There is a new fear in America – almost a full-blown paranoia. Terrorism has made us cautious and wary of almost everything. Now we see the world through suspicious eyes because we live in perilous times.
Well, we certainly are living in troubling times as we face unprecedented evil. In 2 Timothy 3:1 God predicted these times when He said, “This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”
This word “perilous” is a Greek adjective that means “dangerous – even violent.” According to Strong’s Concordance, it comes from a word that means “to let down into a void.” In other words, it’s to be placed in a grievous situation – it’s something hard to deal with – difficult to endure.
There is only one other place where this word is used in the New Testament. In Matthew 8:28, Jesus is walking with His disciples around the north side of the Sea of Galilee, and when they approached a place called Gadara, it says, “There met him two possessed with demons coming out of the tombs, exceedingly dangerous, so that no man might pass by that way.” It was “exceedingly dangerous” – that’s our word.
Here you have two demon-possessed, raving maniacs coming out of the graveyard near Gadara – ragged clothes and long hair, with bloodshot eyes, and froth drooling from their twisted mouths – growling and snarling at anyone passing that way. Wow! A pretty dangerous situation, wouldn’t you say?
Well, that’s what God is saying in 2 Timothy 3: In the last days it will be like pitching your tent in the graveyard of Gadara and living among the demon-possessed crazies. Danger on every hand. A grievous situation where survival is the main concern. Sounds like our day, doesn’t it? “Know this…in the last days perilous times shall come.”
Say – Even though we know this is the way it’s going to be – our hope is in the Lord. He is our strength and our shield against the perilous times.