The question at the top of my list is what’s this pandemic all about? As a matter of fact, the many emails I get and conversations I engage in seem to indicate that, in one way or another, this question is chief among topics on the minds of others.

And why not?

The pandemic struck with swiftness and devastation to our way of life, the likes of which nothing in our scope of experience has equaled. Things have been turned upside down because of the coronavirus.

I know it’s the same for you who have been readings these posts lately. We have a deep desire to know exactly what is going on, in light of everything else that’s been happening, in consideration of possible biblically prophetic meanings.

I, like you, have heard many different reasons this world-changing virus has been unleashed.

It’s all about setting the stage for Antichrist is one thought. I, myself, have expressed a number of times that I believe this is one element of the reason for things shifting so dramatically at this late hour.

God is judging this nation because of the murder of more than sixty-five million babies through abortion is another theory. Certainly, a scriptural argument can be made for this.

God is invoking the Genesis 12 curse on America because the Trump administration included dividing up Israel’s land in its Deal of the Century peace plan. This proposition is a growing speculation among some.

There are many more postulations coming forth in the quest to have the answer to the question: What’s this pandemic all about? It’s a question I believe God wants His people to ponder.

Another possibility proffered is that God is wanting to get our attention—not only the attention of the lost souls who are headed down the broad way to destruction, but the attention of true believers.

My own thinking is that there might be some degree—perhaps a large degree—of credence in this thinking. The whole world continues to be stunned by the blow struck by this microscopic entity we call COVID-19 or coronavirus. The staggering occurrence, certainly allowed by God to happen, has diverted our attention from the moment-by-moment activity of living life. Everyone with the capability to get information on what is happening with the disease is paying attention.

People, particularly in America, now hunker down in their homes and wear masks when venturing out for—well, for toilet paper in particular, it seems.

The churches now sit empty seven days a week instead of six. This, in itself, speaks something significant to the question: What’s this pandemic all about?

The world banishes God from public places. Has God now banished people from church sanctuaries?

I jest only to a degree. The second-most-televised governmental authority, just behind President Trump in numbers of hours on camera, seems to have weighed in on God and His place in the nation.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, who is given substantial national television time every day to brief the world on the state of the battle against COVID-19, has weighed in on his view of God’s status in all of this.

He’s the Democrat governor who just recently signed the Reproductive Health Act into law, a law that allows for abortion up to the due date and removes all protections for any baby who somehow lives through the abortion procedure.

Cuomo said about the battle against the pandemic:

It [the plateau in the number of new cases] is directly a result of what you do today…. The number is down because we brought the number down. God did not do that, fate did not do that, destiny did not do that, a lot of pain and suffering did that.

One must at least wonder if such an attitude by the governor might be part of why New York City is ground zero for the coronavirus. To banish the God of all creation is a most serious—might I say “dangerous”?—matter for any people.

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. (Psalms 2:2–4)

From my perspective of Bible prophecy in the stage-setting process for the wind-up of the age, three factors leap from current news.

These are in addition to the tremendous developments taking place in the socioeconomic dynamics brought on by the sudden appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic. That virus, coming out of the demonic world, it seems to me, was in itself enough to point to the nearness of the end of this dispensation.

The dire prospects for recovery from the effects of the coronavirus are, if one hasn’t faith in God’s complete control, at the very least emotionally debilitating.

Now, three additional developments bring into sharper focus exactly how near we are to the time when Christ calls for His Bride, the Church. This fact—that Jesus Christ is, for all born-again believers, soon to break through all the depressing news to take His own into Heaven—should excite us.

The first of the factors I see as profoundly setting the stage for the Tribulation era, thus for the Rapture of the Church, involves China’s sudden emergence to prominence on the geopolitical scene.

For centuries, China was a building giant that seemingly chose to stay sequestered behind the Great Wall. It had little major influence. Then the communist takeover gave the vast nation a presence that represented a threat, but one that could be controlled by the greater powers of the West—and even, to some extent, by a Soviet regime that didn’t want Mao Tse-tung to get too far out of line.

China has emerged, as we all know, to become an economic force that, in conjunction with its military presence, some say can nearly rival that of the US. It has become the great, hegemonic power of all of Asia. It is even building entire islands in the South China Sea just to establish a military presence to challenge anyone who dares to enter those waters.

America, it is sad to say, has provided much of the funding for that military burgeoning through insane trade deals of the past. And now, the communist leadership of China is beginning to assert its ever-increasing power. We see some of this through the following:

U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr warned of a range of threats from China including propaganda efforts surrounding the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and efforts to interfere in U.S. elections. In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Barr described Chinese efforts as a ‘full-court blitzkrieg’ across multiple fronts, which he said includes meddling in US elections, exercising control over key supply chains and promoting disinformation about the coronavirus. (“AG Barr Says China in ‘full-court blitzkrieg’ to Undermine US Elections and Institutions,” Fox News, Rapture Ready News, April 10, 2020)

Many students of Bible prophecy have long viewed China as a leading part of the “kings of the east” army foretold to invade the Occidental world across a dried-up Euphrates River. This is prophetically scheduled to take place during the Tribulation era (see Revelation chapters 9 and 16).

I have termed China “the king of the kings of the east.” Certainly they are swiftly moving into position to fulfill this role.

The second element in the news today that I believe is setting the stage for the coming Tribulation involves Iran.

That nation, which occupies much of the territory of the ancient Persian Empire, is scheduled prophetically to attack Israel in “the latter days,” meaning, I take it, in the post-Rapture era.

Ezekiel the prophet, in chapters 38 and 39, calls it the “Gog-Magog” force, consisting, we believe, of Russia, Iran, and Turkey, along with lesser nations. The following brings to light Iran’s preparation for that assault:

The national security and foreign policy committee for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s parliament declared that Tehran will move forward with its uranium enrichment process, triggering sharp criticism from the US State Department on Thursday. (“Iran Defies EU, Declaring Continued Nuclear Uranium Enrichment,” by Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, Rapture Ready News, April 10, 2020)

Iran’s defiance of demands by the US president, the European Union, and especially by Israel for that nation dismantle its nuclear weapons facilities puts the region on track for a prophetic fulfillment. The very mountains that reportedly house these facilities are foretold to suffer catastrophic destruction. Many of us believe it will be Israel that destroys the nuclear capability of its chief nemesis.

The third current new items that I believe shows the nearness of the Tribulation is seen in the following:

In light of the growing demand by the Israeli public, several major Israeli rabbis ruled on the subject and for the first time ruled that it was now permissible to begin the Passover Temple service. As a result of that ruling, the rabbis sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting that he allow the korban Pesach to take place.

The Sanhedrin emphasized that the plan to bring the altar to the Temple Mount was entirely consistent with President Trump’s recently released Deal of the Century which recognized Israel’s full sovereignty over the site. (“Historic First: Israel’s Top Rabbis Call on Netanyahu to Allow Temple Service to Begin on Temple Mount,” Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Breaking Israel News, Rapture Ready News, April 10, 2020)

The request was rejected because of feared ramifications of probable conflict with Muslim forces and complications presented by the coronavirus.

However, the demands by the Jews in the area that Temple worship be allowed are growing. The almost completed plans for rebuilding the Temple and the already-prepared instruments of worship assure that the prophecies concerning the Tribulation Temple is nearing fulfillment.

With prophetic stage-setting for the Tribulation in overdrive, the nearness of the Rapture of the Church can’t be overemphasized.