Volume 48 | Number 1 | January–February 2020

Inglés Español

The World’s Pandemic Mandate on the Coronavirus: What Does It Mean?


By Dr. H. T. Spence

We have come to a most crucial hour in the history of the world that has overwhelmingly pressed upon humanity an unprecedented global panic. This consciousness now borders on mass hysteria fed by both the news media and the politicization of the liberal faction of government and “deep-state” powers. Transcending just a single nation, this consciousness is affecting all of humanity. We have been catapulted into a global aggressive takeover. What does this mean for the Christian? How should we then live as we face the world’s mandate regarding the coronavirus known as COVID-19?

It must be remembered that coronaviruses have been common among us, contributing to both minor colds as well as severe respiratory diseases. This new coronavirus COVID-19 is a new strain of this common virus. But why the panic? Why the intense obsession over it? Much of the world’s fearful reasoning lies in the fact that so much is unknown. Only recently has a test been developed to even detect it, while many other viruses continue among us with no tests.

Doctors tell us that we do not catch the same viral cold twice because our bodies build up immunity to each unique cold. Each new cold we get is a new strain of the cold virus. Each season, new flu viruses arise; where is the hysteria over so many who die from these viruses? Politicians who know nothing about medicine have been convinced this is a strange phenomenon coming out of the abyss of the unknown. Such leaders stand before this nation as medical professionals (and news media) and influence their thinking about what the country should do at this time. Amidst this great unknown, these medical professionals have now been given unusual authority to run the country.

The Present Facts

I am not writing this article as an expert in the medical profession. I am writing as a Christian and a minister of the Gospel for over fifty years. My intent is to present a biblical observation of what seems to be the present concern.

Let us first note where we are statistically concerning this unknown strain of the coronavirus creeping in among the nations. At the writing of this article, the current statistics concerning the spread of this virus are as follows. The world was first informed of the virus from China on December 29, 2019. It seems the Chinese were struggling with it before then, but they finally made it public information on this date. As to the statistics, they vary depending on the source and the acknowledgment that these are only confirmed cases. As of the writing of this article, 205,452 allegedly have contracted the virus; 8,248 have died; and 82,091 have recovered. China has had 81,102 with 3,241 deaths. Italy ranks second at 31,506 with 2,503 deaths. A great majority of Italy is an older generation, who are naturally more susceptible to the deadly effects of the virus due to lower immunity. Now, at the writing of this article, the entire country of Italy is on lockdown. Iran is third in the world with 17,361 and 1,135 deaths. Spain is ranked fourth, then Germany, South Korea, and France. The United States is now with 6,519 and 115 deaths.

There are 157 nations that have now been introduced to this new strain of coronavirus; however, most of these countries have 20 individuals or less who have been affected by it. We think of our brethren in Ghana, where, as of this writing, there are only seven reported cases in the nation including the two foreigners who brought it into Ghana.

However, as morbid as the coronavirus is being portrayed, we must remember it pales in comparison to the number of people who have died from the flu this year. For example, since October, influenza has infected as many as 45 million Americans and killed as many as 46,000 (CDC estimates). There is no panic over the flu crisis in our country. And then there are 647,000 who die from heart disease in America, marking 1 out of every 4 deaths in our country. Last year alone, cancer killed 606,880 in America. In our country approximately 39,000 people die yearly in automobile accidents, while an additional 4.4 million are injured in such accidents.

In the light of these sobering statistics, we once again wonder why the hysteria concerning this strain of the coronavirus has so consumed the media and the governments at this hour in our history. Once again it comes back to the unknown factors. How fast will it spread? Do we believe the fatality rate will be higher than the flu? Though we may say there is no known remedy for the virus at this time, yet there is also no known true remedy for the common cold.

The Pandemic Cry

The World Health Organization has now declared this event to be a pandemic crisis—an epidemic of global consequences. Although the term pandemic has been used for an epidemic over a large area of a nation or continent, this event is the first time the term pandemic has been applied to an event across the entire planet. Consequently, because of this magnitude of concern (and with the media feeding this panic moment of universal need), our governments are being forced to consider a global control of its people.

As we have observed, presently the highest number of cases in China totals 81,102. However, with a population of 1.5 billion, this virus has affected only 1 in 20,000. (If their propaganda is to be believed) they declare they have brought the curve of its progression down. To keep these numbers in perspective, 150 million Chinese would need to at least contract the COVID-19 illness to reach the same proportion of Americans who have contracted the flu this season (10% of its population).

