Is the Current Pandemic a Sign of the Times? (Part Four)

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong; it is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” When it comes to a study of "end times" realities a precise "rightly dividing the word of truth" is of utmost importance or we will get it wrong. We must keep the Church and Israel separate or we will be wrong. This is KEY!

In this series I have NOT been addressing the temporary "sign-gifts" that were operative in the apostolic early Church. Rather I have been addressing the issue of "signs of the times" related to SPECIFIC time markers in regard to the "last days". We have noted that while there is the GENERAL TREND of growing apostasy that defines the last days of the Church Age, there are NO SPECIFIC TIME MARKERS that definitively tell us where we are at in relationship to the end. In contrast the last days (the Tribulation Period that follows the Church Age) related to Israel has very SPECIFIC TIME MARKERS that will be indicative of the end.

The Church is not looking for "signs" rather we are looking for "Christ" Himself. We are not looking for the Antichrist, but for the CHRIST! The NT presents the coming of Christ for the Church as ever imminent - meaning it could happen at any time.

1 Cor. 1:7 "...eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
Phil. 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ..."
Phil. 4:5 "The Lord is at hand."
1 Thess. 1:10"...to wait for His Son from heaven..."
1 Thess. 4:15 "...we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord..."
Titus 2:13 "looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing..."
James 5:8 "...the coming of the Lord is at hand."

IMMINENCY is everywhere in the New Testament. The watchword of the early Church was “Maranatha”, which means “Our Lord Comes” (cf. 1 Cor. 16:22). It has been the hope of believers all down through the Church age that Christ would come in their lifetime (cf. Rev. 22:20). Christ has called His Church to ever be WATCHING AND AWAITING HIS IMMINENT RETURN! This is our calling! This is our hope! This is precious not only to us, but also to the Lord. Paul in his last inspired words said a "crown of righteousness" is promised "to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8).

But having said ALL THAT the Bible says we do "see the Day approaching" (Heb. 10:25). And we see it in an ever more pronounced way as we go along in Church history. Paul reflected this in Romans 13:11 saying, "...knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." There are NO SPECIFIC sign markers that need to be fulfilled prior to the RAPTURE of the Church. It is not given to us to know with precision the "times or seasons" involving the great turning points of the last days (cf. Acts 1:7). However, while there are no DEFINITIVE or SPECIFIC last days signs given to the Church there are what prophecy scholars refer to as last days STAGE SETTING REALITIES that appear to be coming into place. If indeed the last days realities related to Israel will quickly fall into place after the RAPTURE then it would make sense that even before the Rapture we may well see God SETTING THE STAGE for what is to come - namely the Tribulation Period.

I believe we DO most probably see many of these "stage setting" realities coming into place right before our eyes. For example, Israel is the KEY player in relationship to end time prophecy being fulfilled. In order for these MANY prophecies to be fulfilled Israel has to be back in the land. They are THERE! For this reason many refer to the re-establishment of Israel as "the last days super sign". Really, it is a "stage setting" reality. We know that in the "latter days" a great coalition involving Russia, Turkey, and Iran (and others) will come against regathered Israel as predicted in Ezekiel 38-39 (cf. Ezek. 38:8). Never in the history of the world have we seen this specific alliance, but today these three are forming very close ties. The Bible implies a last days technology will be in place that will allow "peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations" to look on the dead bodies of God's two special witnesses who will be killed in Jerusalem during the Tribulation Period (cf. Rev. 11:9). The advancement of such technology is a rather recent development and is a "stage setting" reality. Right at the moment it is how the whole world is functioning.

A MAJOR stage setting reality is the development of a ONE-WORLD ORDER that will reach its apex under Antichrist once the true Church is raptured. In order for ONE MAN to control the entire world a system will have to be in place that will make this possible. Revelation 13:7 says of the coming Antichrist "And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation." He will control the ECONOMY of the entire world commanding "that no one might buy or sell except one who as the mark or the name of the beast" (Rev. 13:17).

I believe even now we are seeing the development of this ONE-WORLD ORDER as a stage setting reality. And I think the present coronavirus plays a role. Pandemics in the past have not been WHOLE WORLD events on the scale we see today. The world previously was more isolated. But now it is very much ALL connected economically. Travel now enables the whole world to be connected. Hence the need for "social distancing" is an EVERYWHERE emphasis. Technology connects the entire world. We are seeing the last days "babel" effect like never conceived of until modern history. This is a great "stage setting" reality. Never before has the ENTIRE WORLD been shut down in the fashion we have seen in recent days. The governments of the world have in unison flexed their muscle which is a precursor of what ultimately will be in place under Antichrist. So while the current crisis is NOT a SPECIFIC "sign of the times" I do think it fits into the big picture as part of the stage setting realities related to the rise of a ONE WORLD ORDER.

We are not setting any dates! We do not know the time of the Lord's return. It is ever imminent! He comes unexpectedly as a thief in the night (cf. Mt. 24:43). Yet, as Paul said, "now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed." (Rom. 13:11) As we see more and more "stage setting" realities we most certainly "see the Day approaching." (Heb. 10:25) If the operative word "Maranatha" (Our Lord Comes!) was the appropriate watchword in the early Church, how much more so today!

MARANATHA! Perhaps today! Live Ready!

Mark 13:33–37 (NKJV)
33 Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.
34 It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.
35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—
36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”