A significant number of Americans believe that crises such as the COVID pandemic and Russian war are signs of the "last days," as written in the Bible.
A new poll revealed that Americans' interest in the End Times has increased since the COVID pandemic sparked in 2020. This interest remains high as Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year.
The Joshua Fund, a non-profit educational and humanitarian relief organization, recently commissioned an exclusive national survey featuring questions for Americans, including evangelical Christians. The poll was conducted between March 17 to 22 by McLaughlin & Associates.
"Some Christian leaders have speculated that the current war is setting into motion the prophetic war described in the Book of Ezekiel (chapters 38 and 39), widely known among Bible scholars as the 'War of Gog & Magog'," The Joshua Fund founder and chairman Joel C. Rosenberg wrote in a blog post.
Rosenberg explained that he and his colleagues at The Joshua fund think it's "premature to draw such a conclusion." He explained that Scripture, specifically Ezekiel 38 and 39, "do not describe a Russian invasion of Ukraine." He argued that Ezekiel "described a military alliance led by Russia and Iran against a prophetically reborn State of Israel in the 'last days.'"
"This war has never happened in human history, and the prophecy has yet to pass," Rosenberg wrote. But researchers wanted to determine if Americans see some prophetic significance in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, CBN News reported.
So, they asked survey respondents, "Do you agree or disagree that Russia's invasion of Ukraine - which has ignited the biggest land war in Europe since World War II - is one of the signs that Jesus spoke of in the Bible when He warned that there would be 'wars and rumors of wars' in the 'last days' before His return?"
Survey results revealed that almost 4 in 10 Americans or 39.8% responded in agreement, while 40.3% disagreed. 19.9% said they did not know. Rosenberg reported that according to the 2020 U.S. Census, there were 258.3 million Americans who were 18 years of age or older. Based on the results of the survey, 40% of Americans amount to 103.32 million people who believed that crises such as the COVID pandemic and Russian war are signs of biblical prophecy being fulfilled. He also noted that many of those who agreed were not all Christians.
Another question asked by the poll was whether the COVID pandemic was "one of the signs that Jesus spoke of in the Bible when He warned that there would be severe 'plagues' in the 'last days' before His return." Results showed that 40.1% agreed to the statement, while 41.1% said they disagreed. Almost one-fifth or 18.7% said they don't know.
Rosenberg reported that The Joshua Fund commissioned a national survey in March 2020 that asked respondents if they "believed that the coronavirus and the resulting economic meltdown" were actually "signs" of what the Bible calls the 'last days.'" At the time of the survey, 29.4% said they agreed, showing an 11-point increase over the latest poll results.