But, dear reader, we must see beyond this medical scare of this so-called pandemic virus. We must consider what could come out of this event in the light of Scripture. As a Christian we must candidly back away from the panic and hysteria and ponder several questions:

  1. Is this virus of the Devil to destroy the planet?
  2. Is this of the Chinese government to control the medicine we buy from them (which they now have threatened to withhold from the USA)?
  3. Is this being manipulated by the Democratic Party to destroy the presidency of Donald Trump in order to secure a socialistic takeover, where the government must step in to control our very existence for survival?
  4. Is this virus of God?

As Christians we must acknowledge our country and the world are long overdue for judgment. Potentially this could be used as a prelude judgment upon the earth before the Great Tribulation Period. But whatever we conclude from the above questions, we must biblically acknowledge that God is ultimately behind this, permitting it for a reason.

Though we could give explanations for most of the calamities and crises of history, Scripture bears the infallible record that affliction, sickness, famine, pestilence, and drought recorded in biblical history were brought upon the nations by God Himself. There certainly have been unique dealings with individuals such as Job where Satan prompted his affliction. Nevertheless, God still had to give both divine permission for these afflictions as well as divine limitations to the extent the Devil could go. It must also be acknowledged that when Job spoke of his afflictions, he never mentioned the Devil; He always spoke only of God.

Yet, we must rise to a higher perspective which compels us to discern God’s plan for the End Time. Before His Son comes to set up His kingdom, His plan necessitates that the Antichrist come forth to rule the world for at least a season. For Antichrist to come, something or some event must press him forward into the public consciousness. A desperate world will welcome his solutions and unknowingly forward God’s plan toward the “Day of Man” and the fulfilling of the “Times of the Gentiles.”

The Powers of Dark Wisdom Arising

We must step back from the hysteria and panic of the moment and candidly consider what is happening at this hour throughout the world’s governments. Though we respect Donald Trump and all that he is doing for our country in the light of this virus invasion, we are presently witnessing our nation, and all the nations of the earth, subtly manipulating mandates from the local, state, and federal levels as to how we are to live during these weeks (or perhaps months) of this crisis. These global mandates, under the guise of dealing with the coronavirus, are now globally closing both public and private schools and limiting worship services where attendance exceeds a certain number (in ranges from 100 to 10 persons). Even in Ghana, Africa, where we have several mission works, a mere four cases of the COVID-19 shut down the entire country. The government has closed all schools for thirty-days; attendance to churches, prayer meetings, and other congregant gatherings are now being forced to shut down.

Though we may certainly desire to be wise in these days, we must be conscious of the biblical fact that we are living in prelude days of the coming of the Antichrist. Only a crisis of global magnitude will bring him to the forefront for world rulership. Yes, it will be in a global crisis so critical in the thinking of the nations that they will cry for such a “saviour” to rise and lead the nations through the crisis. It is becoming more and more evident, as governments exercise newer powers for control, that these preliminary days are preparing the world for state control which will be set in place before the Antichrist’s appearance.

The socialists running for president in the United States are calling for nationalization of the energy industry, of health care, and even of our financial markets in order to save the world from capitalism and the coronavirus. Back in 1986, President Ronald Reagan warned our country:

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Crisis events are what permit the government to become more and more the controlling factor of our existence. Note New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent words:

This is a case for a nationalization, literally, a nationalization of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need.

He also believes it is time to nationalize all the important sectors of the economy by taking over private industries and transitioning to a wartime economy. Already such mayors across America are mandating house confinement except for the imperative need of shopping for needed supplies. Curfews are being appointed for the sake of isolation of the virus. But in the throes of this present hysteria and fear of this virus, are all these mandates simply providing preliminary training for the implementation of a blueprint for mass manipulation by the governments around the world?

It is interesting to note that the decorated scientist Shiva Ayyadurai with four degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes the coronavirus pandemic is being used by the Deep State for its own purposes. Ayyadurai said on Twitter that “fear-mongering” over the outbreak is being used to push an agenda:

As an MIT PhD in biological engineering who studies and does research nearly every day on the Immune System, the coronavirus fear-mongering by the Deep State will go down in history as one of the biggest frauds to manipulate economies, suppress dissent, and push mandated medicine.

Ayyadurai said these words in response to President Donald Trump’s words of March 9, 2020:

The Fake News media and their partner, the democratic party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General [has stated], “The risk is low to the average American.”

Never did Ayyadurai say that the disease is a hoax; he merely noted that there are those in the government using the pandemic to frighten people into obedience.

Oh, dear reader, dare we contemplate what has happened in just the past week. What have we done?! We truly believe there is a crisis, and it is evident that this virus is spreading; furthermore, we truly sympathize with all who have been affected by this event. Nevertheless, this crisis will be used by the Devil’s advocates to gain greater control of humanity and force an increased unanimity of the nations in the name of “health.” We have handed the control of nearly everything in our lives to the government. They are telling us what to do with our children, where to go, when to go, how many can be present, whether we can or cannot worship our God in public.

