Evil manifested itself on a spring morning at a high school in Littleton, Colorado, last month. In its wake is a community trying to grasp another act of terrorism in America.

Two teens dressed in black garb and loaded with weapons and bombs walked into Littleton's Columbine High School on April 19 and began shooting students and faculty at random. When it was over 13 were dead and approximately 25 wounded. The two teens also died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

At the first news of the shooting you thought, "Oh no, not again! Another school shooting." Then there was the inevitable live coverage from CNN telling us that another school in America had suffered an act of violence on its grounds. We are shocked, we ask "Why?", and "How could this happen here?"

It is being called the "deadliest school massacre" in American history. That very phrase defines a chilling epoch of modern society that is hard to grasp and understand. Instead of safe places of learning for children have schools become the stages upon which the cancers of our age erupt with frightening regularity?

Consider what has happened in American public schools in the past 19 months. In nine separate shooting incidents at least 29 students and faculty have been killed while 70 others were wounded. They have occurred in the south, the west and the north, in middle class neighborhoods. The perpetrators have been as young as 11 years old up to age 18. The motives are varied. One of the killers said he "had no choice but to do it," others had no explanation for their crime. In at least two of the cases the shooters were members of fringe cult-like groups.

Early reports from the Littleton, Colorado, shooting described the two students responsible for the shooting as members of an outcast group known as the "trench-coat Mafia." They did not fit into the mainstream life of the school and were known to have a fascination with guns and an obsession with death. In exiting this life their anger gathered many innocent victims in its grasp, and left permanent scars upon the minds of friends and family.

How Could This Happen?

So many ask how could this happen? This Denver suburb is considered to be the safest in the area. I have a friend who relocated to Denver a few years ago and when looking for a good community with quality schools for his daughter was advised to buy his home in Littleton. "Littleton is the safest suburb in Denver," he was told. I talked with him the day after the shootings and like the whole city he was stunned at what happened. He had just come from a meeting with a group of counselors, men who were trained at talking people through such a crisis, and he said that these men were at a loss to comprehend and explain why this tragedy occurred.

And that is the crux of the matter. All of the professional training and all of the knowledge offers little understanding and hope through such an event. Senior students at this school were less than three weeks from graduation. Memories of those happy days are now permanently clouded. Having lived through a manic assault on decency and order these students may never fully recover. Like veterans of war this experience will be tucked into mental closets, always there, kept behind a closed door that hides the trauma and horror of witnessing a life extinguished before its time.

Christ said the end of the age would see a period of desensitizing resulting in the "love of many waxing cold" (Matthew 24:12). The apostle Paul described the end times as brutal and its people having little self-control (2 Timothy 3:1-3). No one can deny there are deep structural problems in American society, which contribute to a sense of hopelessness and frustration in some of our youth. Despite the efforts of good people to address these ills, an effective solution has not been found. Could it be because the nation has rejected the word of God?

Isaiah's description of Israel applies today. "Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Why should you be beaten any more? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-only wounds and bruises and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil" (Isaiah 1:4-6,NIV).

Something Fundamentally Wrong

When so many acts of terror in schools keep occurring it means that something is fundamentally wrong with society. God lays the blame on those who have turned away from Him and do not consider His righteous teachings. In Ezekiel 34 He states that the leaders of the land have led people away from true paths of righteousness. God is calling out for the nation to repent and turn to Him. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to understand that there is an evil spiritual being, Satan the Devil, who walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy (1 Peter 5:8). We must not be ignorant of his devices. God has given us the power to overcome this present evil age.

In His ministry Christ confronted Satan and his demons on numerous occasions. He clearly understood the impact this evil spirit has within the world. On one occasion Christ called Satan a murderer and the father of lies (John 8:44). He said that Satan "does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him." Called by Paul "the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), Satan works as "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). He and his demons can influence events and trends in this world. The Scriptures also show that they can possess individuals and force them into irrational and self-destructive actions (Mark 5:1-20).

Evil, flowing from the mind of Satan, periodically intrudes the thin veneer of our cultured society and visits its wrath on an unsuspecting and deceived world. It finds a breeding pool within the pockets of social decay around the world. The difference in destruction is only by degree-whether it is hundreds of thousands of ethnic Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda or 12 teenagers and a teacher in Colorado.

Satan and his cohort of demons will continue to influence the course of events in the entire world, leading up to the crisis at the close. The political and religious system called Babylon which will dominate the world is said to be the "habitation of demons" (Revelation 18:2). His influence and spirit will not be quenched until a powerful angel throws him into the restraint of the bottomless pit. Then, and only then, will the earth be at peace. The message of the Day of Atonement points God's people to this event.

Christ told His followers to pray for deliverance "from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13). Daily we should ask God for the protection of His angels around us. Divine safety is a promise we can claim. Only God's shield of protection prevents the unrestrained march of evil through the world.

How Can Such Evil Be Explained?

How then do we explain and come to an understanding of such an evil event as the recent school shooting in Colorado? A few years ago I read a story told by a criminal psychologist who dealt with hardened criminals imprisoned and awaiting trial. His job was to interview and evaluate those who had committed heinous crimes and try to determine why they committed them. Working for the defense and the state his mission was to find some psychological explanation that could keep a jury from giving the death penalty.

He listened to their stories of alcoholic parents, physical and sexual abuse, divorce, parental deaths, tough neighborhoods, uninterested teachers, and poverty. Some of them had low intelligence and learning disabilities that put them at a disadvantage. Listen to his questions about what he heard:

"But millions upon millions of Americans are born with these handicaps, or worse, and they don't kill. From all those with hard lives, how does fate choose its lustful murderers?

"Late in the evening, in the security of my home, I lie awake as my wife and children sleep, pondering what dark force might be working right now in some other home.

"I am forced to ask: Is there evil?

"Not since my youthful debates on theism and agnosticism have I faced such a basic question. Some teach that such questions are silly and without meaning, but could there be such a thing as evil? Could there be an extra force, a dark force that works through humans and perpetrates terror? Are they evil, or does an evil force temporarily inhabit their soul?"

Coming to understand the many acts of mindless violence in today's world is impossible without the spiritual revelation from God's word. The most carefully crafted gun control legislation will not prevent such atrocities. Compassionate and skilled counseling will help patch the scars but never give the answers that completely heal.

Look To The Bigger Picture

In Christ's day there were two tragic events that shocked the people. They wanted to know the significance and hear Christ's comment. "Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish'" (Luke 13:1-6 NIV).

Sometimes no satisfying answers can be found for the pleading questions of "why?" that ring out after such a terrible tragedy as the Littleton shootings-or the tragic deaths to which Christ referred. Sometimes all we can do is look to the bigger picture. Those listening to Him then, and those of us reading these words today, can choose to turn and change upon hearing the true words of life. The emotional impact of such tragic accidents and atrocities can motivate those who are wise to devote their lives more zealously toward the work and goal of the kingdom of God.

The sting and the tears of death will not be wiped away this side of the kingdom of God. But by being lights in a dark world we can offer hope and comfort to those in despair. We can make a difference today as we earnestly pray "thy kingdom come." WNP