It never ceases to amaze me how every time something significant happens like an earthquake, a military conflict, or a virus, you have all these geniuses who suddenly open their Bibles, which they probably haven't touched in the past year, and try to explain exactly where we are in the end times. All of a sudden, they know exactly what every doomsday prophecy is and collectively with their Facebook friends, they have all the answers. To me, it seems silly. It's also embarrassing to see time after time how many Christians are wrong about various events after having linked them to specific prophecies in the scripture. I think there are two things that we need to understand: first, God reveals His will to His friends, and second, all these headlines are contractions.
Be a friend, not a leech
In John 15:15 we read "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." When talking about the end times, we also read in Daniel that "none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand." If you want to be prepared for the end times, don't just open the Bible when you see a scary headline. Jesus made this very clear; those who are His friends, they will know and understand what the father is doing. Being a friend of Jesus means having a close relationship with Him. Being in the scripture daily, loving God, living according to His word, and being in communion with Him through prayer are essential to a strong relationship with Him. If you are a branch on the vine, you have those juices and nutrients flowing straight from the source, you are in constant relationship with Him, and you will be well rooted. If you turn to the vine only at headlines, you will be pretty clueless.
Contractions
When Jesus talks about the end times and scary things happening, He says "all this is just the beginning of birth pangs." In other words, these are contractions! I am a guy, but I have witnessed my wife give birth 3 times and know what contractions are from an outside perspective. Contractions are slow and low in intensity at first. Sometimes they can be days or even weeks apart. Then things start to speed up and become more serious. At about 3 minutes apart, you're supposed to go to the hospital. With our second child, we went in when contractions were two minutes apart, and she gave birth another twelve hours later. All of these headlines are birth pangs, and they have been going on since the resurrection of Christ. Over the past few hundred years, they have increased in frequency and intensity, and will continue to do so. I don't know which doomsday prophesy in the Bible has been fulfilled already and which one hasn't, and I'm not even sure when that might be understood, but I believe those who are in Christ will understand in the proper time if it will be necessary. In the meantime, have some perspective. Contractions get worse and worse. Once the Coronavirus passes, something crazier will happen, but in all this Jesus said, "Do not be terrified." When contractions become nonstop and one on top of the other, the baby is born!
Anyway, stop chasing after conspiracy theories and various explanations; its unhealthy and will bring you little good. Focus on your relationship with Jesus, and reevaluate your walk with Him. Get to know Him better, dig into the word deeper, dedicate yourself further, and don't lose sight of the big picture. Regarding the Coronavirus, I think this is simply God's wake-up call to much of the complacent Christianity that has distorted many priorities. God is showing us how fast things can change with something resembling a flu or the common cold. Imagine what it would be like if this thing was much more lethal.
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