The Fourth Seal

Plagues are among the destructive occurrences predicted to mark key eschatological periods according to Matthew 24 and Revelation 6.  However, diseases could arise in any generation, just as any kind of sinful deeds could be enacted in any generation, no matter how near or far it is from the so-called "last days."  In light of this, COVID-19 is not by any means confirmation that the return of Christ is at hand, as some seem to imply, but there is also very strong evidence that the present time is not the true last days detailed to some extent in the Bible.

This is partly because the modern world, while certainly plagued by several major evils that the Bible harshly condemns, is morally superior to many past generations as described in the historical record [1], with great wickedness being a significant factor of eschatology.  This is also because the only particular period(s) prophesied to have major plagues that will decimate the world are said to have a far higher death toll than anything happening in the world right now.  In fact, the death count of just the fourth seal of Revelation 6 alone, which includes deaths from serious diseases, amounts to a fourth of the world's human life.

While Matthew 24 does warn of increasingly devastating diseases that precede the return of Christ, COVID-19 cannot be legitimately considered one of the most devastating sicknesses in the historical record!  As for whether or not the coronavirus is somehow related to the fourth seal of Revelation 6, verses 7-8 of that chapter easily dispel that notion.  As aforementioned, the plagues, famines, and wars associated with the fourth seal are said to exterminate a quarter of the world's population, which is far higher than any report on the coronavirus that I have heard.

COVID-19 may be terrorizing many people, but it is hardly resulting in a death toll that comes anywhere near the casualties Revelation 6:7-8 describes according to practically all estimates.  Thus, if current events are as they seem and if the seals of Revelation 6 are to unfold literally (the only way they could truly be demonstrated to be occurring), the ongoing pandemic has nothing to do with Biblical eschatology beyond perhaps being alluded to very indirectly in Matthew 24--along with numerous other diseases that have been conveniently ignored.

It follows that there is nothing for Christians or non-Christians who are vaguely familiar with Revelation to fear on a grand eschatological level about the pandemic.  The only verifiable way of arguing that events in Revelation 6 are occurring right now or are on the precipice of occurring would be to point to literal examples of deaths that add up to around a fourth of the world's human population.  However, attempting to do so would only draw attention to the fact that there is no evidence that anything close to the scope of the fourth seal is unfolding at the present time.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-days-of-noah.html