Saudi Arabia warning visitors to Mecca about coronavirus risk

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is warning Islamic pilgrims that they could be exposed to the coronavirus when they visit sites like Mecca:

July 13, 2013

Health officials in Saudi Arabia have asked pilgrims visiting its holy sites to wear masks in crowded places to stop the spread of the MERS coronavirus.

A list of requirements issued by the health ministry also tells elderly people or those with chronic diseases to postpone their pilgrimage.

Thirty-eight people have died from the virus in Saudi Arabia.

Millions of Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Hajj this October.

Once a year, pilgrims make the journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia and pray together before the Kaaba. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23298375

One of the goals of all practicing Muslims is to visit Mecca at least once in their lifetimes if they can.

I posted about the coronavirus a couple of months ago. For details about the virus itself, see that post; here is the link Coronavirus: A new risk for humans?

Coronaviruses

The reported fact that 38 have already died from it in Saudi Arabia shows that it is a real risk to human health.

As prophecy watchers tend to be aware, infections are part of the pestilences that the Bible warned about for the end times. Jesus taught:

7…And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:7-8)

We seem to be in the time Jesus called “the beginning of sorrows.” There have been “earthquakes in various places” this past year. There are some famines and they may increase soon. and cornonaviruses are not the only potential pestilences starting to rise up either (see, for example, ‘Worse than AIDs’ gonorrhea strain spreading from Japan).

Notice also the following end time prophecies:

12 One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. (Ezekiel 5:12)

⁷When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” ⁸So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)

Many believe that infectious diseases are part of the “beasts of the earth” that are prophesied to kill a significant portion of humankind in Revelation 6:7-8, especially in the light of what Jesus taught in Matthew 24:7-8 and what is also recorded in Ezekiel 5:12 and other scriptures.

Some links of related interest may include:

Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2013 or 2014? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What happens in the “beginning of sorrows”? What is the Day of the Lord?
The Great Tribulation Will Not Begin Before 2017 When will the Great Tribulation begin? Can it begin in 2104 as some have indicated? What are the biblical requirements that precede the Great Tribulation? What did Jesus teach would happen prior to the Great Tribulation. Are there definite clues in the Book of Daniel that Christians should look out for? Is there a King of the North or a King of the South yet? Where does the ‘prince’ of Daniel 9:26-27 come from?
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What is the Book of Revelation trying to tell us about them? Does the first one deceive many?
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Rise of the King of the South The Bible tells of the formation of a power of nations that are in the Middle East and North Africa that are part of the final “King of the South” (Daniel 11:40-43) The Muslim Brotherhood wishes to have an Islamic empire with basically the same nations. This YouTube video explains what to expect from such a confederation.
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.