I don’t remember anything quite like the COVID-19 pandemic, not in my lifetime. The personal, social, economic, and political effects have been staggering. “Unprecedented” has been used over and over again. It’s natural for people to think this is an epoch-altering event in human history. So, as a professor of theology with an expertise in eschatology (the doctrine of “last things” or “end times”), I’m not surprised that I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how (or whether) the Coronavirus may be related to Bible prophecy. 

Is the Coronavirus a fulfillment of biblical prophecy? Is it a sign that Christ is returning in our generation? A stage-setting step toward a global takeover by the Antichrist? Some insidious mechanism for foisting the mark of the beast upon unwitting hands and foreheads? 

My unhesitant answer?

No, it’s not. (At least not according to my theology of the end times.)

 Now, I know that answer won’t sell any books or get me any speaking invitations. And the numerous peddlers of this-is-that-ism already resent me for dousing their end-times fires with and abrupt “No.” Others will accuse me of being too hasty and dismissive, because maybe—just maybe—this is it! (Never mind the historical fact that the world has faced much, ­much worse pandemics than this one too many times to mention.) 

My reasons for not linking end-times prophecy to the COVID-19 pandemic are fourfold.  

1) We can’t know the times or seasons. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, Paul says, “Now concerning the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” By the first century, the phrase “day of the Lord” (yōm Yhwh; hēmera Kyriou) had become a technical phrase referring to any period of time characterized by God’s mediated visitation in judgment in this world (Isaiah 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:4; 4:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 3:23). Though there have been many “days of the Lord” throughout history, the New Testament looks forward to a final period of judgment on this earth—the ultimate “Day of the Lord,” characterized by the kinds of events described by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Mark 13) and pictured in the symbolism of the book of Revelation—war, famine, disease, deception, etc. Some people call this period the “Tribulation.”  

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says the destruction of the Day of the Lord will come “suddenly” (5:3), “like a thief in the night” (5:2). Like the time of the coming of Christ, we will not know “the times and the seasons” (5:1; cf. Acts 1:7 related to the coming of Christ as king). Unlike the more specific “day and hour,” the phrase “times and seasons” (chronoi kai kairoi) refers to a more general, indefinite period of time. Let me illustrate. Imagine if a certain satellite in orbit around the earth were bound to fall out of the sky and crash. But imagine scientists said, “Not only do we not know the day or hour, but we don’t even know the period of time or season.” In other words, we have no idea when the satellite will fall, we just know it will. Similarly, in 1 Thessalonians Paul communicates that we can be neither precise nor general in our estimation of when the Tribulation (“Day of the Lord”) will begin. 

Therefore, we can point to no current events—like COVID-19—as markers that we’re in the end times or even in the general time or season of end-times events.  

2) The Day of the Lord comes when people don’t expect it. In the same passage, Paul says the destruction of the Day of the Lord will come when people feel comfortable and secure. When they are saying, “Peace and security!” (1 Thes. 5:3), the destruction of the end-times Day of the Lord will come suddenly. The cry “peace and security” doesn’t mean they’re in the midst of horror and turmoil and they’re longing for peace and security. That explanation wouldn’t make sense because the inescapable destruction comes upon them “suddenly” and “like a thief in the night” (5:2-3). In fact, Jesus portrayed the ease people will be feeling prior to the coming of judgment this way: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows….For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away” (Matt. 24:36-39). 

Both Paul and Jesus portray the sudden coming of the period of end-times judgments as preceded by a sense of calm, peace, and security, when people are carrying out their normal, everyday affairs like marriage and work (24:40-41). The coming of the Son of Man mentioned in this passage refers to his coming as the one who metes out judgment upon the earth, and that coming in judgment, known as the Tribulation or “Day of the Lord” will arrive like a thief in the night “at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:42-44). 

The global COVID-19 pandemic, which has stolen people’s sense of peace and security and literally delayed normal, everyday events like marriages and work, doesn’t line up with the Bible’s own portrayal of the kinds of conditions immediately preceding the actual Day of the Lord. 

