And children shall be their oppressors

One of the world's most alarming trends involves one of its most precious resources – its youth. Alarmed at the trend, world leaders, law enforcement officials and mental health leaders are nervously searching for reasons behind the mounting tsunami of teen, and pre-teen, violence.

Children – once described as "sugar and spice and everything nice" and "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" – today are growing into a horror story involving some of the most insane violence imaginable.

Americans, shocked by recent surveillance videos of teenagers viciously beating homeless men with baseball bats, also find themselves emotionally reeling from videos of the vicious MS-13 gang induction rites and the prospect of further gang violence as a result.

The litany grows around the world:

Columbine, CO.: "Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting rampage, killing twelve fellow students and a teacher, as well as wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide. It is considered to be the deadliest school shooting, and the second deadliest attack on a school in US History" (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Virginia, USA: "Violence-laced lyrics by rappers Crime Mob thumped as Baron P. Braswell II was attacked at a party, according to authorities who said yesterday that the music "revved up" the teen's assailants. As the song "Knuck If You Buck" was played, Braswell was knocked to the ground, kicked and stomped on, Spotsylvania County Sheriff Howard Smith said. The Courtland High School junior was fatally stabbed at some point in the fracas" (Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH).

London, UK: "In one sickening hour the four-strong "Clockwork Orange" gang attacked eight innocent people on the south bank of the Thames for no other purpose than the sadistic pleasure of inflicting pain … Bar manager David 'Sinders' Morley, who survived the 1999 Nazi nail bomb attack on the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, fell victim [murdered] as he chatted with his friend Alistair Whiteside ... The grinning gang struck at random on the night of October 30, 2004" (Mirror.co.uk).

European, African, Arab, South American, Australian, Canadian news reports compete in lurid, graphic headlines involving their youthful crimes. The United Nations World Youth Report, 2005 states:

"Juvenile delinquency covers a range of different violations of legal and social norms, ranging from minor offences to severe crimes committed by minors. … Statistically young people constitute the most criminally active segment of the population. … Poverty, dysfunctional families, substance abuse and the death of family members have been demonstrated to be risk factors for becoming delinquent. … An overwhelming majority of those who participate in violence against young people in developed countries are about the same age and sex as their victims. In most cases the offenders are males acting in groups. Those most likely to suffer from violence are between the ages of 16 and 19."

How did this happen to our children? What is the reason behind this horrendous waste of these precious lives? The Bible provides a graphic picture in Isaiah 3:1–12: "As for my people, children are their oppressors" (v. 12).

Children are a reflection of the adult society they live in. If sin dominates the adult society, that society will provide a fertile breeding ground for sin to develop in children.

The prophet Isaiah was describing the time of the end of mankind's misrule of the earth. He describes a time of growing sorrows for breaking of God's societal laws; laws that, if obeyed, would allow children to grow productive, not destructive. Read our shockingly informative Tomorrow's World magazine article: "What Is Happening to Our Kids?" It will provide answers to help you understand

A better day is on the horizon: "Thus says the Lord: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.' … Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets'" (Zech 8:3–5).

God speed that day.