Although the disease is certainly real, what does all of the intrusion of the government mean at this time on the eve of another election? Will this cause us to believe that for the sake of safety and health, a socialistic government is now our answer? Is this the way we will be caused to submit to state powers? Although it may be that our President fears the intrusion of these governmental mandates, he also believes he will be viewed as a failure for not caring for America if he does not submit to the forces of socialism. We may have thought that the padlocking of our churches and schools would have been the way it all would have ended in our country. But a mutated virus has become a manipulative guise to restrain our public worship.

In this crisis, even prisoners are being released from some county and state prisons in order to prevent a catastrophe in the event that the virus were to reach their closed confinement. Such releases have been the vocal hope of the socialists running for president who have advocated the abolishment of the prison system. It is evident we are in the prelude of this socialistic potential. To slow down incarcerations, some municipalities are telling police not to arrest individuals for certain lesser crimes. This could include the looting of closed-down stores and even certain crimes against persons. There is the potential for a Pandora’s box of evil to explode in some communities. Truly, this pandemic scare will plunge America into deeper liberated evil because of this judicial leniency permitted in the world of crime. God will have to have mercy on us. As a wicked, perverse nation we are without God, and thus we are without hope. May Heaven have mercy in the light of our much-deserved judgment.

The Global Economy

In carefully observing prophecy describing the End Time, one of the greatest influential powers will be the global economy. This truly has become the number one burden of nations today. The Christian needs to discern that what is happening at this hour in world history will profoundly affect the economic powers of not only our nation but also the entire world. What will this media hysteria create in the realm of the recent victories by our President in lowering unemployment and the upswing of the economy in America? How will this pandemic profoundly affect the economy of the entire world? It is evident that the liberals and their socialist comrades are demonically bent to destroy what financial recovery the President has achieved. And with such a panic now, part of our country and the world could destroy what good economy seems apparent today. This may be the world crisis needed to radically change the whole concept of business, money, and the way we shop. The past conceptualization of business, employment, and government involvement may radically change overnight.

Let us note for a moment the powerful rippling effects of this global pandemic. Our President having closed all travel from Italy to America, over 90% of travel bookings to Italy have been canceled. Thirteen percent of Italy’s net revenue comes from tourism, with 9% of that from America. The Italian economy is likely to falter even more than it already has over the rest of this year, given the long-term effect on their tourism industry. What will be needed to financially bail out Italy from this? Who will do so? What obligation will the more prosperous nations feel to assist in this mutual crisis?

Then there is the cruise-ship tourist industry that is now experiencing global cancellations months in advance. The airlines are registering massive cancellations, even within the continental USA. What will the overwhelming influence be economically on hotels, restaurants, museums, tours, etc.? What will small businesses experience when they are caught in the tidal wave of these cancellations and alterations of global life? Though perhaps companies like Amazon will no doubt increase their employment due to the increase of online shopping, massive layoffs of employees where jobs no longer need facilitating will be inevitable.

Congregant events are being shut down in all the compartments of professional sports, and tens of billions of dollars in revenue will be lost in the coming weeks. Stores will be closed because of the fear of public shopping. And it has become evident that our President is under overwhelming pressure to underwrite all of this. The money will flow like a river, with the mocking response of many: “If you can do this for all of America, then we can implement all the social programs we want to provide for the country.” Oh, the money it will necessitate to bail out all the businesses, including the personal income lost from this global crisis. This may be the time when a new economy concept will be introduced to eradicate the debt.

But another casualty is standing in the wings of our busy President. More and more the present crisis is forcing him to drop his administrative burden singularly for the country; he is now being pressed to speak from a global perspective. Our president’s love for his country is one of the reasons why the liberals hate him. President Trump is not a globalist; he views the USA as his number one burden as president, not the world.

Nonetheless, this crisis may press him toward greater “global” thinking and governmental oneness. The previous administration was committed to a post-America, where we would become totally reliant on other nations in everything: energy, food, medicine, and even our very human existence. A post-America could easily be assimilated into a global governmental consciousness. The crisis we are facing is what the globalists have been looking for. It is an ideal event to press all of the nations into global consciousness and economics where all come together for our very world survival.

