This Is the Dawning of the Age of Perplexity

 

There is something almost ironic about that old song, “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” from the musical Hair. The music was written by Galt MacDermot, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, and the famous recording by The 5th Dimension was released in 1969. The song looked toward an imagined coming age of harmony and understanding, as though Mankind were moving into a brighter and more enlightened future. But if that song were rewritten for the world in which we are living today, I think its opening would have to say something very different: “Harmony and understanding have been thrown under the bus for ignorance and hatred.” That may sound humorous, but there is something very serious underneath it. The peaceful age that Mankind imagined it could create for itself has not arrived. Instead, we are watching a world that is increasingly divided, anxious, angry, uncertain, and perplexed about where everything is going.

The strange thing is that this is happening at a time when Mankind has more information than any generation before it. We can learn what is happening on the other side of the world almost as quickly as we can learn what is happening in our own neighborhood. Satellites observe the earth from above, computers process enormous amounts of information, communication systems connect billions of people, scientific instruments allow us to examine things that earlier generations could not even imagine seeing, and artificial intelligence can now create and alter written words, pictures, audio, and video with astonishing speed. We have more information available to us than we could possibly absorb in a lifetime. Yet information has not automatically produced wisdom. In fact, one of the great problems of our time is that people are surrounded by information and still cannot agree about what is true.

That problem is not imaginary. The World Economic Forum's 2026 Global Risks Report identifies geoeconomic confrontation as the leading risk for 2026, with interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization, and misinformation and disinformation also ranking among the major concerns. The report specifically notes that distinguishing authentic information from manipulated or synthetic material is becoming increasingly difficult, especially online. It also describes the way misinformation, polarization, distrust, and technological change can reinforce one another. In other words, the problem is not simply that people have access to bad information. The deeper problem is that people are having increasing difficulty determining what information they can trust.

At the same time, the world is experiencing real suffering that cannot be dismissed as something happening only on a computer screen. The United Nations reports that more than one-quarter of Mankind lives in areas affected by conflict and that more than 200 million people need humanitarian assistance. The United Nations also reports that nearly 120 million people have been forcibly displaced by war, crisis, disaster, or persecution. Conflicts and humanitarian emergencies continue in places including Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti, Myanmar, and other parts of the world. These are not simply subjects for political arguments. Behind every statistic are human beings with families, homes, children, jobs, hopes, fears, and lives that have been turned upside down.

UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, gives us another way to understand the scale of the problem. At the end of 2025, 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced because of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. That number actually decreased from the previous year, which is important because we should not exaggerate the situation by pretending every measurement is moving in the same direction. Even with that decrease, however, the number remains enormous, and UNHCR reports that more than one in every seventy people on earth has been forced to flee. The suffering is real even when individual statistics rise and fall from year to year.

Economic conditions add another layer to the uncertainty. We should not make the foolish claim that the entire world economy has collapsed, because it has not. The International Monetary Fund's July 2026 outlook projects global growth of about 3% for 2026 and 3.4 percent for 2027. At the same time, the IMF says that growth remains uneven, that the war shock is weighing on energy importers and vulnerable economies, that global disinflation has stalled, and that renewed conflict and financial-market repricing remain downside risks. So the truth is more complicated than either extreme. The world economy is functioning, but it is doing so in an environment of war, technological change, trade tensions, energy concerns, and uncertainty.

Then there is the rapid development of artificial intelligence and other technologies. Technology itself is not evil. A tool is not morally good or evil simply because it exists. The moral question is what human beings do with it. A hammer can build a house or break a window. A printing press can spread the Word of God or spread lies. A computer can help a person study Scripture or can become a doorway into corruption. Artificial intelligence can be used for useful work and discovery, but it can also make deception easier because false material can be produced and distributed at a speed that makes careful examination more difficult. The World Economic Forum's current risk assessment specifically notes the growing difficulty of distinguishing authentic material from synthetic content and identifies adverse outcomes from artificial intelligence as a risk whose importance rises sharply over the longer term.

