The daily news feeds scream COVID-19 crisis and it’s biting hard. People are worried about getting the disease, losing their job, getting a job, paying bills, seeing loved ones across borders, their mental, physical and financial health.
Self-isolation has prompted us to think about life and its real values, frugal living, the superficial things of life, the foolishness of debt and credit cards etc. Self-isolation has led many to prayer and spirituality. It forced some people to quit the gambling venues, the brothels, the night clubs, the race track. These sort of things have always distracted from God and His message in the Bible. Self-isolation is the perfect environment to reflect on life’s values and meaning. Maybe we really are at the end game of the end times before Jesus returns. Such a thought may lead vast numbers of people to get ready for that unstoppable event through self-isolation. There is much online Christian messaging that’s fast and easy to find.
There’s a democracy about death. It comes equally to us all and makes us all equal when it comes. For those who don’t know God, one day the music will stop and it’ll all be over. We should invest in our lives, not just spend our lives. We’re given the exact same seconds, minutes and hours in each day as anyone else. The difference is how we redeem them. We can’t count our days but we can make our days count. A good life and a good time are not the same.
Below, we offer some bitter-sweet insights from two trusted sources. Trusted, because the forecasts are highly accurate. Bitter, because the catastrophes foretold are occurring right now. Sweet, because they announce the soon return of Jesus Christ. We grieve with the bitter and take comfort in the sweet.
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19 has been called a once in a century pathogen. It’s highly infectious and spreads very rapidly. The virus is mutating and becoming more contagious. It continues to cause massive health and economic damage. Anyone can be infected.
There is some sanity amongst the madness in knowing that Jesus pinpointed specific signs that typify world conditions before His return to earth.
He said there would be… “pestilences in different places” (Luke 21:11). The Greek word ‘pestilence’ means "plague, infectious disease". He said end time signs are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8). The language can’t be clearer. As birth contractions become more frequent and more intense prior to birth, so would end time signs become more frequent and more intense prior to the return of Jesus. Yes, we’ve always had pestilences, wars and earthquakes, but the key takeaway is that things would massively scale up and become exponentially more frequent. A war fought with bows and arrows is very different in scale to a war fought with hypersonic guided missiles.
IN THE AIR
COVID-19 travels through aerosol transmission. It can be carried in the humidity of expelled breath, float through the air and easily infect others when breathed in.
Air pollution also makes COVID-19 more lethal. Harvard study here. It found that the tiny pollutant particles (known as PM2.5) when breathed over many years, sharply raises the chance of dying from the virus. National Geographic report here.
In 1888 an American Christian author described the time before the return of Jesus this way: "In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous." (Ellen G White, The Great Controversy p.590).
MEGA FIRES
A "conflagration" is a large disastrous fire that burns a large area and destroys property. (Mirriam Webster Dictionary). A “conflagration” is a large destructive fire. (Collins Dictionary).
Climate change generates extreme weather patterns, producing prolonged drought, setting the stage for mega fires such as were seen in California and Australia in 2019 and again in California in 2020. Mega fires are a new phenomenon and create their own weather.
In 1888 an American Christian author described the time before the return of Jesus this way: "In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous." (Ellen G White The Great Controversy p.590)
Photo taken by Associated Press photographer Noah Berger.
JESUS SAID
Jesus described world conditions before His return, saying: “People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory”. (Luke 21:26-27)
The unique expression men's hearts failing them (Φίβου καὶ προσδοκίας) means the highest terror. The word ‘failing’ means to "die". In Luke 21:26 it literally means the approaching calamities before Jesus’ return would be so great that people would faint and even be ready to die. The exponential increase in calamities is caused by man’s continuing rebellion against God, and nature protests under the ever increasing strain.
Some of us need a severe jolt to bust our indifference, unbelief and complacency, although no one comes to salvation by scare-mongering. We are drawn to God when we understand His true character and because of His great love - not by hedging our bets to escape catastrophes. Jesus plainly warned there would be increasing world mayhem in scale and frequency before His return and offers this solid assurance: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”.