3) Nothing must precede the imminent Day of the Lord. Like many in the early church (Didache, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian), I’m a futurist with regard to the coming seven-year Tribulation period, during which a literal Antichrist will wreak havoc on this world. This same period of time is the means by which God exercises judgment—the final Day of the Lord—partly prophesied in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 [though I believe Jesus partly referred to events in the first century]), and more directly prophesied in the book of Revelation. I know this isn’t everybody’s view of the end times, but it’s mine, and it has strong early historical precedence. 

The fact that the coming of Christ in judgment and the commencement of the Day of the Lord (Tribulation) can occur at any time—and that there are no warnings prior to its start—means that coming period is imminent. There is no count-down. There are no signs that must occur prior to the Day of the Lord. No intermediate prophecy needs to be fulfilled. No global government established. No technology invented. No specific politician in power. In fact, a consistent futurist reading of Revelation would regard all the symbolic visions described in that book of Revelation as finding their fulfillment during (not before) the future seven-year Tribulation. This would correspond with Jesus’s often-misinterpreted statement that wars, earthquakes, death, pestilence, false religions, and persecution would appear in the world, but “these are but the beginning of birth pains” and “see that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matt. 24:4-8). Such events have been occurring throughout the world, to varying degrees, since the ascension of Christ and establishment of the church. Though it would be accurate to say these foreshadow (or provide “types” for) the kinds of intensified judgments of the actual Day of the Lord period, none of them are, in fact, the judgments themselves. 

Of course, other views of the end times will render different results. The position known as “historicism,” which views the book of Revelation progressively fulfilled throughout history, would theoretically be open to any current events matching biblical prophecy. But a consistent futurist, like me, confines the fulfillment of these prophecies to the future. (And if one holds to a pre-tribulation rapture, the beginning of the Tribulation will be marked by that event, not preceded by any other.) 

Therefore, because I believe the Day of the Lord is a definite future period of time marked by certain very distinct conditions, before which there are no prophecies to be fulfilled, COVID-19 is not an event of the Tribulation period. 

4) No stage-setting events must precede the Day of the Lord. I’ve heard people say, “Well, this pandemic may not be the actual fulfillment of prophecy, but I think it’s setting the stage for it.” Then they may project some extremely speculative scenario in which a one-world government forms out of the COVID-19 crisis, some antichrist figure takes control, and the end-times prophecies come to pass. When I try to point out considerations 1–3 above, the response is something along the lines of “Well, you can’t be sure it isn’t preparing the way for the end times, so it’s better to be prepared.” 

I do believe that someday in the future (maybe near, maybe far), the events of the end times will take place. Therefore, at some point, events in our world will immediately precede (and, I suppose, set the stage for) the Day of the Lord in some way. And, nobody can know for sure whether today’s events fall into that unique category. This fact, however, would be utterly unknowable and completely irrelevant. Theologically speaking, everything that has occurred in history from Christ’s ascension forward can be viewed as in some way setting the stage for the future Tribulation. Events of history are connected in a complex web of cause-and-effect, all under the providence and sovereignty of God. The prophet Daniel said that God “changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others” (Dan. 2:21). 

But in light of points 1–3, there would be no way of knowing whether this or that current event is directly related to any stage-setting of end-times events within our own generation. So, it’s best not even to suggest this. Instead, we should apply Jesus’s words: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44). And “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). 

In my thirty-plus years of being a believer, I’ve seen outright date-setters, sign-seekers, and this-is-that proclaimers come and go. Those of us who remember Y2K (Google it), recall well-meaning Christians write books plotting out how that global crisis was going to lead to the rise of Antichrist and the end times. They did the same with 9/11. And with every other significant world crisis that’s come along. We’ve been through this all before. In fact, for 2000 years the church has had to deal with such end-times speculations based on even more deadly and tragic crises than COVID-19. 

But our job as Bible-believing Christians is not to look for signs, speculate about scenarios, or set dates. Our job is to be ready with lives of holiness and to preach the gospel to all peoples.

