Coronavirus: End Times Sign?

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Luke 17:26-30 King James Version (KJV)
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

With the plague of locusts swarming Africa and the Middle East (is the power to sting like a scorpion from the locusts next?), men marrying men and women marrying women (and other sexually deviant behavior, i.e. pornography, adultery, pedophilia, sex outside of marriage; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; Mark 7:21; Romans 1:24-26, 27; Matthew 15:19) have become not only common behaviors, but largely socially accepted and even encouraged behaviors, wars and natural phenomenon have become more frequent and more intense, Islam has been increasing in influence and preparing for a move against Jerusalem (Daniel 12:1), and then in Matthew, Chapter 24, we see Jesus Christ explain the following:

3Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”4And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many₁. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars₂. See that you are not troubled; for [a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines₃, [b]pestilences₄, and earthquakes in various places₅. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake₆. 10And then many will be offended₇, will betray one another₈, and will hate one another₉. 11Then many false prophets₁₀ will rise up and deceive many. 12And because lawlessness₁₁ will abound, the love of many will grow cold₁₂. 13But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14And 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.

1. "deceive many" ... between Islam and progressivism, claiming to be the replacement for salvation through Christ, this is already in play.

2. "wars and rumors of wars" ... Over a century of this in place, but the wars now are different; invasion through immigration and infiltration in the name of asylum.  The enemy is infiltrating as refugees as the other part of the enemy faction are among us, draping themselves in the American Flag when in reality their ideology is foreign to our history, and our Constitution.

3. "famines" ... Today, the world stands on the brink of unprecedented famines. About 30 million people are experiencing alarming hunger, severe levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen. 10 million of them are facing emergency and famine conditions.  www.oxfam.org › hungry-world-plenty-millions-brink-famine

4.  "pestilances" ... AIDS, Swine Flu, SARS, COVID-19 could be only the beginning.

5.  "earthquakes in various places" ... Not necessarily an increase in the number of earthquakes (though, we are indeed seeing that), but that earthquakes may begin to happen in places we are not used to seeing them ... earthquakes are also occurring often in diverse places, but some are blaming the variety of locations of earthquakes in places where you may not expect to see an earthquake on drilling and fracking.

Large earthquakes have risen by over 450% since 1900The average rate of big earthquakes — those larger than magnitude 7 — have been 10 per year since 1979, the study reports. That rate rose to 12.5 per year starting in 1992, and then jumped to 16.7 per year starting in 2010 — a 65 percent increase compared to the rate since 1979. This increase accelerated in the first three months of 2014 to more than double the average since 1979, the researchers report.Incredible increase:

• In the 10 year period 1900/09 our planet averaged 28.9 quakes of Magnitude 6 or larger

• In the following ten year period 1910/19 our planet averaged 32

• 1920/29 averaged 31.7

• 1930/39 averaged 37.8

• 1940/49 averaged 46.6

• 1950/59 averaged 45.1

• 1960/69 averaged 65.5

• 1970/79 averaged 103.1

• 1980/89 averaged 108.5

• 1990/99 averaged 149.2

• 2000/09 averaged 161.1

• the years 2010 to 2014 are so far averaging 161.

6. "and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake" ... Islam and the progressive global left has already proclaimed their hate for those who have faith in Jesus Christ.

7.  "offended" ... the word on the surface would be on target.  Everyone seems to be offended by something as political correctness grips our world.  However, the meaning is deeper than that. This passage indicates that people will stumble and fall away from the message of Jesus Christ, and will no longer trust His message as truth.  That, too, is something running rampant through our society.

8.  "betray one another" ... As persons turn away from Christ, to secure their own safety, they will reveal the names, habitations, or places of concealment of others.  This is a scenario that already exists in places where Islam has come into domination, and one we could see emerging if the progressive left decided to outlaw Faith in Christ, which we can see as possible as they try to criminalize disagreeing with them regarding issues such as homosexuality and transgenderism.

9.  "hate one another" ... in the age of Obama and Trump, we have seen how easily this may happen, especially when it comes to the violent reactions by those on the liberal left to those who dare to support President Donald J. Trump.

10. "false prophets" ... The World English Bible translates the passage as: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves."  Some are better concealed than others.  Some claim to be pastors of Christ, yet preach things such as "chrislam" (a combination of Christianity and Islam), or accept a members of the clergy persons embracing or portraying openly homosexual behavior.

11.  "lawlessness" ... from the point of view of a constitutionalist, this would mean going outside the rule of law. Outside "Natural Law."  In other words, as Isaiah 5:20 explains, right will become wrong, and wrong will become right. According to Christian apologetics, The Greek word anomia is usually translated as “lawless” or “iniquity.” It carries with it the idea of deliberately disobeying a specific standard. In the context of this passage—God’s standard. Often the word “lawless” is used in apposition to “righteousness” or “good deeds” (Matthew 23:28; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 1:9).

12.  "the love of many will grow cold" ... the general condition of the world will be less love, which means an increase in anger, hate, and violence.  Lawlessness tends to encourage such behavior. 

With all of that said, we must ask, "Is the appearance of COVID-19 just another piece of the End Times puzzle?  Are we seeing another sign that our age is coming to an end?  And, if so, could worse pestilences be on the horizon?

I do believe this: COVID-19 was able to spread thanks to globalism, and the consequences of quarantine laws has been, and will be, an increase of governmental control over our lives, and a willingness by the people to accept such authoritarianism in the name of security.  As Thomas Jefferson explained, Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.  I do not believe the Framers of the Constitution wished us to abandon liberty due to natural challenges, but, it seems that is exactly what we are doing.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary