Does anyone see that the COVID epidemic is a TEST from God?

[Selah7]

Greetings, George . . .  I do feel this is both a test from God and a foreshadowing of prophesy. In my perspective, the Covid worldwide pandemic will be used to complete the establishment of a one-world government, which is the first beast prophesied in the book of Revelation.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

- Revelation 13:1-2 

[Marilyn C]

9 hours ago, George said:

Shalom everyone,

I'm posting this talking point, because I see the correlation between the Children of Israel and their wilderness wanderings and the tests they faced ... and failed ... to the times in which we are living.

Does anyone else see that this COVID epidemic as a TEST to see whom we should FEAR?  To reveal motivations?  To reveal truth?

Jesus first words when concerning the last days and the sign of his coming ... Take heed that NO MAN deceive you ... 

Does anyone else see the deception all around us?

Just throwing out some discussion points ...

Chime in ... let's sharpen one another as IRON sharpens IRON!

Let this discussion be done in LOVE ... and let's discuss this as a loving family ... give me your thoughts!

I'm interested ...

George 

Hi George,

An important and relevant discussion.

I believe the fear of the so called pandemic is part of what the Lord said would come upon people before the Lord returns for Israel and the nations. 

`....men`s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth...` (Luke 21: 26)

Also with the fear of covid, we can include the war in Ukraine (as well as in many other places) with rumbles about a nuclear war, the looming inflation, abounding lawlessness, and the lack of leadership in the West. 

So important that we are `holding fast to the Head,` that we have our peace and freedom IN HIM.

[teddyv]

I am, likewise, in agreement with @Josheb and @Marathoner. Not much to add to those posts.

[Ani Tefillah]

16 hours ago, George said:

Shalom everyone,

I'm posting this talking point, because I see the correlation between the Children of Israel and their wilderness wanderings and the tests they faced ... and failed ... to the times in which we are living.

Does anyone else see that this COVID epidemic as a TEST to see whom we should FEAR?  To reveal motivations?  To reveal truth?

Jesus first words when concerning the last days and the sign of his coming ... Take heed that NO MAN deceive you ... 

Does anyone else see the deception all around us?

Just throwing out some discussion points ...

Chime in ... let's sharpen one another as IRON sharpens IRON!

Let this discussion be done in LOVE ... and let's discuss this as a loving family ... give me your thoughts!

I'm interested ...

George 

Amen! I agree with you, and I also think that it is a forerunner for the mark of the beast. 

Three words have been a huge comfort to me during this.....'this must happen', and also that I should not fear. 😊 

[Duck]

18 hours ago, George said:

Shalom everyone,

I'm posting this talking point, because I see the correlation between the Children of Israel and their wilderness wanderings and the tests they faced ... and failed ... to the times in which we are living.

Does anyone else see that this COVID epidemic as a TEST to see whom we should FEAR?  To reveal motivations?  To reveal truth?

Jesus first words when concerning the last days and the sign of his coming ... Take heed that NO MAN deceive you ... 

Does anyone else see the deception all around us?

Just throwing out some discussion points ...

Chime in ... let's sharpen one another as IRON sharpens IRON!

Let this discussion be done in LOVE ... and let's discuss this as a loving family ... give me your thoughts!

I'm interested ...

George 

I believe that God has utilised the 'idea' of a pandemic, via medicine and media (what humanity trusts in) to purge wheat from chaff.

Brave thread  

shalom my friend, shalom, the peace of The Lord I give you today, shalom

Edited March 20, 2022 by Duck

[TheBlade]

Forgive my bother but you should know God can not do this as you are suggesting. In truth I can't believe I am reading this here..then from you. I pray its ok I say this.. since you posted in public. Was it used to kill His servants? Yes do we know how many preachers alone have died because of covid? Yes the enemy used this to kill Gods people and God had no hand in it. Yes I know some seem to believe GOD tests us with sickness or the like yet it is not true from what I read and understand. 

What God did say 2016/June 2019 "an epidemic coming world wide and the unscrupulous will take advantage of it" said by a prophet. Shocking to see God get the blame. Didn't read every post.. I am wondering who passed this "test". Those who never got the shot? Those that never died? Gonna go chat with those that lost a loved one  how they hmm "maybe you didn't pass the test GOD gave you".

I mostly never say .. things like this should not be posted. Some lost a loved one and this can really hurt them. 

[one.opinion]

On 3/19/2022 at 10:58 AM, George said:

Does anyone else see that this COVID epidemic as a TEST to see whom we should FEAR?  To reveal motivations?  To reveal truth?

Jesus first words when concerning the last days and the sign of his coming ... Take heed that NO MAN deceive you ... 

Does anyone else see the deception all around us?

I have frankly been surprised and disappointed that so many Christ-followers have succumbed to repeated misinformation in order to justify not following the second of Jesus's greatest two commandments - see Matthew 22, Mark 12, Luke 10. Doing what we could to protect other should have never been controversial, yet it has been a major source of controversy for 2 years.

The deception has been extremely shallow, but incredibly widespread. It takes very little effort to reveal the truth about so much of the propagated deception, but there is just so much that it is virtually impossible to put it all out.

I'm saddened by motivations that the pandemic has uncovered, but the two primary ones I have seen are personal selfishness and a desire for power. I mention these two motivations because they are seen in both sides of the spectrum - both in unhealthy individualism as well as corporate greed. And although I mentioned sadness, I could not feign surprise in other side displaying these sinful motivations.