This brings us to the real problem. The deepest problem is not technology. It is the human heart using technology.

The Bible has never taught that Mankind's greatest problem is a lack of intelligence. Scripture shows us again and again that people can be intelligent and still be foolish. A person can know many facts and still make terrible decisions. A person can possess great education and still refuse truth. A person can understand how something works while having no idea how that knowledge should be used righteously. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing.

Proverbs gives us the foundation for understanding that difference. It says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” Proverbs 9:10. The Hebrew words are important here. The word translated “fear” is yir'ah, יִרְאָה, which carries the idea of reverence, awe, and a proper recognition of who God is. The word for wisdom is chokmah, חָכְמָה, and the word for knowledge is da'at, דַּעַת. The verse also uses binah, בִּינָה, for understanding. These words show us that biblical wisdom is not simply collecting information. Wisdom begins with rightly recognizing God, knowing Him, and allowing that knowledge to shape the way we understand everything else.

That is extremely important in our present age because Mankind has become extraordinarily capable of discovering how creation works. We can examine distant galaxies, study microscopic structures, investigate genetics, observe the behavior of matter, map biological systems, and uncover laws and patterns that reveal remarkable order throughout the natural world. None of this makes God smaller. If anything, the more we discover about creation, the more reason we have to stand in awe of the Creator. Discovering how something works does not prove that nobody made it. Understanding a system does not make the system self-created.

The trouble begins when mankind confuses understanding creation with replacing the Creator. Human beings can discover the laws God built into creation, but discovering those laws does not make us their author. We can learn what we are capable of doing, but capability does not tell us what we ought to do. Science can help us understand what happens when we perform an action, but science alone cannot determine whether the action is morally righteous. That is where wisdom is needed, and biblical wisdom begins with God.

Paul described another part of this problem when he wrote about the conditions that would characterize the “last days.” He told Timothy that people would become lovers of themselves and lovers of money, proud, boastful, abusive, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2 Timothy 3:1-4. The Greek language makes the first part especially striking. Paul uses philautoi, φίλαυτοι, meaning “lovers of self,” and philargyroi, φιλάργυροι, meaning “lovers of money.” The problem begins with what people love. The center of their lives has shifted toward self, possessions, pleasure, and personal desire instead of God.

That helps explain why an increase in knowledge does not necessarily produce an increase in wisdom. A person can use information to search for truth, but another person can use the same information only to find evidence supporting what he already believes. A person can examine evidence honestly, or he can reject anything that challenges his position. A person can hear an accusation and investigate whether it is true, or he can immediately repeat it because it makes his enemies look bad. Once self becomes the center, even knowledge can be bent to serve self.

This is one reason our present age can feel so confusing. People are not merely disagreeing about what should be done. They are often disagreeing about what is actually real. They are surrounded by competing explanations, competing authorities, manipulated images, edited videos, emotional arguments, political claims, and information designed to make them react before they have time to think. The World Economic Forum's research confirms that distinguishing truth from falsehood online is becoming more difficult and that misinformation and polarization are deeply connected.

So what does God tell us to do when we lack wisdom? James gives us a remarkably simple answer: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,” James 1:5. The Greek word for wisdom is sophia, σοφία. James says God gives it haplōs, ἁπλῶς, generously or freely, without reproach. That matters because God does not require us to know everything before we come to Him. He knows we have limited understanding. He knows we will encounter things we cannot explain. He knows we will sometimes be uncertain about what we are seeing. His answer is not that we must somehow become omniscient. His answer is that we should ask Him for wisdom.

And that brings us directly to the words of Jesus.

When Jesus taught His disciples about the period leading toward His return, He warned them about deception, wars and rumors of wars, nations and kingdoms fighting one another, famines, earthquakes, persecution, false prophets, increasing wickedness, and the cooling of love, Matthew 24:4-12. He did not tell them that every war would automatically identify a specific prophecy or that they would be able to calculate the date of His return from the headlines. In fact, His first warning was about deception. The first thing He told them was to be careful that no one deceived them, Matthew 24:4.