I have been emailed about it. I have been phoned. I have been Facebooked and Tweeted. Websites by cracked-brain fanatics have misused articles I’ve written as “evidence” for the veracity of their lunacy. However, despite their creative (read: fanciful), detailed (read: speculative) interpretations (read: “astrallegory”), these self-proclaimed “Watchers” (Revelation 12 sign proponents) will not get me to budge a millimeter on my insistence that Jesus, Paul, and Peter were right and they are wrong.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself blessed. If you’re at all curious about the latest outbreak of acute Date-Setting Syndrome, just start and end your inquiry here. (Yes, I just recommended a Wikipedia article.) The gist is that the sun, moon, and stars alignment with the woman in Revelation 12 will be literally fulfilled on September 23, 2017, and that this will be the sign heralding the rapture of the church (or, I suppose, some other significant eschatological event pointed to when the rapture doesn’t appear as ordered).

Yes, in both scholarly and popular contexts (as well as in my teaching), I have argued that the catching up of the male son in Revelation 12:5 is best interpreted as a vision of the future resurrection/rapture of the church described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (see Chapter 9 in this book for a popular-level treatment). However, the sun, moon, and stars symbols in Revelation 12 refer back to the vision of Joseph in Genesis 37:9 and are included to give us an interpretational clue as to whom the woman refers: Israel as a corporate body. There is absolutely nothing in the text that suggests that these symbols are to be linked to the literal sun, moon, and stars in some kind of alignment…or that the woman and other figures are astronomical patterns. In case I am being misunderstood, I reject and repudiate any and all identifications of this passage with astronomical phenomena, which is really astrology, or as I prefer to call it, “astrallegory.”

September 23 will come and go, just like every other half-baked attempt at setting a day for eschatological events in direct contradiction to the words of Jesus, Paul, and Peter. It is a grievous sin to set dates and I have, in print and on the air, numerous times, rejected this.

How can I be so sure that these new Revelation 12 sign-seekers and date-setters are so pathetically wrong? And how do I justify my strong denouncement of their folly?

Because, besides looking foolish, sign-seekers and date-setters can also do damage to people’s faith and to the cause of Christ. How so? When these dates come and go and the “fulfillments” don’t pan out, weak believers, unbelievers, skeptics, critics, and scoffers might conclude one of two things: 1) Christianity and the Bible are utterly untrustworthy, legitimately leading to the question, “What else does the Bible teach that isn’t really true?” Or, more likely, 2) The Bible is hopelessly ambiguous, because if careful interpreters can wrongly read so many different current events into it, then Scripture can apparently be interpreted to say anything people want it to say. In either case, nothing good comes from repeatedly failed date-setting and sign-seeking. Rather, those who engage in this dangerous sport make authentic, Bible-believing Christians look bad, as scoffers lump us all together and regard us as misguided, brainless zealots.

Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the entire early church believed that nobody can calculate or know the hour, day, year, or even season of Christ’s return. Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matt. 24:36). To clarify that not even the disciples could have known, Jesus added, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42). And to underscore the fact that even those who would believe in subsequent generations could not know the time of Christ’s return, Jesus said, “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. . . . What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert’” (Mark 13:33, 37).

Later the apostle Paul reiterated this teaching that nobody knows the day or the hour but that all believers of every generation must remain alert and ready for judgment to come at any moment. He wrote, “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1–2). Believers, however, will not be overtaken by the suddenness of this coming (5:4), not because they will know the times, epochs, year, and day, but because they will be ready for Christ’s return regardless of when it occurs! Later the apostle Peter himself echoes this same thought: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Pet. 3:10, emphasizing the suddenness of the coming of Christ in judgment.

Finally, an early Christian writing called the Didache (A.D. 50–70), used for instruction of new Gentile believers in Christ, included a brief account of Christian expectations of the end times. The author of that text wrote, “Watch over your life: do not let your lamps go out, and do not be unprepared, but be ready, for you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming” (Didache 16.1). Thus, the pattern of teaching in the early orthodox church was the same as that of Jesus and the apostles: we do not know (and cannot know) the time of Christ’s return. It could happen in their lifetime as well as ours. Therefore, we must be ready for it every day and every moment of our lives.

