After 10 years of intensive research, e virus that causes AIDS is spreading unabated throughout the world. And reminiscent of the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, AIDS is destroying lives at all levels of society. In some cases, just as all those in Gomorrah were destroyed, entire communities have been wiped out.
Background
From 1981, when the first AIDS cases were reported, through mid-1990, at least 140,000 cases and 85,000 deaths from AIDS occurred in the United States alone. Statistics are not as good for all countries, but this is clearly just the tip of the iceberg. The disease has been reported in some 150 countries with a high incidence rate in some places where documentation is uncertain.
Many of those infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS do not know they have it and are capable of spreading it to others. Here is an epidemic of major proportions for which no cure or preventive vaccine exists. As the medical community looks ahead, they realize the disease is one of the most pressing public health problems in the world.
Initially, AIDS was identified as a disease mainly restricted to homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Through contact with the blood stream from the injection of needles and frequent sex with many different partners, such people offered behavior patterns ideally suited to spreading the disease. The rest of society felt relatively immune from exposure. That situation is now very different.
AIDS today
The disease now is found in those from all walks of life. The Scientific American, April 1992, reports that, “In the worst afflicted urban centers in Africa, 20 to 30 percent of pregnant women are infected with HIV. As well, in 1988, there were 450 cases of AIDS reported in Uganda to newborn children.” The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta estimates today that there are now more than 1 million Americans infected with HIV. Most carriers of the virus have not yet developed clinical symptoms and thus will be unaware of the danger to themselves and others.
Using mathematical modeling, the Scientific American projected that 50 years from now, 50,000 infants would die per year in Uganda alone. Making similar projections for the United States indicates that by 2040, 700,000 infants and 2.5 million adults will die annually from the disease.
Ironically, one of the contributing factors to this rapid escalation is the use of drugs such as zidovidine (AZT). By increasing the life expectancy of AIDS patients, they increase the chances of spreading the disease. The article in Scientific American comments, “AZT treatment may have a negative side. Although the treatment is life prolonging, and therefore good for the individual, there are situations where it can be detrimental for the community. By lengthening the incubation period of or symptomatic periods in treated individuals, it can increase the incidence of HIV within the community. Thus the outcome could be an increase in the AIDS related death rate.”
The end of this age
People were destroyed in the days of Noah and Lot for immoral behavior. “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5 NIV). Some would have been at the forefront of sin and would have eventually involved many others in the consequences of their iniquity. We see the same pattern today.
While not revealing the exact time, Jesus left us signs of his second coming. “For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places” (Matt. 24:7). Until the outbreak of AIDS, the existence of all of these conditions was evident with the exception of’ “pestilence.” Through medical breakthroughs, many contagious diseases were brought under control. Now, with the incredible spread of AIDS, famine in Africa and wars in many countries throughout the world, we are witnessing all of the things foretold by Christ.
The Lord also compared the time of the end with the wickedness of Lot’s surroundings. Iniquity would abound in the last days. As stark confirmation of this fact, the Toronto Globe and Mail, December 1, 1992 reported that a homosexual couple has petitioned the courts in British Columbia in order to be wed in the eyes of the law. A homosexual man in New Brunswick is petitioning the courts in order to gain entrance into the Big Brothers organization in Canada. A billboard poster of two women kissing has been placed in a busy Winnipeg intersection as part of a human rights settlement. The poster has been paid for by the media organization that initially refused to display the sign. It reads: “Lesbian. It’s not a dirty word.” The Boy Scouts of America have just lost another legal round and now must allow homosexuals to act as leaders of America’s future generation.
A desperate situation
The link between AIDS and disobedience to God is unmistakable. While many people are now exposed to the plague, the fact remains it has spread from homosexuals and drug users to endanger the general population. There is nothing new about the iniquity of a few sinners endangering those around them, particularly the next generation. This is not God’s fault; it is man’s.
The entire solution is relatively simple: obedience to God.
We should also note that the warning should not be missed in the sudden eruption of this particularly virulent disease at this time. Homosexuality is not new, so why should the AIDS plague suddenly strike? Is it not another dramatic warning to mankind to reform before the dreadful judgments pour forth on the earth? And does it not make believers desire all the more that the kingdom of God might come soon?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One