Will This Virus Change the World?
by Mike James
With any major upheaval in society, dramatic changes occur. After 9/11 and the anthrax letters in 2001, the Patriot Act was created and has led to some changes to our freedoms. Surveillance of citizens increased in alarming ways. The 9/11 incident also led the United States into war in Iraq and Afghanistan. After major wars (WWI and WWII) the aftermath can lead to major transformation. The negotiations for peace after WWI helped lead to conditions that led to WWII. The end of WWII helped set the world up for the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. As we start to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, what might change?
Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
One possible change could be a unity among governments when it comes to working on infectious disease planning. Some may argue we need to tear down the walls that divide us in order to better confront diseases like this in the future. This could help the forces of globalization moving forward. Some have been talking about the need to test everyone and only let those who are tested and have overcome the disease get back to work. Bill Gates and some folks at MIT are looking into an invisible dye that can reflect which children have been vaccinated for different diseases. The dye can be read through an infrared light. Will something like this be used to prove who gets a Covid-19 vaccine in order to get back to work? Or could something like this morph into a way to purchase items (Revelation 13:16-17) in the future.
Others look at it differently. They say we need to turn inward because with globalization we are in danger more and more from infectious diseases migrating from one location to another. Some countries’ leaders are arguing against migration and emigration due to the horrors of this disease. In Hungary, the Parliament voted to give their Prime Minister (Victor Orban) the power to rule by decree for an indefinite period of time (Revelation 13:3-5). This means the government can do whatever it deems necessary to fight the coronavirus. It makes me wonder if in the future a global or regional government of some sort could use a crisis to enforce various laws (Daniel 7:25) in order to ensure public safety.
Another thing the pandemic may alter is how we see government. A crisis like this helps us realize we really do need good government. Only through the Federal government do we have the organizations (Federal Emergency Management Agency, Centers for Disease Control, the Military, the Defense Powers Act, etc.) to get to solutions for this problem. Without the government this crises would be a lot worse. Will reliance on good government influence people to support a future ruler (Revelation 13:11-15) who will morph into a despot?
China is radically changing their work environments since they began opening up their work places. Chinese companies are supplying their workers with facemasks and checking their temperatures before they begin work shifts. At one air-conditioner factory, employees have to bring their own towels to dry their hands after washing up. At another location, employees cannot eat lunch while facing each other.
Could this crisis force governments to act more readily now for future crises like climate change? I’m already seeing articles online clamoring for change due to worries about a future climate catastrophe. Will this crisis influence people in that regard?
What about our use of money? Many are trying to push us toward a cashless society that could work into the plans of a future one-world government. Revelation 13:17 tells us the future Beast power will control commerce through some sort of a mark. Some surmise this could be technology on a person or in a smart phone. I have to be honest, I felt funny about taking cash back from my grocery store clerks and check-out people at the take out places I visited over the past few weeks. Could technology make money and credit cards obsolete in the future?
China and South Korea used technology to know where people were moving during this crisis. The Chinese sent drones into the air to warn people outside to get back in their homes and put on face masks. The South Koreans used everyone’s cell phones to plot where the virus was rampant so others could stay away from those locations. That same kind of technology can be used in the future to determine where God’s church is located in the crisis at the end of the age (Matthew 24:9). In the United States, many doctors are meeting with patients through video conferencing. Many businesses are doing the same thing for meetings. Working from home may become a more common thing moving forward. But technology can track us (Revelation 13:7).
It’s all just speculation right now as to how this crisis might change our world. But one thing is sure; the world will change more and more as we move toward the close of this age.
Sources: The Washington Post, “Chinese Factories Reopening With Tight Safeguards,” April 9, 2020, p. A15.