COVID-19 AND PEACE

Today we continue our series examining how the COVID-19 pandemic is laying a path which is leading the world into the Tribulation Period. I must admit, I had envisioned that the rapture of the church would be the defining event which would irrevocably change the world and prepare it for the Tribulation Period. I did not anticipate a respiratory illness would prepare the world in a substantially similar matter.

One of the key metrics we focus on with respect to the study of Bible prophecy is the peace covenant that the Antichrist will enter into with the nation of Israel. Daniel 9:27 records that pivotal moment as follows: Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to the sacrifice and offering. For those unfamiliar with the language, please keep in mind that that “weeks” prophecy is weeks of years (this being the final 70th week of the prophecy). This is a period of 7 years in which the Antichrist will break the covenant after 3.5 years and turn his fury upon the Jewish people and those Gentiles redeemed in the Tribulation Period.

After it was clear that the virus was turning into a pandemic, the United Nations called for a global ceasefire in order to direct resources towards fighting the virus. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives. From that appeal, fighting has ceased temporarily in eleven countries.

The UN’s appeal isn’t without precedent. Indonesia endured years of fighting between Indonesian authorities and the Free Aceh Movement until the 2004 tsunami hit. Once both parties directed their attention to rescue and restoration, it initiated a process which led to a peace process that eventually ended the decades-long conflict.

Countries are now pushing for the UN to adopt a specific resolution which would bind all parties to a COVID-19 peace process. However, Russia and the US have concerns and they are advocating the inclusion of specific provisions terrorism provisions which allows them to continue the war on terrorism without being impeded.

Though one cannot be dogmatic about unfulfilled prophecy, from what we have seen of the world’s reaction to COVID-19, it stands to reason that once the rapture occurs, the world may unite in an even larger way to counter the effects of the immediate disappearance of hundreds of millions of people. I often imagine what the world will look like in the hours immediately after the rapture. Countless cars, motorbikes, planes, boats etc will have crashed as drivers are removed. Pedestrians and unsaved passengers will likewise be killed. Emergency services will be overwhelmed with calls and paralysed by the calamity. Looting will commence. If grocery stores and banks were overrun by the panic of an impending virus, both will be cleared of goods and cash the day after the rapture. Media outlets and politicians will go into a frenzy, desperately searching for answers. Nations will go on an immediate war footing, keen to ward off opportunistic invaders.

And then, a man steps forward with a solution. A global ceasefire is required he says. And on the signing of that peace covenant with Israel, the time of Jacob’s Trouble begins.