Christian Leaders Reassure That Coronavirus Does Not Mark Beginning of End Times
Multiple Christian leaders have offered reassuring words in recent days that the worldwide coronavirus pandemic is not the beginning of the end of days prophesied in the Bible.
However, some do see the devil’s handiwork in instilling fear in people’s hearts.
In the book of Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus told his disciples, “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,” he added.
Certainly all these things have happened in the two millennia since Jesus spoke those words.
The coronavirus outbreak would fit into in the pestilence category, as would the H1N1 pandemic of 2009-10, which killed hundreds of thousands worldwide; the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which killed millions; and the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages, which took the lives of tens of millions.
As recorded in the same chapter of Matthew, Jesus also identified something that must occur before the culmination of this present age: “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.”
The Joshua Project estimated there are over 7,000 people groups that have yet to be reached with the Gospel, representing more than 3 billion unreached people, or about 40 percent of the world’s population.
Jesus taught that discerning people would understand the signs of the times as this age drew to its close, climaxing in his return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Christian author Jeff Kinley, who has written extensively about the End Times, pointed to the Bible as the reason he does not think we are there yet.
“If a person were just completely ignorant about what the Bible says about the End Times, they may think this right now: This is it,” he told The Washington Post.
One example he offered why the end of days is not imminent is the lack of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, which Jesus indicated would be in place.
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place … then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” Jesus said.
Daniel wrote about the anti-Christ entering the temple — the holy place –and taking “away the daily sacrifices,” and committing the “abomination of desolation.”
In other words, he would do something to defile the temple.
So there would need to be one built again for Jesus’ prophecy to come true. The temple that was around in his day was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., with only a portion of the Western Wall left standing to this day.
Like Kinley, Michael Maiden — lead pastor of the megachurch Church for the Nations in Phoenix — does not see the great tribulation as being upon us, but does see the devil’s handiwork in the coronavirus outbreak.
“This isn’t ‘the end,'” Maiden proclaimed in a Tuesday Facebook post. “This isn’t the ‘great tribulation.’ This isn’t God’s judgement against the world. This isn’t yet the moment of the Second Coming of Jesus.”
“This is the enemy unleashing an oppressive whirlwind of fear and death into the earth attempting to abort the great awakening God has promised and prepared for this generation” the pastor contended.
“But the mighty wind of Heaven, the wonderful Holy Spirit, is filling God’s people with hope and faith and inspiring the church to unleash powerful prayers and prophecies of life that will shorten the duration and stop the intention of the enemy’s weapon,” Maiden wrote.
He predicted a cure would be discovered “for this diabolical disease.”
Shawn Bolz — founder of Expression 58 church in Los Angeles and author of the book “Translating God” — also believes a cure will come quickly.
He wrote in a Facebook post late last month, “The Lord showed me the end of the Coronavirus…the tide is turning now!”
He argued that the devil is using the virus to stoke anxiety in people.
“The exaggerated fear based tactics of both the enemy and several media outlets for political reasons is coming to an end,” Bolz wrote.
The preacher added, “Within a short amount of time the extreme threat will feel like it is in the way past.”
Cindy Jacobs — leader of the intercessory prayer and prophetic ministry Generals International — shares Maiden’s conviction that the devil is trying to use COVID-19 to disrupt a spiritual revival God is looking to unleash.
“Many prophetic voices across the world have been prophesying the coming of the next great awakening, and that it will happen on a worldwide scale,” she recently wrote.
“Forces of evil would like to use this to either delay or disrupt the coming awakenings and revivals. Intercede that this will not happen, but rather that the moves of God will escalate worldwide,” Jacobs added.
“God wants this season to turn into a catalyst of revival instead of contagion.”
Jacobs — like many Christian leaders, as well as President Donald Trump — is urging believers to pray Psalm 91 over themselves and their loved ones.
.@POTUS goes biblical, quoting three bible verses from 1 Peter, Psalm 91, & Luke 1 in #NationalDayOfPrayer #CoronaVirus proclamation. Says, “no problem is too big for God to handle” & “With God’s help, we will overcome this threat.” @realDonaldTrump not ashamed of the gospel! pic.twitter.com/cT9X9AhDMv
— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) March 15, 2020
The passage of scripture reads in part, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.'”
“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,” the passage says.
“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.”
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