Yet these facts of Christian faith don’t stop those high-risk gamblers playing the “Dating Game.” Instead, they suggest that these warnings are for unbelievers, or that God has chosen to progressively illuminate His church to discover the secret knowledge long hidden in Scripture, or they quote passages like Amos 3:7, concluding that God would never suddenly judge the world without adequate warning.

Bible-believing Christians must all make a conscious decision to resist two perennial errors with regard to end-times expectations. First, we must ban, shun, and reject those who play the “Dating Game.” Setting a date for the return of Christ or some other end-time event(s) is completely unacceptable. It was unacceptable in the first century. It is unacceptable in the twenty-first century. We must exercise a policy of “ZERO TOLERANCE” for this unwise and borderline blasphemous practice.

Second, we must also inoculate ourselves against the much more common disease of “This-is-that-itis,” which is the common practice of interpreting the Bible’s prophecies in light of current events and presumptuously concluding (or at least hypothesizing) that our generation must be the last generation…or this day must be the date of the rapture. This was unacceptable in the first century. It is unacceptable in the twenty-first. We simply cannot know the hour, day, week, month, year, decade, or generation. Christ could come in our lifetime. Or He could come in a thousand years.

The Revelation 12 prophecy proponents are guilty of both Sign-Seeking and Date-Setting.

Their astrallegory must be rejected because only God knows when Christ will return, and He’s not telling.

Some of the first books I read as a young believer had to do with the end times. Okay, that’s actually an understatement. I didn’t just read them. I consumed them. And they weren’t just about the end times. Those books made it sound like we were either in the tribulation itself or at the brink of that climactic world crisis that would usher in the end. Those books had red, yellow, or black covers. They usually featured atomic blasts, fire, smoke, dragons, or demons. All of them alleged that we could (and should) read the Bible alongside the newspaper because current events were fulfilling the prophecies of Revelation almost every day.

Some of the more nuanced treatments said things like, “So-and-so could be the Antichrist” or “This or that technology may be used in the Tribulation as the mark of the beast” or “These events in Europe [or the Middle East, or Russia, or China] might be setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist’s one world government.” In short, these authors, T.V. preachers, pastors, and end-times enthusiasts sought after signs in the news or in the skies that would point to the imminent end of the world. In fact, I was once told not to waste my time at seminary because “There isn’t time.”

I began to grow weary (and distrustful) of this practice of sign-seeking when some of these teachers kept changing their identifications. First the ten-nation confederacy in Revelation 13 was the European Union . . . then it was a Mediterranean alliance that included the Middle East . . . then it was a Middle Eastern and Asian alliance. Or some suggested the Antichrist would be a New Age guru . . . others a European politician . . . others a Muslim dictator from the Middle East. And the mark of the Beast? Social Security numbers? Bar codes? GPS devices? Smart phones?

Besides looking foolish, sign-seekers can also do damage to people’s faith and to the cause of Christ. How so? When these possible “fulfillments” don’t pan out, weak believers, unbelievers, skeptics, critics, and scoffers might conclude one of two things: 1) Christianity and the Bible are utterly untrustworthy, legitimately leading to the question, “What else does the Bible teach that isn’t really true?” Or, more likely, 2) The Bible is hopelessly ambiguous, because if careful interpreters can wrongly read so many different current events into it, then Scripture can apparently be interpreted to say anything people want it to say. In either case, nothing good comes from repeatedly failed sight-seeking. Rather, those who engage in this dangerous sport make authentic, Bible-believing Christians look bad, as they lump us all together and regard us as misguided, brainless zealots.

Since those early days of my end times enthusiasm, I’ve watched countless sign-seekers, date-setters, and victims of this-is-that syndrome come and go. The latest misguided miscreants pointing at red moons in the sky aren’t the first . . . and won’t be the last. But balanced Bible-believing Christians need to be inoculated from this disease with a healthy injection of truth about the end times. We of all people need to correct, rebuke, and reject the end times hacks and quacks pointing at current events to boost their book sales while bamboozling believers.

[Adapted from Exploring Christian Theology, vol. 3, available here.]