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What Is Happening to Family Life?
“PLEASE can you help me. My husband ill-treats me and I can no longer stand it. I have no one to turn to. I am alone except for my one-year-old son. My husband is given to violent tempers and my arms at times have been black and blue through his punches. He butted me on the nose two weeks ago and I had a terrible nosebleed. Then in bed one night he started to strangle me and it was not until I passed out that he realized what he had done. For days it was hard for me to swallow. . . .
“My husband shouts and breaks things in the house and frightens the baby. After my husband had knocked me on the floor one night, the baby screamed in terror and I was hurt and too frightened to do anything. . . . I’ve told him I want a divorce. Now I dare not say I want to go or he starts and I am afraid that either my life or my son’s is in danger.”—From the book Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear, by Erin Prizzey.
An isolated incident? By no means! It is estimated that in the United States alone, each year some 1.8 million wives are beaten by their husbands, that is, kicked, bitten, punched, hit with an object, threatened or attacked with a knife or a gun. Add to this the cases of sexual abuse and emotional neglect of children, abuse of parents and grandparents, and the picture becomes even sadder. Hence, the question: What is happening to family life?
You have reason to be concerned. ‘Why me?’ you may ask. ‘I can assure you that those things do not happen in my family!’ Even so, such family problems should be of interest to you. Why? Because the Bible long ago prophesied that the prevalence of such family disturbances would be part of the clear evidence that we are living in “the last days” of this entire worldwide system of things.a Notice what the apostle Paul foretold: “Know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, . . . disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection.”—2 Timothy 3:1-3.
Are Paul’s words really being fulfilled today? Just what is the extent of such family strife? Does it serve to support the fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy indicating that we truly are living in “the last days”?
It should be noted that the Bible prophecies regarding “the last days” constitute a composite sign. That is, when all the things foretold would happen to one generation, it would be proof that we are living in the time of the end. In this series of articles, we will focus on one aspect of the prophecies, namely, the effect of our “critical times” on families.
