Prophets and the coming darkness: Is Covid-10 an End Times plague?

Prophecies on the coming darkness: Is #Covid-10 an End Times plague?

Photo by UN.org

One of the intriguing End Times prophecies in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) has an echo in other parts of the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments. It has to do with an unusual darkness that is supposed to come on the earth. 

It also parallels one of the 10 plagues - three days of darkness - that the Lord brought on the Egyptian pharaoh that refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt. The story is a familiar one. The Lord sent a message to pharaoh through Moses for the Jews to be set free so they could worship the Lord in the wilderness. The story is found in Exodus, chapters 5-14.

A minister recently asked me on Christian television whether I thought the #Covid-19 virus was one of the Tribulation judgments. In my opinion, the virus that has upended the world is not part of the Great Tribulation. I do not believe that the Lord created this virus to afflict humans. However, it is obvious that He has permitted it, and He does so to serve His purposes.

For example, the plagues of Egypt served to expose the hardened and prideful heart of a pharaoh who refused to acknowledge the God of creation. Historically, humanity suffered and survived devastating pandemics that killed millions. However, the current coronavirus - a mere microscopic organism - regardless of how it originated - has brought to its knees our modern society as we know it. We have no idea how or when the #pandemic will end.

Several prophetic voices claim to have received divine warnings, some going back years, about an extraordinary and frightening darkness that the Lord plans to send (allow?), and which will cover the earth for three days. The darkness is intended to stir people to repentance, according to the messages. In the case of pharaoh, the darkness was a plague meant to get him to take the Lord seriously. We know how the story ended. What ultimately killed Pharaoh was his pride, something that ought to serve as a lesson for us. [ Proverbs 16:18 (NIV) - "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."]


Exodus 10:21-22 (NLT):

"21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.” ²² So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. ²³ During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived."

"Darkness" in other scriptures

There are three references in Revelation to a future darkness, and which perhaps will occur more than once; it is associated with God's End Times judgments:
 
Revelation 8:12 - "The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night."

Revelation 9:2 - "He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft."  

Revelation 16:10 - "The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish." 

Jesus also foretold this

Jesus Christ, in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, vividly described several signs of the End Times period, including a certain darkness, following unusual events in the heavens:

Matthew 24:29 - “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Mark 13:24 - "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, " 
 
The death of Jesus on the cross was also marked with an event of darkness: 

Mark 15:33 (NLT) - "At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock." 

Old Testament prophecies

Several Old Testament scriptures include references to a coming darkness that is beyond what could be interpreted as simply symbolic:

Joel 2:10 - "All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord God."  

Amos 5:18 (NLT) - "What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the Lord were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for.That day will bring darkness, not light."

Amos 8:9 - "And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight."

Ezekiel 32:8 - "All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord God."

Isaiah 8:22 - "And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness."

Isaiah 60:2 [a] - "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;"

Jeremiahs' warning against pride

The prophet Jeremiah is given a warning from the Lord to share with the people so they would repent and turn back the pending divine punishment. As it was in the case of pharaoh, the root sin that Jeremiah addressed was pride:

Jeremiah 13:15-17[a] (NIV) - 





"15 Hear and pay attention,
    do not be arrogant,
    for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶ Give glory to the Lord your God
    before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble
    on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
    but he will turn it to utter darkness
    and change it to deep gloom.
¹⁷ If you do not listen,
    I will weep in secret
    because of your pride;"

Darkness can take on different forms, but what the Bible describes in several places is a literal and frightening darkness as a potential pre-Tribulation "plague" or as a Tribulation judgment. Once the 7-year Tribulation begins, the punishments will be unrelenting and without precedent. Covid-19 could be a wake-up call for us. If plagues of this magnitude continue, then we know we are on the threshold of a new era in God's calendar. Let us respond accordingly, with repentance and intercessory prayers.

(Note: Except where indicated, scriptures references were taken from the ESV Bible translation. United Nations photo is of health professionals in Iran conferring about Covid-19.)

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Today, if you do not know Jesus, receive His free offer of salvation and put all your trust in Him.

John 1:29 (NLT) – “The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

2 Corinthians 6:2 – “ For God says,

“At just the right time, I heard you.
    On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

Acts 2:38 (NLT) – “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Shalom!

Diana Washington-Valdez

Faith Today Christian Ministries

Exalting the name of Jesus!