[Dennis1209]

The following are only a viewpoint from one Bible student:

Yes. The very first thing Jesus mentions is deception. I will not go into detail, but theologians refer to something as “the law of the first mention.” Meaning it is in the first of a list or weightier.

When the Lord repeats Himself twice or three times for emphasis, we need to pay particular attention and observance, such as one of the Lord’s attributes:

Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. [emphasis added]

In Matthew 24: deception is at the top of that list to get our attention, and it is emphasized four times to grab our concentration-awareness.

Today, like never before (in my lifetime anyway), the question is easier to ask and respond to, where we do not find deception today? We find deception in the church, science, education, politics, fake news, propaganda, and philosophy. Hook, line and sinker people are buying it.

As far as testing, my view is: The Lord has constantly tested His children for trust and faith. It builds dependence, confidence, character, and patience in Him. The Covid non-pandemic scare, its variants and mutations, and the globe’s reactions and responses lead me to think of birth pains and when you begin to see them. We are the generation witnessing a convergence of all prophetic things coming about.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

To try means to test. I deem if you remove the parenthetical chapters in Revelation, the book is in chronological order. The book of Revelation has divisions; one such division is past, present, and future when John penned Revelation.

In the first three chapters of Revelation, the church is mentioned nineteen times. In chapter four, the church is not mentioned again until the end of the book. I suspect the Resurrection and Rapture by the omission of the church occurred between chapters three and four.

Chapter three (John’s present) comes before chapter four (the future Tribulation). If my pre-tribulation view and hermeneutics are correct, Christians will not see any wrath of God. We are also subject to tribulations, testing, and end-time birth pains.

Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

May 14, 1948, and the Israeli Six-Day War of 1967 were prophetic mile markers for this generation that shall not pass until all these things are done—talking about the rebirth of Israel as a nation again (fig tree) after almost 2,000 years.

Mark 13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

The world is not falling into pieces; the pieces are falling into place. ~ Jan Markell, Olive Tree Ministries.

[Starise]

I know George only has the best of intentions when making a post like this.

At some point though I think any post like this that asks for us to draw a line and stand on one side of it is divisive. Especially when said post more than hints at a person's spirituality based on their decision.

I think we need to get the best information we can and then make a decision. I believe most if not all believers pray over their decisions before they make them.

I don't believe COVID was ever a cut and dried thing because so much disinformation came out of it and is still coming out of it. 

As believers we are told to follow the authorities over us and I think in the early days of COVID many wanted to follow instructions and get on with their lives thinking they have at least a partial solution, no matter how hurried and poorly executed. A partial fix is better than ending up dead.

Over time other things have come out about the whole thing that have it reeking badly of a controlled planned event that was supposed to generate certain outcomes for the elites. Puppet leaders enacted it pretty much across the whole world. I see it more as a test and a move toward totalitarianism. No it wasn't a little accidental outbreak in China. Do the math, look at the numbers, look at what's being reported.

You know the saying, "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you". If the devil's minions carry out everything else the way they carried this out, I have great confidence none of it is going to be effective. 

I DON'T judge a brother who got or didn't get the vaccine either way, nor do I hinge spirituality or intelligence on it.

I DO think from here on out we know some of what the enemy is up to better. 

It may have been a test or dry run for them. It was educational for us too in ways they never imagined.

[walla299]

32 minutes ago, Starise said:

You know the saying, "fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you". If the devil's minions carry out everything else the way they carried this out, I have great confidence none of it is going to be effective. 

I DON'T judge a brother who got or didn't get the vaccine either way, nor do I hinge spirituality or intelligence on it.

I DO think from here on out we know some of what the enemy is up to better. 

It may have been a test or dry run for them. It was educational for us too in ways they never imagined.

I think you're right: this whole thing has been quite educational from the start. Now we know what to look out for again. Good point. 

When the covid thing first started I thought some caution was warranted. Remember the Swine Flu and other new bugs that have popped up over the years. Then things got strange, the "powers that be" couldn't keep their story straight, the "guidance" keep changed as the authorities reversed themselves again and again, then they started saying things that went against anything I ever heard about infectious disease, etc. in school . . . and then I stopped listening. 

Things got political really fast and so I kept an eye on the news but at arm's length. Part of my job requires me to talk with clients about the impact of world events on the financial markets, so I had little choice in the matter. I haven't owned a TV in years, so I read the news because that eliminates the talking heads and sound bites. I use many foreign news sites because frankly the lame stream media in this country could be called the Propaganda Ministry for one side only. This is not new.

I grew up during the Cold War when Radio Moscow said everything the West did was evil/bad/sick. BBC, Voice of America, and others said everything Moscow did was evil/bad/sick. So you had two sides - and the truth (or what they would tell us regular citizens) was somewhere in the middle. Sounds a lot like the situation today.

So, life went back to normal for the most part. Did the vax because I'm old enough to be on the border line of the at risk-of-dying-from-this-thing older group. I grew up in a military family and am a vet myself so the "shot/vax" line is not new either. It was a part of life every time we went to a new school or when I deployed somewhere. Several place we moved to they would not allow you in the country (or on the plane) without having had certain vaccinations. (Sound familiar?) This was in the 1970s, so vaccine mandates are nothing new either.

Turns out the Preacher in Ecclesiastes was right after all: there is nothing new under the sun. 

One last thing: We should not allow the enemy to sow division among us as believers. We're a family. Jesus said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (my paraphrase). I do not judge anyone on if they do the vax or where a mask or not. That's up to them.