It had to happen in some generation or another. In the case of other persecutors of God's people, they are even now imprisoned in the place of punishment. They did not escape. The Great Tribulation, Millennial Kingdom and Final Judgment are the wrap-up of history--they are all included in the ancient teaching about the Day of the Lord.
Interestingly, from the world of genetics, it seems clear that sand has always been draining out in Creation's hourglass, since the Fall. Consider God's pronouncement of judgment of Adam and Eve (and thus, to all of us mortals under the curse of death). The Hebrew of that judgment actually reads, "Dying you will die." All world-class geneticists understand that mutations are building up in the human genome (in fact, the genomes of everything that is alive). And the problem is accelerating because of the very toxic world in which we live. From studying other extinct species, it has been estimated that a 3% mutational rate will set a species on a path to extinction and it is estimated that the human genome is not far below that figure.
Over half of all plant species which ever lived, are now extinct. Animals have fared slightly better at only about 40%. Some geneticists hope that gene editing will save the day but there are others who know that the promise of gene editing is falling flat. Plant geneticist, Dr. John Sanford, interviewed a number of population geneticists and tells why gene editing will be a dead end in his book, Genetic Entropy. He says that they all know about the problem of genetic entropy but would rather not talk about it. When asked recently about the point at which the human race will head into extinction, Sanford said, "Well, let's put it this way, I wouldn't make any plans beyond the end of the century."
Sanford is an interesting scientist. He is independently wealthy from his invention of the "gene gun" and is thus free to discuss any topic he feels like discussing--without fear of repercussions to any research funding, etc. He began his studies as an atheist and then as he got further into his studies, he made the determination for himself that the incredibly complex design of life absolutely implied a Designer. He then became a deist. Eventually, he became a Christian.