violence, many more are injured and suffer from a range of physical, sexual, reproductive and mental health problems. Violence is among the leading causes of death for people aged 15–44 years worldwide, accounting for about 14% of deaths among males and 7% of deaths among females.