We live in most unusual times, with whole countries being on lockdown because of an Invisible Enemy named COVID-19 or the coronavirus. People are being told to stay at home and not to go out unless absolutely necessary. Large gatherings are forbidden, including gatherings for worship. The whole entertainment industry has been shut down, including Hollywood, movie theaters and sporting events. Whole sectors of the economy have been reduced to a trickle, including the cruise line and airline industries. Unemployment numbers have skyrocketed with people being unable to work. Many people are filled with anxiety and fear, not knowing what is going to happen next.
You might well wonder, “What is going on?” God’s Word gives us instruction for navigating these difficult days. The Bible does not have to be readjusted several times like the models that were being used to predict the amount of deaths from COVID-19! God tells us exactly who He is and gives us every reason to trust Him. He tells us about Himself in these words: “I am God, and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-109Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9‑10)).
Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus told His disciples what signs to look for that would signal the beginning of the last days before His return to reign on this earth. He who knows “the end from the beginning” told us exactly what to expect. Jesus said, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers [different] places. All these things are the beginnings of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-86And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6‑8)). These days lie just ahead following close on the heels of the return of the Lord Jesus for His own.
Current Warnings
Meanwhile God is showing people how misplaced their confidence is in thinking that they can make a better and better world by clever effort and hard work. Many who claimed that there is no God thought that they could create utopia on earth, such as Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro and others. But since World War II, there has been one major war after another. The Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, conflict in Libya, attacks by ISIS, war in Syria ... and the list goes on and on. This does not even consider Israel’s wars, genocide in Rwanda and countless other African wars. As recently as 2016, North Korea was threatening to start a nuclear war that had many world powers on edge.
What about famines? Just since the year 1998, Wikipedia lists eight major famines, some of which are still going on now in Yemen and South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. On top of that, there is a plague of locusts in the billions that are swarming through East Africa and the Middle East, even reaching into India and crossing into China. It is no exaggeration to say that these locusts are a plague of Biblical proportions. These swarms literally fill the sky and can cover an area as large as a small city! They are both an awesome and a frightening sight to see.
These locusts bred by the millions because of very unusual circumstances. Off the coasts of Yemen and Oman there is a desert region which never gets rain —except for last year! First to come were torrential rainfalls. Then two cyclones tore through the area, dumping a colossal amount of rain. The African countries that are facing food shortages now are especially threatened, such as South Sudan, Kenya and Somalia. There were estimates of up to 18 to 20 million people facing food shortages before the locust plague — this will only make it worse. Even a small swarm of locusts can devour enough crops to feed 35,000 people a day!
The news of the locusts first came out in February, but it was quickly overshadowed by COVID-19. But by mid-April, there was news of a second, deadlier wave of “young adult” locusts that were more voracious than the first. Worse than that, some of the swarms were up to 20 times larger! Many African farmers say that they are facing a danger far worse than the coronavirus. This type of devastation has not been seen for the past 70 years, and yet the world’s attention seems to be entirely focused on the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Bible mentions “pestilences.” This word can also mean plague, disease, epidemic or virus. Think about it. First there was HIV/AIDS (1981-present), which still kills thousands in Africa. Then there were SARS (2002-2003), Swine Flu (2009-2010), MERS (2012-present), Ebola (2014-2016), and now COVID-19 (2019-present). This doesn’t even include the 60,000-80,000 Americans that die of the flu each year. Each time an epidemic starts to circle the globe, people seem to react with more fear and panic than before.
What about earthquakes? They’ve just about become commonplace by now, unless they’re really big and destructive. Forty-eight significant earthquakes of 3.6 to 7.7 have taken place all over the globe during 2020 alone, as of this writing. Twenty of them have taken place in the U.S., including eight in Puerto Rico. Yet they’re barely mentioned in the news because of the coronavirus.
Lost in the rearview mirror of most people’s minds are the forest fires that tore through much of Australia in 2019-2020. They got so out of control that it seemed like all of Australia would burn down. It took a heavy rainfall in mid-January and a torrential downpour in mid-February to finally quench the fires that had been raging for months. It is estimated that more than a billion animals perished, along with nearly 3,000 homes, not to mention huge tracts of farmland and agriculture.
More to Come
But the current events are just warnings. There will be even more intense events immediately following the Lord Jesus’ return to take His bride home to be with Him. But even with these more intense disasters, Jesus tells us that when those things happen, “the end is not yet,” and “all these things are the beginnings of sorrows.” Like birth pangs, natural disasters and world upheavals will increase to the point that people will be totally overwhelmed and will be completely unable to cope with or overcome God’s judgment. That means that things in this world will get worse and worse, to the point that Jesus said, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21-2221For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21‑22)). God gives us much more detail in the Book of Revelation as to just how much people will suffer and how they will react to God’s judgment upon them. What is happening today is just a small foreshadowing of what’s coming to this world.
What Should We Learn?
What are we to make of all of this? The “shelter at home” mandate has brought many people’s busy lives to an abrupt halt. In love and in mercy, God is giving us the unique opportunity to pause from our sports, business and pleasure to consider our destiny, our eternal well-being. Will you be in heaven or hell when you die? Do you know if your sins are forgiven? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior? God wants you to pause and consider all of these questions. It’s just as if God had to use these drastic measures to get our attention.
The Bible tells us, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Just because it has been thousands of years after God said He would judge this wicked world does not mean that it won’t happen. God’s promises always come to pass. But He is “long-suffering,” not “willing that any should perish.” The first step towards God is repentance. It means acknowledging that God is right when He says that we are sinners and deserve to be punished for our sins.
A Way of Escape
God has provided a way of escape for each one of us before He pours out His wrath upon this earth! He loves you and does not want you to perish in your sins. This is what He says to each one of us: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:2222Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22)). The way of salvation is simple; all we have to do is believe it and accept it. Here are three verses that tell us how to be saved from our sins. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). This verse tells us that God loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. When we put our trust in Jesus, God forgives our sins and gives us eternal life. Our next verse is: “If thou shalt confess with thy [your] mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine [your] heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou [you] shalt be saved” (Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)). We confess with our mouth what we believe in our heart. When we tell God of our trust in the Lord Jesus, He promises to save us. It is as simple as, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). It’s as simple as saying, “Lord, save me!” when you put your faith and trust in Jesus.
Those of us who know the Lord as our Savior have a bright future awaiting us. One day the Lord will snatch His own away from this earth to be forever with Him. We call this the rapture, which is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and 1 Corinthians 15:52. But those that do not know the Lord as their Savior are “condemned already” (John 3:1818He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)). They are under the influence of an invisible enemy far worse than the coronavirus. This enemy’s name is Satan; the Bible describes him as “your adversary the devil” who “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Do not be deceived! Accept God’s gracious offer of salvation today, while there is yet time. Choose life, and live. Those that reject God’s way of salvation “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Before the judgment comes, God has a wonderful way of deliverance. Read about it in Black Friday.