A global crisis is needed for the Antichrist to be brought forth. Revelation 6 through 9 reveals powerful judgments that God will bring upon the whole earth. Only after these global events does the Antichrist appear. Though we do not believe we are in the Tribulation Period, we are fully persuaded by Scripture that this present unknown strain of the coronavirus is appointed of the Lord at this time. We dare not blame it on the Devil, or China, or Donald Trump. Though the Devil will always take advantage of any potential crisis found among humanity, a Sovereign God is bringing this to pass in order to accelerate the End-time plan for the culmination of the Day of Man, leading to the Man of Sin, which will then lead to the coming of Christ Who finally will set up His Kingdom. Will God use this crisis to bring the final overthrow of America with the last step leading it into a complete socialist government simply for survival? Will this be a final step when the government will become responsible for everything of man, including his physical and mental health, his postmodernist education, his food rationing, his appointed housing. All the nations being forced to such governmental control will lead to authoritarian control, and finally, a coming one-world ruler.

The End Time (following the pattern of Genesis 6) will be consumed in the obsession of “the flesh” (6:3, 12, 13, 17). Note Satan’s words to God in Job 2:4, 5:

Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

By observing man for many centuries, Satan knew that this was true of man in general; if man is smitten to his bone, and he feels the fullness of pain, he will do anything. The great crisis of 9-11 in New York City and Washington D.C. pressed our government to take greater authority in overseeing its citizens’ security (especially regarding travel). Many times traveling through airports, they invade our luggage, our bodies, and our personal items. What will this present global crisis bring about concerning new government controls in our lives and economy? These changes by the government will be presented as the “need” for our health and homes. The closing down of schools will affect the breakfasts and lunches of children for whom the government provides. Will governments now take the meals to our homes, a further invading of our private lives?

We have also been alarmed to hear of many public, influential leaders who have boldly denounced our President for calling a day of prayer recently. God is being denied, both in presence and in prayer. We must pray for the Lord’s soon coming.

Conclusion

When the Cold War with Russia ended, there came a widespread thawing in hostilities. The nations and their economies began the process of trying to conglomerate the separate nationalistic entities for more of a global economy. But the United States is now caught in this economic web of perplexity with China, Japan, and Russia, and even with the faltering NATO alliance. This present distress that has come upon the earth is philosophically demanding the nations of the earth to come together as a new world order. Although this call has certainly been demanded for many decades, now may be the prelude season for the coming of Antichrist. This crisis could plunge, not only the United States but also all other nations into a global recession affecting every compartment of the economy. We could be standing on the edge of a global economy crisis in which no one economy, no one nation, no one union will be able to extricate the world from its perilous troubles. The Bible predicts that such an era is coming. Fueled by the world’s economic convulsions, the only answer will seem to be the unification of the nations under one economic system and one world ruler. Ironically, the country of China, from which this virus has allegedly originated, manufactures the majority of America’s drugs and vaccines.

The world has entered the panic and the hysterical cry to be saved from an unknown virus. Is this global crisis the act of God pressing the world to come to the brink of the globalism that will lead to the coming of Antichrist? Perhaps we may have thought that such a unification of the nations under one economic system and a one world ruler would have come about by a process of gradual consolidation of wealth and power both nationally and globally. But such a prophetic reality could happen with a rise of global urgency as we are witnessing at this hour. And such a man may be simply standing in the wings of present world history, ready to make his entrance onto the stage of a desperate world. When he appears, the world will embrace him; he will have all the answers to the problems of mankind. And when the whole world is lauding his praises, he will rise in global power and unveil his Satanic plan that will include the destruction of all who will not fall down and worship him. A global crisis amidst a global economy will be the key to bring him into prominence. In the final three and one half years of Daniel’s last week, no one will be able to buy or sell without his permission; this will include medicine, surgeries, and the basic needs of existence. He will control all the finances and businesses of the world. The technology at that time will be so advanced, he will be able to control it all, of every nation and every individual.

May God grant us discernment in how we should live in these dark, desperate, and perilous times. It was said of the tribe of Issachar, that they “had understanding of the times,” which is so important in this crucial hour. But also, it was said that they had understanding “to know what Israel ought to do.” This too, is equally important. May God grant us both insights for the hour.

Postscript

Perhaps a distinction should be made between the plagues God’s past preachers faced in their appointed day and the global crisis of our present day. Drawing from a biblical perspective, these past faithful ministers addressed their local congregations about local and regional crises. Martin Luther had to address the black plague that swept through Wittenberg, Germany, in 1527, just as Charles Spurgeon preached concerning the cholera epidemic that erupted in London in 1854. They faithfully ministered to the needs of God’s people at those times. In contrast, this coronavirus should be considered somewhat differently. Rather than a regional or continental crisis, this virus is sweeping the entire planet. As a result, massive shifts are occurring throughout world governments that are influencing the control of all humanity. Our concern is beyond the virus or plague itself. This crisis has inspired and facilitated much preliminary work that will need to be established before the coming of Antichrist.