There’s nothing like a catastrophic event to capture the imagination of people and fuel prognostications of fiery pulpiteers regarding the end of the world. The signs of the times are thought by many to signify the imminent return of Jesus Christ and end-times. These assumptions are based on a misunderstanding of or, in the case of religious leaders, sometimes the outright abuse of Scripture, namely Matthew 24:6-7. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” (NKJV).
Though the apostles did not realize it yet, they essentially asked Jesus Christ two different questions in Matthew 24. “…Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). They could not perceive of the massive Temple in Jerusalem being so utterly demolished that not one stone remained upon another except that the entire world would be destroyed also (Matthew 24:1-2). Nevertheless, our Lord answered the two questions posed by the apostles, first regarding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and secondly about the end of time when Jesus’ Second Coming would occur.
It is important to observe that Jesus repeatedly cautioned His disciples not to be fooled by pretenders—false christs (Matthew 24:4-5), “false prophets” (Matthew 24:11) and “false christs and false prophets” (Matthew 24:24). It is as important in the 21st century for us not to be fooled by “false christs and false prophets.” “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
While Jesus answered the first of the two questions posed by His disciples, He referred to what people commonly call the signs of the times. However, notice that all of what Jesus said—including the signs of the times—was relative to the generation that was then living during the ministry of our Lord. “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). Therefore, the signs of the times about which our Lord spoke pertained only to the first century and were only relative to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “generation” as “the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/generation). Hence, a generation is approximately 30 years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation). Everything Jesus said about the signs of the times was to take place within about 30 years. Therefore, Jesus’ response to His apostles about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem was contained within the timeframe of about 30 years, and the signs of the times could have neither relevance nor application to happenings in the 21st century.
Every generation experiences “wars and rumors of wars,” sees “nation…rise against nation” and observes “famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.” Therefore, what Jesus said about the signs of the times could only refer to the generation living in the first century. Furthermore, our Lord’s elaboration about fleeing to the mountains (Matthew 24:16), a woman being pregnant or having infants (Matthew 24:19) and the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20) does not correspond to the Second Coming and the end of the world. Fleeing to the mountains at the Second Coming of Christ doesn’t make any sense; no one will be able to flee from our Lord to anywhere at His Second Coming. Being pregnant or having small children would not hinder anyone regarding the Second Coming. Further, what difference would it make were the Second Coming to occur on the Sabbath?
On the other hand, these matters do make sense when read within the context of Jesus answering the first question of His disciples, regarding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. At the appearance of the approaching Roman army, Christians were to flee Jerusalem to avoid being caught up in the city’s impending overthrow. The haste with which Jesus said those fleeing should flee to the mountains could have reference only to escaping Jerusalem before it was besieged (Matthew 24:17-18). Pregnant women and families with small children would face difficulty in hastily fleeing an approaching horde of soldiers. If the Roman legions arrived on the Sabbath, the closure of the city gates by the Jews in the observance of the Law would greatly hinder anyone fleeing to the mountains.
“Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history” (Hedges). Wars and rumors of wars, etc. in Matthew 24 can only be relative to a particular generation—the first century—since every generation experiences them. Likewise, earthquakes and disease occur in every generation; a glance into history confirms this.
Even plagues of worldwide proportion have occurred from time to time:
- A prehistoric epidemic in China about 3000 B.C.
- The Plague of Athens in 430 B.C. killed about 100,000 in Greece.
- Antonine Plague from A.D. 165-180 killed over 5 million people in the Roman Empire.
- The Plague of Cyprian from A.D. 250-271 killed 5,000 people daily in Rome alone (a bishop in Carthage attributed the plague as the sign of the end of the world).
- The Plague of Justinian from A.D. 541-542 killed about 10% of the world’s population.
- The Black Death from 1346-1353 originated in Asia and killed half the population of Europe after it migrated there.
- The Cocoliztli Epidemic from 1545-1548 killed 15 million in Mexico and Central America.
- American Plagues in the 16th century brought from Europe by explorers killed 90% of the indigenous population of North and South America.
- The Great Plague of London from 1665-1666 killed 100,000 or 15% of London’s population.
- The Great Plague of Marseille from 1720-1723 killed about 100,000 people or approximately 30% of the city.
- The Russian Plague from 1770-1772 killed about 100,000 in Moscow.
- The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1793 led to 5,000 deaths in the city.
- The Flu Pandemic from 1889-1890 originated in Russia and reached its peak globally within five weeks—killing one million.
- The American Polio Epidemic in 1916 started in New York City and led to 6,000 deaths in the USA.
- The Spanish Flu resulted in 50 million deaths worldwide and 675,000 in the USA (“1918 Pandemic”).
- The 1957 Pandemic—Asian flu—caused 1.1 million deaths worldwide and 116,000 deaths in the USA (“1957-1958 Pandemic”).
- The 1968 Pandemic—flu—led to one million deaths globally and 100,000 dead in the USA (“1968 Pandemic”).
- The AIDS Pandemic and Epidemic from 1981 through the present has claimed 35 million lives.
- The 2009-2010 Swine Flu Pandemic infected 1.4 billion and killed between 152,700 and 575,400 worldwide and caused 12,469 deaths in the USA (“2009 H1N1 Pandemic”).
- The West African Ebola Epidemic from 2014-2016 led to 11,325 deaths.
- The Zika Virus Epidemic from 2015 through the present is still being tabulated.
Plainly, the current strain of coronavirus or COVID-19 is only the latest plague battering humanity among many diseases that historically have ravaged the human population regionally or globally. Therefore, COVID-19 is no more a sign of the Second Coming of Christ and of the end of the world than any previous pandemic, epidemic or plague. While answering the second question of the disciples regarding the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ, Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). To illustrate that statement, our Lord related that people would be “…eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage…” (Matthew 24:38), working “in the field” (Matthew 24:40) and “grinding at the mill” (Matthew 24:41), as they were in Noah’s day, when our Lord returns (Matthew 24:37-41). Jesus plainly said regarding the end of the world and His Second Coming, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42) and “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). 
Works Cited or Consulted
“1918 Pandemic (N1H1 virus).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html>.
“1957-1958 Pandemic (H2N2).” CDC. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1957-1958-pandemic.html>.
“1968 Pandemic (H3N2 virus)”. CDC. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1968-pandemic.html>.
“2009 H1N1 Pandemic.” CDC. 16 Apr 2020. < https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html>.
Hedges, Chris. “What Every Person Should Know about War.” The New York Times. 6 Jul 2003. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/books/chapters/what-every-person-should-know-about-war.html>.
“History of Influenza Pandemics by the Numbers, The.” Cusabio Technolog. 10 May 2021. <https://www.cusabio.com/c-21023.html>
Jarus, Owen. “20 of the Worst Epidemics and Pandemics in History.” Live Science. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.livescience.com/worst-epidemics-and-pandemics-in-history.html>.
Merriam-Webster. 16 Apr 2020. <https://www.merriam-webster.com/>.
