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Humanity has battled against plagues for millennia. Unfortunately, viruses have often won wars, destroying millions of people around the world for generations.
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I remember when I was five years old watching my parents come home crying, in desperation and mourning for the loss of my younger sister Edna. She was about two years old, a beautiful girl with bright blue eyes and blond curling hair. My father loved her so much. Every afternoon, she would crawl to meet my dad at the front door when he arrived from work. She was one of the many victims of measles. At that time, the measles, a lethal virus, killed thousands of children in my nation. Finally, sometime later, vaccination came, and the virus lost its power over Brazilian kids. In 1969, four years after her death, I contracted TB (tuberculosis), and the infectious disease almost took my life. My parents had no money to buy medication, and on top of that, I was malnourished, which made things worse. By God’s grace, I survived, and I can write this short article today.
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The outbreak of smallpox, cholera, Spanish flu, typhoid fever, SARS, dengue, Ebola, measles, chikungunya, etc., were some of the many deadly pandemics in the past centuries that had gotten into nations and had harvested the lives of an innumerable number of victims.
COVID-19
In the beginning of 2020, the city of Wuhan in China was hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Because of ignorance or a political agenda, they did not share the problem soon enough, and the epidemic advanced from there to more than 164 countries (as I am writing this article), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Thousands had already died around the world; however, some countries, such as China and Iran, are not truthful with their information on the number of cases and deaths.
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Canada’s Prime Minister closed our borders with the USA and for foreigners with very few exemptions. The world is alarmed and in fear. I got a call from a fellow in Pakistan who told me how seriously their government is dealing with the problem there. They had also cancelled schools and forbidden public services in mosques, churches, or any other gathering in the country. In a time when we can get information in seconds, things can really turn into chaos. Another challenge is detecting what is true from what is phony information. In some nations where elections are scheduled to happen this year, parties are using the plague as a political platform in their campaign. Recently, I received a video of a Brazilian doctor who was speaking on the subject; however, in a subliminal way, most of his ten-minute exposition was full of political ideology and not medical information. It is crazy! We are praying that soon this virus will be defeated and we will not see many more casualties than we have witnessed up to now.
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Nevertheless, we see another plague devastating humanity at a pace never seen before, and as a result, sometime in the future there will be a terrible epidemic unlike any other that will be part of a series of divine judgments.
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The speedily developing plague that I mentioned is a spiritual one, which is described in the Bible as lawlessness or sin (men are making their own immoral laws while they despise and mock the divine law). According to the Scriptures, most of the end-time civilization will have these characteristics:
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“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”1
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The spiritual state of most of humanity will become unimaginably sinful. They will love evil and hate what is good. Jesus foretold that iniquity would increase in the end times2. We see this happening now. Family values are no longer a priority for many. This generation seeks only pleasure instead of responsibility. There are millions of feckless and faithless individuals, the fruit of broken homes; many teenage mothers are alcoholics or drug addicts. It is not difficult to see the impact that this situation is already having and will have on the next generation. Governments have removed God from their lives, and they are now reaping the consequences of their immoral choices. As the Bible says, "They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." Those who sow injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of their fury will be destroyed."3
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Many post-Christian nations are killing myriads of children in abortion clinics, giving approval to same-sex marriage, and persecuting church leaders who speak against their evil behaviour. The Scriptures I mentioned above say that these people have a form of godliness. Some of them even claim to be Christians; however, they created their own Jesus (Jesus said that in the end times many false Christs and false prophets would appear on the earth). 4
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BIOLOGICAL END-TIME CATASTROPHE
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The book of Revelation describes a pandemic virus caused by an invasion of locusts, described by the apostle John as part of the last day’s divine judgment on humanity. Let’s read it:​
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“And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.”5
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John’s portrait of this upcoming pandemic is horrific and excruciating. He described how the consequences of the inflicted plague would change people’s minds. Instead of looking for a vaccine, men will look to die, and yet they won’t be able to do it. Another important fact is that the target is not nature, which environmentalists are so concerned about. God will attend to their desire and save the trees and spare the vegetation. They didn’t care about the extermination of millions of unborn babies in abortion clinics or the removal of Christian values and God from our society. Instead, they created many gods to worship, including the goddess "Mother Earth" and the religion of "climate change". God will give them a taste of their wickedness. I would like to remind you that He is not against environmental preservation; He actually encourages it, 6 but the Creator is more important than creation, and humans are more important than nature.
