Is the violence that has erupted following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer tied to end-times prophecy? One month prior, I stated civil unrest was coming after finding this biblical connection.
April 27th 2020 – “The Will Be Violence”
On April 27, 2020 I published a blog post entitled, “Coronavirus is Peaking, Famine is Coming, What Comes Next?“
In this post I stated, “I believe it means that after the oppression of the coronavirus and the scarcity of food, there will be civil unrest. There will be violence and there will also be bloodshed.“
So did I prophesy that the nation would soon fall into this chaos?
No. I just brought to light a connection of events that I was seeing in scripture. That connection being that in 23 of the 42 times the Bible mentions pestilence, it also mentions famine. However, in EVERY one of those 23 cases the Bible also mentions “the sword” or similar connotation of violence.
Before the Violence – A Few Words about George Floyd
First, I believe it is only right to recognize the tragedy in George Floyd’s death. By all accounts George was a peaceful man. He was completely undeserving of the treatment he received.
According the Christianity Today, George pursued ministry programs in Houston’s Third Ward. He was dedicated to stopping the cycle of violence in this gang-infested area. From what this article states, it is clear that he was a man of God. This was a man who knew the redemptive power of the gospel and lived it. He was known to have baptisms where the people lived – the same spots where gang shootouts were taking place.
George moved to Minneapolis through a Christian work program. Based on his life’s work, it is hard to believe he committed any crime. But regardless of whether he did or didn’t, he did not deserve the treatment he received.
It is a tragedy that his trip to heaven is followed by the wide-spread violence that he fought hard to eliminate.
The Connection to Second Seal
The reaction of the protestors has grown far beyond the incident with George Floyd. It is no longer a protest against racism by Minneapolis police, nor any police for that matter.
Protestors have beaten news reporters, looted stores of their products and burnt buildings including churches. Groups such as Antifa are using this as an excuse for what amounts to insurrection. Even the President was moved to an underground bunker for his safety.
These reactions are a symptom of peace being taken from the world, the second seal. The second seal is not just war, it is the removal of peace. This doesn’t just affect the military, but students and workers, husbands and wives, the young and the old. The removal of peace affects our media, our politicians, our universities and our races.
As I discussed in Six Seals Revealed in the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 are referring to the same events as the seals. In the parallel language in Matthew 24 to the second seal, Jesus says, “nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.”
But the word nation is distinctly different than kingdom. The word used for “nation” in the Greek text is “ethnos,” from which we derive the term “ethnic.”
Ethnos are our peoples, cultures and our races. So the removal from peace also means that we will see races coming against against other races.
The Connection to the Fourth Seal
As I mentioned above, the Bible describes pestilence at least 42 times and more than half of the time it also mentions both famine and the sword (or similar term of violence).
With both pestilence and famine entering the world and causing many deaths, it fits that violence, both wars and civil unrest would ensue. And now, it has. The civil unrest in the U.S. has left people dead and many injured, including 50 service secret agents protecting the White House. Even death has followed these riots.
The fourth seal is one of the places in the Bible where we see this connection – death through pestilence, famine, the sword and even wild animals.
The seals are signs. They are warnings. And while they are manifesting today, we have years to go before the Day of the Lord when the church will be raptured. This will not come at least until the man of lawlessness has been revealed and the abomination of desolation set up. (See my post The Timing of the Rapture is Clear in the Bible.) So I believe we will see many more die for both wars and civil unrest as the end-times progress.
Love Has Grown Cold
Jesus said concerning the end-times, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.“
I believe today’s riots are an example of what Jesus spoke. For many, love has grown cold, and hatred has risen in its place. We see hate everywhere now. In the portrayal of our President by the media, in the voice of politicians seeking impeachment and in their actions such as the shredding of the President’s speech on live T.V.
We see it in the quick and judgmental responses on social media on any given topic. People are ready to tell you why you are wrong, why your actions are bad and your thoughts twisted.
And now we see it in the response to the death of a Godly man in violent protests and riots that our country has not seen in a long time, if ever.
I close this with what Jesus said immediately following the above statement, “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.“