When the World Falls Apart
By Tom Gilbreath
Empires rise and fall. Civilizations form and die. Great cities turn to ruin and then dust. And people die. From Eden to Armageddon, the Bible tells story after story of societal collapse — warning that the stability of world systems is an illusion.
The Bronze Age collapse in the 12th century BC occurred across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. It took place in less than 50 years. It involved many minor nations, along with major powers such as Greece, Egypt, and the Hittite Empire. Thriving cities were abandoned or destroyed. Scholars still don’t know exactly what happened. Ancient writings point to invasions by mysterious Sea Peoples. There were also economic breakdowns, perhaps brought on by changes in weather or the outbreak of plagues. The collapse marked the end of the Bronze Age and ushered in a dark age, before the slow emergence of new societies in the Iron Age.
Historians once discounted the existence of the Hittites because the primary references to that people came from the Bible. Modern archaeology proved the Hittite Empire to be real and massive, covering almost all of modern Turkey and much of Syria and Lebanon. They had a fearsome army that made great use of chariots and other “high-tech” weapons of the time. Where are the Hittites now? Bits of their DNA may float in our bloodstreams, but they are only remembered by historians, archaeologists, and Bible readers.
Across history, many great civilizations have come and gone. Like notions of a flat earth, the stability of such civilizations is an illusion dissipated by lifting our sight to the horizon. Today, societal tumult intrudes on even those people focused entirely on the day-to-day concerns of life. Prices rise. Crime creates a climate of fear. Loved ones get caught in webs of addiction. Children stand at the end of every chain of harm. Those are the sounds of a society breaking.
During the spring thaw, frozen bodies of water make a series of sounds from “singing” to groaning to thunderous cracks. We usually welcome such sounds, but not when the cracking and groaning herald the demolition — not of ice — but of the foundation on which human society has been built. To some extent, every nation on earth now stands in danger of collapse. Why? Because they intentionally embrace what they know God abhors.
Jonah preached reluctantly, but he preached. And God used that preaching. The people of Nineveh repented. I don’t know the extent to which the world might repent, but I know that today’s Church must preach. God placed His message in our hands, and He made us responsible to share it with this generation.
When people go to churches looking for answers today, they might hear real answers from the Bible — or a bunch of Marxist nonsense — or something in between. Sadly, many evangelical churches fall in between. They have grown timid. Like nightclubs on Saturday night, Sunday morning church emphasizes feeling good above all else. While people cry out for answers, these churches avoid anything that might seem unpleasant.
God’s answers include both warning and promise — judgment against sin and redemption through Christ, the certainty of His return and the hope that comes with it. For the Church to shrink from any part of that message is not wisdom. It is disobedience. A silent Church in a collapsing culture is not compassion — it is surrender. And this is not the hour for surrender. In times like these, people do not need less truth, but more.