That warning should make us very careful about how we approach current events. We should not take every earthquake, war, political crisis, economic problem, or technological development and announce that we know exactly which prophecy it fulfills. There have always been wars, famines, earthquakes, political upheavals, false teachers, and wickedness. Scripture does not give us permission to turn every headline into a prophetic prediction. At the same time, we should not become so afraid of making an interpretive mistake that we ignore what Jesus actually told us to watch for. There is a middle ground between dismissing prophecy and sensationalizing it, and that middle ground is wisdom.

Luke records another statement from Jesus that gives our teaching its title. He said that there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and that upon the earth there would be anguish among the nations and perplexity, Luke 21:25. The Greek word translated “perplexity” is aporia, ἀπορία. It describes a condition of being at a loss, being unable to see a clear way forward, or being in a state of perplexity. The word is related to the idea of having no workable path through a difficult situation. Luke's wording is therefore stronger than simply saying that people will be curious or concerned. It describes people confronted by circumstances they cannot easily understand or resolve.

That word gives us a remarkable picture of the world around us. People have more information than ever, yet many do not know what to believe. Nations possess tremendous military and technological power, yet they cannot create lasting peace. Economies are connected across the globe, yet events in one region can send uncertainty through markets and households thousands of miles away. People can communicate instantly with someone on another continent, yet they can become violently divided from the person standing next to them. Mankind has learned how to connect the world electronically without learning how to heal the human heart.

This is where the opening of our teaching becomes more than a clever reference to an old song. Mankind once dreamed that enlightenment would bring harmony and understanding. Yet we are discovering that information alone does not produce harmony. Communication alone does not produce understanding. Education alone does not produce righteousness. Technology alone does not produce wisdom. Mankind can increase its knowledge while still carrying the same ancient problems of pride, greed, hatred, lust, dishonesty, violence, and the hunger for power.

Jesus also said something in Matthew 24 that we must not overlook. After speaking about wars and rumors of wars, He said, “See to it that you are not alarmed,” Matthew 24:6. That does not mean His followers would live in a world without frightening events. It means frightening events were not supposed to control them. Awareness is not the same thing as fear. A Christian can know what is happening without allowing every event to take possession of his mind.

That is a very important distinction in an age when information never seems to stop. We can read about a war and pray for the people suffering without spending the entire day in terror. We can recognize deception without becoming suspicious of everyone. We can study prophecy without becoming obsessed with trying to identify every political leader as a prophetic figure. We can recognize evil without allowing evil to reshape our own character. We can care about the condition of the world while remembering that the condition of our own heart also matters to God.

Jesus warned that because wickedness would increase, the love of many would grow cold, Matthew 24:12. That warning reaches directly into the life of every believer. It is possible to look at a wicked world for so long that we become angry like the world. It is possible to see so much dishonesty that we become cynical about everyone. It is possible to see so much hatred that we begin to hate the people we believe are responsible for it. But Jesus did not tell us to allow the wickedness around us to reproduce itself inside us.

This is why James's description of heavenly wisdom is so important. He says that “the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere,” James 3:17. The Greek text gives us several beautiful words to examine. The word for wisdom is again sophia, σοφία. Pure is hagnē, ἁγνή. Peaceable is eirēnikē, εἰρηνική. Gentle is epieikēs, ἐπιεικής, carrying the idea of being fair, reasonable, mild, or forbearing. Accommodating or willing to yield is eupeithēs, εὐπειθής. Mercy is eleos, ἔλεος, and sincere is anypokritos, ἀνυπόκριτος, meaning without hypocrisy or pretense. Biblical wisdom therefore produces a character that looks very different from the angry, proud, vindictive spirit that is so common in a divided world.

That gives us a way to examine ourselves. If what we call wisdom continually makes us proud, hateful, cruel, suspicious, and unwilling to listen, we need to ask whether it is really God's wisdom. Knowing more facts does not automatically mean we are wiser. Winning an argument does not automatically mean we have spoken wisely. Knowing prophecy does not automatically mean we understand God. The wisdom that comes from above should produce a life that reflects the character of the God who gives it.

