At no other time in the history of the world have human governments been united in controlling the rights of their citizens. In the last two years after Covid-19 came on the scene, 7.9 billion people accepted the idea that they should be ruled by the law of quarantine. The only group of people who had the right to wander around outside and enjoy the freedom of movement and human interaction were those who were allowed to by governments. One body, The World Health Organization, set the rules.
Christians and members of all the world religions submitted to the authoritarian rule. The God-given right to worship was submitted to the Kingdom of Man, which includes government mandates. There were very few objectors as governments used the fear of punishment to force humanity into submission. Now that people’s fears have subsided, many Christians are thinking about what happened. Many are arguing that we are in the end times and that vaccines are the mark of the beast. Are we in the end times?
To understand their argument, one must understand from the Bible what it says about the end times. The Bible gives a historical development of humanity from Genesis and guides us through the history of Israel as God’s chosen people applying their experience to all humanity. It guides humanity from the beginning to the end. The book of Revelation is written as the full stop to this genesis. However, the best place to start in understanding the end times is to read the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Also, in Colossians 1:15-21, Paul explains who began all that is in existence: “All things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him.” Therefore, when we are calling God the Creator, Paul says that it is Christ, as God, we are referring to, in the presence of God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. Christ as Creator spoke about what to expect before and during the end times (see Luke 21).
Those who are definite about when the end will come need to remember that Jesus Christ said it will come like a thief in the night in Mathew 24:43 (and we know that a thief does not announce when he will be breaking in). Paul referred to it in the same manner in 2 Thessalonians 5:21. Everything written in the Bible about the end times has to be aligned with all the other writings because the Bible is a progressive historical document inspired by God for the purposes of man to see Him in history from the beginning to the end. It is not a fragmented tale but a true reflection of God’s purpose and intent.
What is important to note is what Paul writes in the book of 1 Corinthians 15:25-28. He adopts what Christ said to his disciples in Mathew 28 that all authority was given to Him (Jesus) in heaven and on earth. “For God has put all things under His feet. But when He [God the Father] says all things are put under Him [Jesus Christ], it is important that He [God the Father] is not included, for He [God the Father] is the one who put all things under Him [Jesus Christ]. And when all things shall be subdued under Him [Jesus Christ], then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him [God the Father], who put all things under Him [Jesus Christ], that God [the Father] may be all in all.” (bracketed words are not in the original text but were added to indicate who is being referred to by the pronouns). Then Paul states, “Then the end will come, when He [Jesus Christ] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He [Jesus Christ] has destroyed all dominion, authority and power” (1 Corinthians, 15:26).
Time will end when Christ brings every opposition that exists against Him under His feet. We need to be aware that when Christ is talking about bringing all things under his feet, he is talking about war! He is not talking about the earth only, which is just a planet within the Milky Way galaxy. Rather, it is a description of all that He created, Genesis 1 and 2. Also, we have to include the forces of darkness which He put on notice, “ I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Satan has been fighting against Christ as narrated in Genesis 3 (principalities, powers, and dominions). Christ is involved in a rescue mission of humanity and all creation back to Himself. This will not come without a fight because Satan is fighting to defeat the purpose of Christ and creation. This war is violent.
First, the violence will be between Christ with the angels of God fighting against the forces of darkness in the realm of the spirit which we are not allowed to witness. Second, after the Kingdom of Satan is defeated, then Christ will set forth to defeat the forces of the earth who are servants of Satan (the anti-Christ), and death which is an agent of Satan (1 Corinthians 15: 26). Human beings will not know that the spiritual battle is over until the battle shifts to earth.
Here on earth, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, in Revelation 6 will lead the fight: the riders of the White horse, the Red horse, the Black horse and the Pale horse will mark the beginning of the end. The violence these four horsemen will unleash upon what is created and those who oppose Christ on earth is unimaginable. Christ hinted on the misery in John 21, “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them whose children are suckling, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon the people.” Put your imagination to this statement in Revelation 7:1, “After this (the four horsemen) I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.” The systems that operate and sustain the earth are stopped. Think about the chaos!
Are we at the end of time? The Bible isn’t specific. Right now, Christ is doing two things: 1) building His Church, and 2) preparing a place for His Church within His Father’s Kingdom. What you see today are just preparations for the final events within the timing of God the father who is the only one who knows when the end will come. If you say that the current events are a preparation for the coming one world government and 666, you may be right. However, to say it is the end of time is naive
People should stop worrying about the end of time and worry about wasting their time on earth and failing to become heirs together with Christ in His Father’s Kingdom by being born again (John 3:3). “Unless a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
This Covid-19 time will pass. The timing of the end remains hidden in the hands of God, the Father. The white horseman has not arrived, and I am glad because it gives people time (although no one knows how long) to become members of the Kingdom of God.
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (PhD)
HTBluff Associates. Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
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