The short answer? I don’t think so. I could never say for sure since Jesus said that only God knows when the end is coming, but Jesus did say in Matthew 24 that things would be way worse than corona—like, “the-entire-cosmos-is-falling-apart” worse. Yet it seems that anytime Americans get a little taste of the suffering that many other countries go through on a daily basis, we claim that the end is near.
From a Biblical perspective, a few things seem to usher in the end of this time and the beginning of the resurrection: (1) An incredible level of evil manifested across the earth and (2) God’s desire to liberate his people from their martyrdom and oppression overruling his desire to be lovingly patient and wait for more to be saved.
We’ve seen many great evils throughout the centuries surface time and time again, and yet those moments did not bring about the end—and we today seem to be nowhere near close to some of those past atrocities (though I imagine things will get more intense as 2020 moves along). That being said, while only God knows when the end is, I’d personally suggest that from a Biblical and a logical perspective, we’re still a long way off from seeing the level of corruption the earth needs for God’s hope and patience to run out. And our job as Christians regardless of the times, is to share the gospel and install the Kingdom. Let us keep our attention there. Perhaps our efforts on those fronts are the reason for God’s patience.
We’ve cried wolf on this topic far too many times to count. Let’s strive to match God’s patience for our neighbors instead.
Jamin Bradley 