This is particularly important when studying biblical prophecy. Prophecy is not given to turn us into people who are fascinated with identifying villains while neglecting our own walk with God. A person can spend years trying to identify the Antichrist while giving very little attention to becoming more like Christ. Someone can become consumed with the mark of the beast while forgetting the command to love his neighbor. Another person can watch every movement of every government while neglecting prayer, Scripture, mercy, holiness, and obedience.

That is not what Jesus intended.

The signs should turn our attention toward Him.

When we see deception increasing, we should become more committed to truth. When we see hatred increasing, we should become more committed to love. When we see fear spreading, we should become more deeply rooted in faith. When we see people becoming confused, we should seek God's wisdom. When we see lawlessness increasing, we should become more serious about righteousness. When we see selfishness everywhere, we should remember that our lives belong to God.

This is what it means to understand the times. It is not merely asking, “What does this event prove?” It is asking, “Lord, what do You want me to understand, and how do You want me to live because I have seen it?”

That question changes everything.

It also protects us from becoming consumed by the world. Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, Matthew 6:33. Paul told believers to set their minds on things above, Colossians 3:1-2. Those commands do not tell us to become ignorant of earthly events. They tell us where our priorities belong. We can know what is happening without allowing the world to become our master. We can read the news without worshiping the news. We can understand politics without making politics our religion. We can understand economics without making money our security. We can understand technology without allowing technology to become our god.

We should be paying attention to what is happening in the world, but we should be paying even closer attention to God.

This is where Daniel becomes especially interesting. Daniel was told, “Many will go here and there to increase knowledge,” Daniel 12:4. We need to be careful with this verse because it has sometimes been treated as though Daniel were making a direct prediction about modern automobiles, airplanes, computers, or the internet. The text does not give us permission to be that specific. The Hebrew wording can be understood in more than one way, and the larger context concerns the revelation and understanding of Daniel's prophecy at the time of the end. What we can say safely is that Daniel connects the time of the end with increased knowledge or increased understanding, while the passage itself directs our attention toward God's prophetic revelation rather than toward modern technology as an end in itself.

That distinction matters because God wants us to use wisdom rather than forcing Scripture to say what we want it to say. We should never need to exaggerate the Bible to make it relevant. The Bible is already relevant. We do not have to make Daniel 12:4 into a prophecy about smartphones in order to appreciate its message. We can simply observe that we live in a time when knowledge has exploded, while mankind’s need for wisdom remains exactly what it has always been.

And that brings us back to the problem we began with. Mankind has information everywhere, but where is the wisdom? We have communication everywhere, but where is understanding? We have technology everywhere, but where is self-control? We have political arguments everywhere, but where is love? We have enormous scientific knowledge, but where is the humility to recognize the Creator?

The answer is not found in mankind becoming clever enough to save itself. The answer is found in God.

That is why the Christian's hope is fundamentally different from the world's hope. Mankind has repeatedly tried to build a better world through political systems, education, economic programs, philosophy, technology, diplomacy, and human cooperation. Some of these things can accomplish genuine good, and Christians should not deny that. But none of them can cure the root problem of sin because sin is not merely a problem of government or economics. Sin reaches into the human heart.

Jesus did not come merely to give Mankind a better political system. He came to save sinners.

He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” John 14:6. The Greek words are powerful. Way is hodos, ὁδός. Truth is alētheia, ἀλήθεια. Life is zōē, ζωή. Jesus did not merely say that He knew the way, taught truth, and possessed life. He identified Himself with all three. In a world that cannot agree about which direction to take, He is the Way. In a world where truth is increasingly buried beneath competing claims and manipulated information, He is the Truth. In a world filled with death, fear, and uncertainty, He is the Life.

That is why our confidence does not depend upon understanding every event.

Isaiah records God's declaration that He is God and that He makes known the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46:9-10. Mankind stand inside history. We see only the part of the picture that is in front of us. God sees the whole of history. We do not know what tomorrow will bring, but our lack of knowledge does not mean that God lacks knowledge. We do not understand every event, but God is not confused by the events that confuse us. That should humble us, but it should also give us peace.