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Remember that John, as a first-century citizen, was transported to the future, and he described the vision he saw in the way he could understand it. Can you imagine this fellow, who never saw a car, an airplane, or a nuclear explosion, interpreting and portraying it with his ancient perception? Years ago, I heard a preacher, whose name I can’t remember now, say the vision of these locusts mentioned by John were helicopters. John didn’t mention "gigantic" locusts, which would be an important detail for the fellow’s assumption, (however, in our day’s drones have become part of civil and military society, some of them the size of a locust.) Let’s look at some descriptive details to consider the locust-helicopter theory: “and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.”
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If that were the case, the plague would have been caused by humans,
or it would have been a virus created by humans.
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Some western authorities are accusing China of producing coronavirus in a lab in Wuhan. We could think that the plague mentioned in Revelation will be a biological weapon used in military warfare that will cause a catastrophic pandemic in the world.
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It is significant to mention that in the same passage there is an important point: "They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." The Scriptures pointed out that a selected group will not be infected by the plague: "Those who have the seal of God on their foreheads."
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According to the Scriptures, this plague will be part of God’s judgment on the earth. He will allow men to use their own weapons to kill each other, for they despised God’s love, choosing Satan as their god. The apostle Paul described the divine actions against this evil and godless society with these words: "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, and no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." 7
The world's deadliest bioweapons, such as anthrax, botulism, smallpox, and tularemia, have undergone thorough research, development, and, in some cases, have been deployed with catastrophic consequences. Anthrax is considered one of the most powerful biological weapons in existence, and military helicopters and drones have been employed to transport such a chemical weapon. According to the prophet John, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," affirming that the only vaccine to free humanity from sin is through Jesus' blood.8
You may ask me, "If I am still alive when this plague comes, where can I get the seal of God mentioned in the Scriptures?" This is the question that I always had when I read the book of Revelation, even though I was not a Christian yet. You don’t have to wait until this time of judgment comes, for there is still a way out! As I said, this second plague will come because of the first, which is sin. Then, to get the seal of God, you must deal with sin in your life. The apostle John wrote: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”; “and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”; “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”9
Paul wrote: “In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”10
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Jesus died on the cross to save us. He died as our substitute to pay the penalty for transgressions; “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”11
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There is still time for you to make your decision. You can make the choice and take the spiritual remedy, which will set you free from the chains of sin and from the power of the devil. How? By acknowledging that you are a sinner, as mentioned in the Scriptures above; by repenting of what you have done, and by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord. It is written, "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." 12
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If you have understood it from your heart and want to accept Jesus, you can start with this simple prayer: “God, I am sorry for all my sins that I have done. I thank you that you sent your Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and to shed his blood to pay for my sins. Right now I invite Jesus to be the Lord of my life for I believe that He died and rose again. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.”
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According to Scriptures, those who accept Christ are children of God13 and have received God’s seal: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”14
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To Him all the glory!
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Notes:
1 – I Timothy 3: 1-5
2 – Mathew 24: 12
3 – Hosea 8: 7, Proverbs 22:8
4 – Mathew 24: 5-24
5 - Revelation 9: 3-11
6 - "When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Deuteronomy 20: 19 “If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. "If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. Exodus 23: 4-5 "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing. Deuteronomy 25: 4 “A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” Proverbs 12: 10 The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop,” Leviticus 25: 1-7
7- Romans 1: 28-32
8 - John 1: 29
9 – I John 1: 7-9, Revelation 1: 5; 7: 14
10 – Ephesians 1: 7
11 – II Corinthians 5: 21
12 – Romans 10: 9
13- “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” John 1: 12
14 – Ephesians 4: 30 YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AT:
https://www.wmpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WMP_English_NKJV_WAI.pdf