Watching some of the jubilee celebration of the 70 years of Elizabeth’s reign there in London and seeing that longest-reigning monarch standing on her balcony receiving honors from her people, I could not but think of Methuselah, the longest-lived man recorded in scripture.

According to the biblical record, Methuselah lived 969 years and died in the year God sent the Flood to wash the earth clean of the corruption that is humanity. His name means, “Man of the Dart,” or as biblical interpreters prefer, “When he dies, it will be sent.” You can see why the second meaning is preferable in understanding that the man himself was a living prophecy. As his grandson, Noah, labored on the ark, his growing old meant the end was growing near.

Elizabeth’s reign spans one of the most spectacular eras of modern history. It has been a period of incredible technological advance in which the people of our world have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and peace. But as she draws closer to drawing her last breath, we hear the rumblings of the end of this era of prosperity and peace.

The years of Elizabeth’s reign have also been an era of incredible moral decay. As in the days of Methuselah, the thoughts of man are on nothing but evil continually. During the past 70 years sexual perversion has come out of the closet and is celebrated as liberation from a patriarchal God. Marriage is disparaged. Childbearing and motherhood are thought beneath a modern woman. Manliness is mocked; men are no longer honored as providers and protectors, but are celebrated for being sperm donors instead of fathers. Drug abuse is rampant. Our cities have filled with wastrels, thieves, derelicts, and murderers. The self-murder rate is soaring among the young; children as young as 6 are despairing and taking their own lives.

Will the end of Elizabeth’s reign be a, “It will be sent,” moment? I don’t know. I do know the world hates God as much today as it did when he brought the flood back then. I do know things can only get worse. I do know that God has set a day in which he will judge the world and pronounce humanity guilty of treason. And I do know that the penalty for treason is death.

O wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this world’s certain future destruction? Thanks be to God! He has sent his Son into this world to rescue all who believe on his name. When the fires of God’s judgment falls on this rebel planet, there is safety and security in Jesus. As it is written, the righteous run into the LORD and are safe.