Psalm 46 gives us a picture of nations raging and kingdoms being shaken, Psalm 46:1-6. In the middle of that turmoil comes God's command: “Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10. The Hebrew words are harpu, הַרְפּוּ, “be still” or “let go,” and u'de'u, וּדְעוּ, “and know.” The verse is not telling God's people to become ignorant of what is happening. It is telling them to stop striving as though everything depended upon their own strength and to recognize that God is God.

That is something we desperately need in an age of constant information. We were never designed to carry the weight of the entire world in our minds. We can care about suffering without believing that we personally have to solve every crisis. We can pray for people in war without believing that our ability to follow every military development will give us control over the outcome. We can care about economic conditions without making money our security. We can recognize the dangers of technology without assuming that technology itself is the enemy.

God did not ask us to be the savior of the world. He already sent the Savior. That is why our attention must return again and again to God. We have become so accustomed to watching what mankind is doing that we can forget to watch what God is doing. While governments make decisions, God is still calling people to repentance. While nations fight, God is still saving sinners. While misinformation spreads, God is still speaking truth through His Word. While people are frightened about the future, God is still giving wisdom to those who ask Him. While mankind makes plans, God is still accomplishing His purposes.

None of the chaos in the world has made God less God.

None of the wars have made Him less sovereign.

None of the deception has made His Word less true.

None of the confusion has made Him confused.

None of the failures of human wisdom have diminished His wisdom.

That is why this teaching cannot end in fear. It must end in praise.

We do not praise God for war, suffering, hatred, deception, or injustice. We praise Him because those things have not dethroned Him. We praise Him because His character has not changed. We praise Him because His Word remains true. We praise Him because He has given us wisdom when we ask. We praise Him because He has sent His Son. We praise Him because salvation is still being offered. We praise Him because Jesus Christ is still Lord.

This is why I can look at the world with eyes wide open and still have hope. I can see the wars without believing that God has abandoned Mankind. I can see hatred without surrendering my own heart to hatred. I can see deception without becoming cynical about everything. I can see confusion without giving up the search for truth. I can see the conditions Jesus warned about without pretending that I know more than He revealed.

Jesus did not tell His followers that they would understand every detail of the future. He told them to watch, remain faithful, and lift up their heads when these things begin to happen because their redemption is drawing near, Luke 21:28. The Greek word translated “lift up” is anakuptō, ἀνακύπτω, meaning to raise oneself up or lift up the head. The picture is not of God's people collapsing under fear. It is of people who recognize that their Redeemer is coming and they, therefore, refuse to live as though darkness has won. The same passage that speaks of nations in aporia, perplexity, describes them as being without a clear way forward, and yet it ends by directing the believer's attention toward redemption. That is the perspective we need in this age.

The world may be perplexed, but God's people do not have to live as though God is perplexed. We may not understand every event, but we can understand enough to know where our confidence belongs. We may not know exactly when Christ will return, but we know that He will return. We may not know what tomorrow will bring, but we know who holds tomorrow. We may not know how every conflict will end, but we know that evil will not have the final word.

Mankind dreamed of an age of harmony and understanding, but Mankind cannot create the righteousness it refuses to receive from God. We have accumulated knowledge, yet we still need wisdom. We have developed extraordinary power, yet we still need self-control. We have connected the world, yet we still need love. We have multiplied information, yet we still need truth. We can see almost everything happening on earth, yet the greatest truth remains the one Mankind has tried to avoid from the beginning: we need God.

Perhaps that is the great irony of our age. We have spent generations trying to become wise enough to live without God, while the more knowledge we gain, the more clearly we can see how much wisdom we still lack. We can study the universe and still fail to worship its Creator. We can understand the chemistry of life and still refuse to acknowledge the Giver of life. We can communicate with people on the other side of the planet while failing to love the person standing beside us. We can create machines capable of producing information in seconds while still struggling with the ancient human problem of knowing what is true.

God has not changed His answer.

He still says to seek Him.

