On Friday, May 26, 2017, a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians were traveling by bus to pray at a monastery when they were attacked by Muslim extremists. Their destination was the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor located a hundred miles south of Cairo, Egypt.

At least 28 were killed when the bus and an accompanying half ton truck were stopped by three SUVs containing upwards of ten ISIS militants. After storming the bus, the masked extremists demanded the people on board recite the Muslim profession of faith called the shahada:

La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah.
English: There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.

When they were unable to do this, the heavily armed militants opened fire killing. In addition to the deaths, they wounded at least 22. TV images of the attack showed the bus riddled with bullet holes and its seats covered in blood.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s population of 94 million and over the last several years have been under constant attack by Muslim extremists.

In April, two coördinated attacks on Coptic churches on Palm Sunday (April 19, 2017) left 49 dead.

In February, Islamic extremists released a video stating that Coptic Christians were now their “favorite prey.” The video also showed images of an extremist responsible for the bombing of an Egyptian Coptic church in December where 30 people were killed during a service.

One of the armed ISIS extremists on the video added:

“God gave orders to kill every infidel.”

This followed the bombing of an arena in Manchester, England earlier in the week. On Monday, May 22, 2017, 22 people (including seven children) were killed by a suicide bomber as they were leaving an Ariana Grande concert.

Aside from the ISIS claiming responsibility for these killings, the bombings, nearly 4,000 miles apart, may also be connected in another way.

In the Lord’s discussion of the end times in Matthew, Jesus stated:

³⁷ For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. (Matthew 24:37 NASV)

Jesus said the period just before His return will be similar to the Days of Noah when God judged the world with a flood. So we need to turn to Genesis, to find out a bit more about our society leading up to the Lord’s second coming:

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence (Hebrew hamas). (Genesis 6:11 NASV)

It was filled with violence.

The Hebrew word for violence in this verse is  “ḥāmās” and speaks of extreme violence (Ezekiel 8:17; Micah 6:12; Exodus 23:1;) .

But perhaps most intriguing the same word is used in the description of Satan found in Ezekiel. In this passage, the prophet says that violence (hamas) is embedded in Lucifer’s heart:

“By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence (hamas),
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:16 NASV)

Does this mean the violence described in Genesis and that will be repeated at the end of the age has a satanic origin?

The Bible also says during the Days of Noah that the whole world was filled with violence. If the end of the age is repeating the pre-flood era, then no country will be free from it.

It also suggests that it will probably get much worse, before it gets better. Though it is easy to blame Muslim extremists, they will not be the only source of this unprecedented time of hatred.

Sources:

• Suspected Islamic extremists attack Coptic Christians headed to church, kill 26, including ‘many children’: Gospel Herald
• Egypt fights  back after 28 Coptic Christians killed in bus attack: Fox News
• Manchester bombing latest: Investigation making ‘immense’ progress as police ‘get hold of ‘large part of terror network’: The Telegraph