Coronavirus and the End Times
While some Christian prognosticators make too much out of too little—and even secular media like The New York Times are publishing tantalizing articles with headlines like The Apocalypse as an “Unveiling”: What Religion Teaches Us About the End Times—we shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss what the Bible says about the grand finale of the earth as we know it.
Put another way, it’s clear the end of the age is not at hand—but it doesn’t take a prophet to see the signs of the times manifesting before our very eyes. Events from the pages of the Bible we carry to church and read on our digital devices are truly unfolding and the discerning are taking note of the trends to which Scripture pointed.This is the right response. In fact, Jesus expected us to discern the age. Did you know He actually rebuked the Pharisees for not discerning the signs of the times at His first coming over 2,000 years ago? He wants His people to be in tune with Him, and expects us to see the signs of His Second Coming. That means knowing the Word. Matthew 16:1-4 reads:
“Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, ‘When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ And He left them and departed.”Understanding the signs of the times is not an endeavor for a few eschatologists or televangelists. Discerning times is critical to our walk with God. If we don’t discern the times, we won’t respond rightly. We won’t pray rightly. And we might get offended at God and fall away.
We need to be spiritually prepared and educated in the whole counsel of God, including the signs of the end-times. We need to understand God’s plan for the end of the age and come to know aspects of Christ we may have ignored. We need to be aware of the signs so we can pray in agreement with the Lord’s will that His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (see Matt. 6:9-10). What’s more, understanding the signs of the times guards us from deception, inspires us to live holy and urges us to preach the gospel.
In Matthew 24:32, Jesus said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”And, again, Jesus was clear: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with [carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36).
Do You See the Signs?
Some believers may shy away from studying the signs of the times because of poor predictions about the timing of Christ’s return and overblown publicity over a blood moon. Remember Edgar C. Whisenant’s 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988? Or the late Harold Camping’s continual time-stamped predictions that never occurred?These predictions were flawed, in part, because Jesus Himself said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:36-37). Nevertheless, the signs of the times are all around us. In his book Israel in Prophecy, John Walvoord wrote:
“Never before in history have all factors been present for fulfillment of prophecy relating to end-time trends and events. Only in our generation have combined revival of Israel, formation of world church, increasing power of Muslim religion, rise of occult, worldwide spread of atheism as dramatic setting for fulfillment of prophecy. The road to Armageddon is prepared. The advent of globalism and technologies linking communications and cash systems, the growing spiritual apostasy worldwide, with longing for leader who can unite diverse religious and political factions are setting stage for Antichrist one-world government.”
You can see Scripture unfold before your eyes—and signs of the times that correlated to chapter and verse—through what many call “sign events.” Sign events are events Scripture predicts that point to the timing of Christ’s Second Coming. One of the greatest sign events in the history of the world is the rebirth of Israel, which happened in 1948.
Ezekiel 38:8, as well as many other Scriptures, point to this critical event in human history: “After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.”
There are, however, sign events that have yet to take place, such as the abomination of desolation scribed in Revelation 13:14. This is when the Antichrist sets himself up as a god for people to worship. The Antichrist has not yet been revealed, nor has the covenant of peace been inked despite decades of peace talks in the Middle East. Israel’s land has been the focus of a spiritual war for thousands of years. Only the Antichrist will successfully broker a peace treaty in the Middle East.
What Christ Said About the End Times
Sign trends are a little more obscure. They are not as black and white as sign events. Still, Scripture points to sign trends and we’re seeing the rise and rapidity of these trends Christ and others mentioned in the Gospels and Epistles. Jesus had plenty to say about the end-times. In Matthew 24:4-14, He was clear:
“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
But He didn’t’ stop there. In Luke 21:11, He said, “And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.” And in Luke 21:25 He said, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring.”Secular news headlines point to the signs trends. Just Google terms like ethnic conflict, economic warfare, famines, and persecution. Ethnic conflict is real—nation is rising against nation. Economic warfare is raging—kingdom is rising against kingdom. There are real wars, real famines, real earthquakes, real deception, real persecution of believers, real lawlessness, real fearful sights and real disturbances in the sea. And there are real pestilences.
Is Coronavirus a Sign of the Times?
A pestilence is a contagious or infections epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Coronavirus, or COVID-19, would qualify. And this is one of the clear markers of the end-times.Of course coronavirus is not the first health scare of the last two decades—and it will not be the last. We’ve seen H1N1, or the Swine Flu. Then there was H5N1, the Bird Flu. Remember Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS? Fewer remember Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) but the medical world called it major threat. Then there was Ebola and, going further back, HIV. During this century we’ve seen the Russian Flu, the Hong Kong Flu, the Spanish Flu. And plagues are nothing new to the 20th and 21st centuries. There were great plagues in the 19th century and even earlier.
In fact, pestilences go back to the book of Exodus. Pestilence appears in The New King James Version of the Bible 44 times. All but two mentions of pestilence take place in the Old Testament. In other words, God isn’t sending pestilence as judgment in the New Testament and we won’t see Him use pestilence as a judgment until the enter the times of the Book of Revelation—but plagues are listed as a sign of the times. The Hebrew word for pestilence is a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.Coronavirus is a pestilence and it is a sign of the times. The world is in crisis. But this wasn’t the first virus and it won’t be the last. This is not the first sign of the times and it won’t be the last. Pestilences will rise with more rapidity and are a marker of the end-times before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, He said in Matthew 24:7 said: “And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.”As we walk in the word and pray, God will deliver us from pestilence. Psalm 91:3 heralds: “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.” And Psalm 91:5-6 tells us: “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.” Prayer can cause the pestilence to come to a halt before it crosses your threshold. Praying in tongues is part of your spiritual arsenal in times of crisis.
Jennifer LeClaire