He still gives wisdom to those who ask.

He still calls us to know His Word.

He still commands us to love.

He still tells us to test what we hear.

He still calls us to holiness.

He still tells us to remain faithful.

And He still points us toward Jesus Christ.

So perhaps the old song was looking in the wrong direction all along. Mankind imagined that enlightenment would finally bring the world into harmony, but true wisdom does not begin with mankind discovering itself. It begins with mankind discovering God. The answer to an age overflowing with information is not simply more information. The answer is wisdom from above. The answer to an age filled with hatred is not more hatred directed at the people we blame. The answer is the love of God working in people who refuse to let hatred take possession of their hearts. The answer to an age of deception is not suspicion of everything. The answer is truth. And the answer to an age of perplexity is not panic. It is God.

Therefore, we need to pay attention to what is happening in the world, yes. But moreso, we need to pay even closer attention to what God has said. We need to examine what we hear instead of swallowing every report that comes across our screens. We need to study prophecy carefully without forcing our assumptions into Scripture. We need to recognize suffering and have compassion for the people experiencing it. We need to refuse to allow hatred to harden us. We need to ask God for wisdom when we do not know what to think or what to do. We need to remember that understanding the times is not an excuse to become arrogant. It is a reason to become more humble, more watchful, more faithful, and more dependent upon God.

If this really is the dawning of an age of perplexity, then I thank God that He has not left His people without wisdom for the journey. He has given us His Word. He has given us His Spirit. He has given us the promise of His presence. He has given us His Son. He has given us wisdom when we ask. He has given us a hope that does not depend upon the stability of nations, the strength of economies, the accuracy of human predictions, or the condition of the world.

The world may not know what tomorrow holds, but God's people do not have to fear tomorrow because we belong to the One who holds it. We do not have to understand everything in order to trust Him. We do not have to know everything that is coming in order to remain faithful to the One who already knows. We do not have to save the world because God has already provided the Savior.

And that is why I praise God for wisdom.

In an age overflowing with information but starving for understanding, God remains the source of true wisdom. In an age where truth can be buried beneath noise, His Word remains true. In an age where people are searching for peace while surrounded by conflict, He remains our source of peace. In an age where Mankind is increasingly perplexed about where it is going, God knows exactly where history is going, and His purposes will stand.

So I will watch, but I will not panic. I will study, but I will not speculate beyond what Scripture reveals. I will examine what I hear, but I will not believe every voice simply because it is loud. I will recognize darkness, but I will keep looking toward the Light. I will care about what is happening in the world, but I will not allow the world to take God's place in my mind. I will seek wisdom because God gives it, and I will keep my eyes upon Jesus Christ because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, John 14:6.

The world may indeed be entering an age of perplexity. But God's people have something the world cannot manufacture.

We have the wisdom of God.

And while the world is trying desperately to figure out where everything is going, we know the One who is already there.

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Prayer

Holy Father, we worship You because You are the one true God, holy, righteous, wise, and faithful. You are not confused by the confusion of this world, nor are You shaken by anything that happens among the nations. Your Word declares, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,” James 1:5. Father, we ask You now for that wisdom. Give us discernment to recognize truth, courage to reject deception, and understanding to see what is happening around us without becoming fearful or distracted. Give us chokmah, Your wisdom that teaches us how to live rightly before You.

Guard our hearts in these troubled days so that the hatred around us does not become hatred within us, and so that the lawlessness we see does not cause our love to grow cold. Keep our eyes upon Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, John 14:6. Help us to watch faithfully, pray continually, love sincerely, and stand firmly upon Your Word. When the world is perplexed, remind us that You are not. We do not need to understand everything because You do, and we praise You because Your purposes will stand, Isaiah 46:9-10. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Don't take my word for it. Like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. Open your Bible, study God's Word for yourself, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. Don't simply accept my conclusions. If what I've written agrees with Scripture, hold fast to it. If it doesn't, let God's Word be your final authority.

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© AMKCH 2026

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If any of these people looks like you or someone you know, that is purely coincidental. They are not.

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