As if there isn’t enough scary stuff out there for us each to navigate through, we now have word that The World Health Organization (WHO) is “deeply concerned” about a flu virus (H5N1) that could be more transmissible between humans; this after mutant strains were produced in labs.
Researchers in Europe and the U.S. have found ways to alter H5N1 (that alone is a scary thought. What if an evil entity was trying to do this?) and that if the virus mutates, there is the potential that “millions of deaths” would result.
Currently, about 350 people have died from this—the H5N1 strain of avian influenza is fatal in 60 percent of cases. It can’t be transmitted between humans, but of course there’s always that danger lurking…
For years, scientists and journalists who study this issue of mass disease have known that the potential exists for another Black Death scenario. More than a few researchers think it’s inevitable.
The Bible actually has quite a lot to say about the subject. In Zechariah 14:12, the word “plague” is used, but apparently in the context of a horrific nuclear confrontation. The prophet Jeremiah acknowledged the bitter reality: ”The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.”
In Matthew 24:7, we read: ”For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
The strange book of Revelation has a stew of weird, apocalyptic stories, not the least of which is the presence of two mysterious witnesses that the world hates. In Revelation 11:6, we read:
“These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”
Now of course, there are various schools of thought about all this. Skeptics would simply say that the Bible isn’t true. Certain others would acknowledge it as a sacred book, but would interpret these above scenarios in a more symbolic way.
What is curious to me is how the Bible describes pestilence and plague as realities in our world.
So is the end result simply despair? Not at all. All the above—and more—is why Jesus must return to Earth. As He said in Matthew 24:22:
“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
We can be dismissive of Scripture, or ignore it, or consign it to the realm of myth of symbolism, but what if it’s true? What if Jesus is right, that He must return to prevent the final destruction of all things?
Man now has the capacity to destroy himself, on a global scale. This is a very real threat, thought about by a multitude of serious people.
Jesus is claiming to be an Escape from it all. He told us that He is the only real source of rescue.
Are you plagued by fear? Is your personal situation as bleak as the rest of your species? Then consider the claims of Christ.