E. Roger Ammons, General Evangelism Coordinator
It is easy to have a world view in which we departmentalize various aspects of our society. In reality, all things are a part of a conglomerate which is converging toward a common consummation.
A conglomerate is a number of different things or parts that are put or grouped together to form a whole but remain distinct entities. This conglomerate is like a box containing pieces of a puzzle. The Bible may be compared to the box-top which displays a vision of what the completed puzzle will look like. Border pieces, pieces of similar color, pieces of various objects, etc. are connected and huge sections are beginning to interlock which will assemble into the completed puzzle.
COVID-19 is a piece of the prophetic puzzle. Consider the impact of this Corona virus, not only on healthcare, but also upon religion, the economy, politics, etc. all over the world. The pandemic has caused many in the healthcare industry to cry out for a globalization network. Churches have been forced to close their doors for an extended period. An economic crisis has resulted in millions of persons being out of work. Politicians are using this plague for various plays of power. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together to form a picture of a new world order with the Antichrist as its leader.
Consider John the Revelator’s vision of the rider on the pale horse to whom was given power “over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6:8). The “sword” (politics?), “hunger” (economy?), “death” (pandemics?), and “beasts” (crime, terrorists?) converge into the power of the rider.
The word “puzzle” is a synonym for “mystery.” Christ and the Church is “a great mystery” (Eph. 5:32), but Babylon is also referred to as a “mystery” (Rev. 17:5). John saw pieces of the puzzle, the “whore” (spiritual), “kings” (political), and “merchants” (economic) which form a prophetic picture of the fall of Babylon (Rev. 18).
In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus, “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, …And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (vv. 3, 4, 6-8). The phrase “the beginning of sorrows” was sometimes used to describe the birth pangs of an expectant mother which become more frequent and more severe until the birth of the child. So it shall be with wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes which will be more frequent and more severe and global in scope.
Jesus also said, “ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (v. 15). This prophecy is found in Daniel 9:27: “…. he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation…” The word “consummation” means a “full end.” COVID-19 is a sign of the soon coming of Jesus and of the end of the world. The pieces of the prophetic puzzle are swiftly coming together. This means that the final end is near, and time is running out. Whatever we must do, we must do quickly.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).