Jesus was asked why 18 people were killed, seemingly at random, when a tower fell in Siloam.

Were they evil?

Was God exacting vengeance on them?

Jesus answered, “Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4-5).

Jesus knew that the men weren’t killed for their unrighteousness.

Ecclesiastics 9:11 tells us that time and chance happens, to all in this world.

But still, could those 18 have been protected from the tower in Siloam?

Jesus’ answer was yes, and he said the key for such protection is repentance. No one can impute wickedness on the people who die in an accident or natural disaster. Their deaths offer no proof of their being any more sinful than those who survived, or anyone else in the world.

Romans 3:23 explains that “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

But those disasters should serve us as a warning that we risk the same fate—unless we repent of our sins. God protects those who repent and turn to him in obedience, as their soul will go to the place that God has prepared for them that love him (St. Matthew 25:33-34).

And though many would reject this truth, the Bible reveals that God also does allow suffering to turn us to him.

Whenever God begins working with someone, he begins by humbling that individual. As it says in Proverbs 15:33, “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility.”

The humility rooted in a deep respect for the creator must come first (James 4:10 and 1st Peter 5:6).

Not only does God allow these disasters, we can expect them to increase as we approach the time of Jesus’ return.

In Matthew 24:7, Jesus told us the end time would bring an increase in wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. In Verse 8, he calls this “The beginning of sorrows.”

The real destruction lies yet ahead.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Verse 21). It’s a stark contrast to the time free of suffering that God promises to bring.

Today, however, instead of seeing all the amazing blessings God has given us, and offers the same to all of mankind that will obey his Holy word, which is to “Repent, and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38, 39).

But instead of seeing the goodness of God, they only see the orchestrated mess that man and Satan has made and blame God for it.

Our society has produced a civilization full of empty lives, discontent, unhappiness, pain and suffering, crime immorality, broken homes and family life, corruption, injustice, unfairness, violence, pollution, war and death. Yet man refuses to believe the results of his own actions.

The fruits of our educational experiments are out there for everyone to see, and the experiment failed. Why? Because there is a missing dimension in that experiment. World evils are increasing as fast as knowledge.

The knowledge we have today is not cursing our evils or preventing new ones. This world’s educators have simply closed their eyes to the great creator God, who gave us a book telling us how to live.

You can take God’s word for it when he says it. It will surely come to pass. These are the most exciting times in human history. The Messiah is about to come. Have you made the preparation for you journey? Where?