It's the end of the world - or is it?

Over the course of the last three weeks, more than one person has asked my opinion regarding the coronavirus crisis and end time prophesies in the Bible. Certainly, we are living through a situation that most of us could have never imagined just a few weeks ago. 

For a population that is largely shielded from many of the daily struggles that occupy the majority in our world - questions about where the next meal is coming from, or choices between food, medication or schooling - the current situation has opened our eyes to what are daily realities for many, including:

• the sense of life being out of our control - not knowing when things will get back to normal, and not just being able to plan and do what you want,
• the fear of not having enough - whether it's toilet rolls, bread flour, fresh fruit or milk,
• the reality of our own mortality, and
• an awareness that we don't have all the answers.

Whether or not it is an exaggeration, I can imagine few situations which would have shaken 'our world' to the extent that it is currently being shaken. Getting through the current crisis is going to be one thing - recovering from the fallout is going to be something else altogether.

Throughout history, when their world has been shaken, people have often speculated about it being the end of the world. Obviously, it wasn't and we're still here! 

But where does that leave us, now? The story of the Bible, whilst not designed to give us specific details, does point to the reality that history is moving towards the day when Jesus will return - it may be sooner, it may be later. It also points to the truth that God is in control - even when it doesn't look like it. So whether or not we are living in 'the last days' should be irrelevant to how we live today.

Today's video from the Bible Society helps us to explore this theme some more.