Article submitted by Southern Cross Warrior Woman after hearing the bible used too many times to promote false messages about Covid19
Something to remember. To those calling Covid a biblical or apocalyptic plague. I know these times are uncertain, and in some ways, perhaps scary...and some make references to the bible and the end of days.
For starters, let's all take a deep breath and get some perspective. Covid-19 has sadly led to thousands of premature deaths, but it still pales in significance to the Spanish Flu of a hundred years ago. That resulted in 50-100 million deaths all around the world, at a time when world population was less than two billion (it is close to eight billion today). And further back in history is the Black Plague (AD 1347-1351), which is estimated to have killed 75 to 200 million people at a time when world population was less than 500 million. That ratio is more or less one-in-three people in the world. So while the current situation is very serious, in human terms it is not yet at the level of what one might call "apocalyptic proportions".
Another is, Covid symptoms are not sores and nor are sores a side effect of any vaccine. As stated in Revelation 16:2, which speaks of sores afflicting those who have the "mark of the beast".
In the Old Testament contexts, contagious disease was a condition that could and should be alleviated by human action (Jeremiah 27:13; 38:2). The most practical remedy offered for contagious disease in the Bible is, in fact, social isolation (Numbers 5:1-4; see also Numbers 12:10-15 and Leviticus 13:45-46), the very strategy many of us are now using. It is important for a community to place a separation between those who have the disease and those who do not, as far as this is possible. Co-operating with authorities in these matters should not create an issue of conscience for believers; in fact, conscience should encourage co-operation in a crisis like this (Romans 13:1-5).
Having said all this, prophecy clearly indicates that panic is one characteristic of the final events (Luke 21:25,26). Could Covid-19 lead to eschatological levels of panic? I am not a prophet, an economist or a scientist, so take the following with a grain of salt. Covid-19, as we experience it, could get a whole lot worse, killing (in the worst case scenario publicly stated) more than 130,000 Australians and tens of millions worldwide. That would put it in Spanish flu territory, but not Black Plague numbers. The greatest concern would not be the current virus, but a mutation of the virus into something even more dangerous.
Viruses tend to decrease in potency over time rather than increase. And, due to lack of widespread testing, the death rate is probably much lower than three per cent right now, as many people who have COVID-19 don't even know it. In Germany, a nation where testing has been much more widespread than most places, the death rate is currently about 0.08 per cent, around a quarter of the world rate. In the USA it is currently less than two per cent.
My greater concern for the future is the economic fallout of social isolation over many months (if that proves necessary). Worst-case estimates are that unemployment could reach 20 per cent if the lockdowns last 6-12 months. This could trigger another Great Depression. Given the panic buying already occurring, then the social order of the world could easily break down, leading to rioting, looting and other consequences. Among the likely consequences would be the end of face-to-face higher education as we know it, a long-term decline in tourism and international travel, a major decline in the restaurant industry and in-person retail, and in today's climate, a serious increase in perceived persecution.
A couple of years from now, it is very possible that the current, global response to Covid-19 will be perceived as an over-reaction. But since we will never know for sure if that is really true, I am glad we are doing what we are doing, just in case. As to when the final events of earth's history will happen, the words of Jesus remain relevant: "Stay awake, because you don't know"(Matthew 24:42).
It is what it is, and this is merely my opinion based on facts and just plain old fashioned research.
