I saw her standing on her front lawn just twirling her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died

From the town of Lincoln Nebraska with a sawed-off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path

I can’t say that I’m sorry for the things that we done
At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun

The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death
Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor neck back
You make sure my pretty baby is sitting right there on my lap

They declared me unfit to live, said “into that great void my soul be hurled”
They wanted to know why I did what I did, Well sir I guess there’s just a meanness in this world

 

This poem titled “Nebraska” tells the story of Charles Starkweather, who along with his fourteen year old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, murdered 11 people during an eight-day killing spree in 1958. Starkweather was executed 17 months later, while Fugate served 17 years in prison.

As I have been listening to news reports and have been thinking about James Holmes and the massacre in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, this poem came to mind, especially that last line. Like Charles Starkweather, everybody wants to know why Holmes did what he did. Have you found yourself wondering why? Some people have suggested that he must have had problems in his family background or that he wasn’t socialized correctly. Others have postulated that he didn’t know how to deal with failure or that he suffered from some form of mental illness.

I am not sure if we will ever fully understand Holmes’s motive, but I would like to propose another theory. The theory is this: “there’s just a meanness in this world.” Charles Starkweather, Charles Manson, Jeffery Damer, Oklahoma City, Columbine, September 11th, Fort Hood, and now James Holmes are all examples of the pervasive meanness and evil that exists in the human soul. Most of you have been taught the humanistic and narcissistic philosophy that human beings are basically good, but that is not what the Bible says. As a matter of fact, the Bible says the exact opposite.

The Bible tells us that all human beings are sinners and that the whole earth is influenced by Satan. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Revelation 17 will show us how the whole world is under satanic influence.

 

The Great Prostitute (1-6, 15, 18)

Revelation 17 begins with one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls proclaiming to John, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.” Who is this great prostitute and what are the many waters that she is sitting on? In verse 18, the angel tells us that this woman is the great city that rules over the earth. Verse 15 tells us that the many waters are the “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” of the earth.

What is this great city that rules the people of the earth? Verse 5 tells us that her name and title is Babylon the Great, which was a Jewish code word for Rome in the first century. Just as the Babylonian Empire was the great world power that subjugated and persecuted God’s people in the Old Testament, the Roman Empire had dominated and was oppressing God’s people in the New Testament.

Babylon and Rome were the embodiment of the evil political/economic/religious system that led the people of the earth away from the one true God. Verse 2 tells us that the kings of the earth committed adultery with her. This is a metaphor for world leaders adopting her evil political/economic/religious agendas. Likewise, when it says that the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries, it means that most of the common people of the world also bought into her ungodly philosophies, perspectives, and worldviews.

After this, the angel carried John away to a desert, where he saw the prostitute sitting on a scarlet beast. The blasphemous names, the seven heads, and the ten horns identify this beast as the red dragon from Revelation 12. There, we learned that the dragon is Satan himself. The prostitute is pictured as being carried by the beast, showing that the two are closely entwined. Satan is pictured as a great pimp who uses his prostitute to do his dirty work.

The prostitute is decked out in purple and scarlet clothing, adorned with precious metals and fine jewels, and drinks from a golden cup filled with abominable things. These images symbolize luxury and moral corruption. The people of the earth were infatuated by her wealth and intoxicated by her immorality. Like a husband who leaves his wife for some sleazy bimbo, the people of the earth are pictured as running after her promises of wealth, power, and pleasure.

Verse 6 caps of the description of the great prostitute by telling us that she is drunk with the blood of the saints—that is, she is directly responsible for the persecution and death of Christians. Babylon shed the blood of God’s people in the Old Testament. Rome shed the blood of God’s people in the New Testament. And the evil political/economic/religious powers throughout history continue to shed the blood of God’s people.

When the army of Julian the Apostate was on the march to Persia some of the soldiers got hold of a Christian believer to torment and torture him in brutal sport. After they wearied of it, they looked into his eyes and said to their helpless victim, with infinite scorn in their voices, “Where now is your carpenter God?

The prisoner looked up through pain, blood, and agony to say, “Where now is my carpenter God? He is building your coffin.”

 

The Beast (7-14)

In verses 7-13, the angel goes on to describe the beast. He has seven heads, ten horns, and once was, and now is not, and will come out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The “he once was” refers to Satan’s direct physical presence on the earth throughout the Old Testament times. The “and now is not” refers to the time between Jesus’ resurrection and return when Satan is locked up in the Abyss and has to do his diabolical work through his demonic agents, including the great prostitute. The “will come out of the Abyss” refers to the future when Satan is released from the Abyss and is cast into the lake of burning sulfur at the final judgment.

The seven heads are doubly symbolic. On one hand, they represent the seven geographic hills of Rome. On the other hand, they represent Roman emperors, who have advanced Satan’s agenda against God and his people. The ten horns represent world leaders who give their allegiance to Satan and who make war against Jesus and his followers. But these leaders will be defeated because Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

The Beast Brutalizes the Prostitute (16-17)

Do you see what happens to the prostitute in the end? The beast uses and then abuses the prostitute! Just as Satan used and then destroyed the Babylonian Empire in the Old Testament, he would eventually destroy the Roman Empire as well. This is descriptive of what Satan has done and will continue to do throughout history—he uses his diabolical political/economic/religious systems to seduce the nations and persecute the church, and then he destroys them.
So, why did James Holmes open fire in the movie theater last week? Because there is just a meanness in this world! Human beings are sinners, and as we have just seen, the whole world is under satanic influence. This is why there has been so much bloodshed throughout history and is why we see so much pain and suffering in our world today.

All of this shows us our great need for a Savior. As sinners, we are all capable of doing horrendous things and we are susceptible to the evil influences around us. This is why Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. He did it to free us from the curse of sin. He did it to offer us forgiveness and freedom from this evil world! He did it to triumph over the devil!

For those of you who put their faith in Jesus Christ, your future is secure! When you pass away from this life, you will experience ultimate peace and joy in a place where there is no more massacre or murder, and once and for all, you will escape the meanness in this world!