Pandemic Thoughts – March 20, 2020

Like you, I’ve been a little obsessed with the news these last few weeks.  And, also like you, perhaps, I find myself a little fearful (nervous) for my older loved ones, not to mention the stock and job market!  I am also a little skeptical that we are treating this event SOOOO much bigger than anything in my lifetime; and a little curious if there isn’t some eschatological ramification here that we may be missing.  As I interact with other believers online and personally, I gather we all have some mix of fear, skepticism, and end-times curiosity.  

I think we’ll deal with the fear/worry component on Sunday.  The skepticism component is a luxury of a democracy, but at the end of the day we are responsible to obey God by submitting to the governing authorities; if they are playing political games they will answer to God.  So what about a sign of His coming?

This pandemic brings together two threads for prophecy watchers:  

#1) In Matthew 24 Jesus predicts the times getting worse and worse; both in terms of persecution and natural disasters.  Paul in Romans 8:22 calls them birth pains, and this Novel Coronavirus appears to be a massive contraction. But in Matthew 24 it peaks with the Abomination of Desolation – which, from Daniel, we know will occur in the middle of the Tribulation (and I take the position that the Church will be raptured before at least 3.5 years before that event).  So thought #1 – the contractions seem to be getting bigger and therefore the rapture is getting closer!

#2) In Revelation we see that the world is under one government.  As the nations appear to be uniting to fight this virus and especially as there has been talk about how cash could be a means of transmission…  many prophecy watchers see the ground being laid for the Antichrist, his government, and his mark. Thought #2 – the Antichrist is an adult when the Great Tribulation starts and technology is in place; the Rapture could be the event that launches him to power…. It’s getting closer.  🙂

Even as the end gets nearer, let’s remember that the Biblical injunction is to look for our “blessed hope!”  Let’s keep our eyes and our thoughts on Jesus….  Who is always near to us!

Pastor Scott