DOES GOD SEND THE PLAGUE? Our point of reference is…

DOES GOD SEND THE PLAGUE?

Our point of reference is always the Bible. Without it, anyone is free to believe what he wants. It will be an anarchy of beliefs.

Strangely, there are people who are being offended in this viral crisis time when we raise the issue of faith. They just want us to lift their morale and help in their medical. financial and material needs. They want us to be compassionate. All these things we ought to do.

However, we are cowed to keep silent because theology is inappropriate at this time. It should only be about love and positivity.

If theology is the study about God, about the truth of God, about what God has revealed, why should it be excluded when it is most needed in this time?

We propose to discuss three (3) points from the ultimate basis of truth.

Does God send plague?

If so, why does God send it?

What is our response?

The first point: Does God send plague?

The Bible is plainly clear. Only God can create plague and pestilence. If satan is the source, then he has all the reasons to destroy everyone to be with his demonic minions, expand his kingdom and ultimately frustrate the counsel of God.

God cannot do much because plague comes from satan and we have the untutored understanding that God has nothing to do with it. If He has nothing to do with it, God is not in control or He does not have dominance over the events of the world. God becomes a remedial measure running after satan to restrain his destructive ways. What a pitiable God?

Who destroyed the world with flood? It is God.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.

Who can cause natural calamities? The angels from God.

There are seven (7) principal angels in the Book of Revelation chapters 8 up to 11. They brought various calamities to the world. For example, Revelation 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

Who caused the plagues during the slavery of Israel in Egypt? God Himself!
Exo 9:14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon your heart, and upon your servants, and upon your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

Who can open a piece of land instantly and swallow those who would defy God and even send fire to burn people? Is it not God Himself?
Numbers 26:10 (NLT) But the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them with Korah, and fire devoured 250 of their followers. This served as a warning to the entire nation of Israel.

Who can kill people in thousands without actually fighting them?
Isa 37:36 ISV After this, the angel of the LORD went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When Hezekiah’s army awakened in the morning—there were all the dead bodies!

Who can send pestilence? Does not God say He does it personally?
Jer 29:17 KJ2000 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

How about earthquakes? God can use angels.
Revelation 16:17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.

Who sends fire and brimstone to Sodom and Gomorrah?
Genesis 19: [24] Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. [25] Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.

Who can direct and manage the wind?
Ezekiel 13:13 (NIV) ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.”

POWER ULTIMATELY BELONGS TO GOD. Chronicles 20:6 (NIV) [6] and said: “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
All that Pharaoh saw was Moses and his staff. All the plagues and pestilences were seemingly caused by Moses. But they came from God. Moses was an instrument.

It is true, God is so good. There are rain and sunshine for the godly and the ungodly. For the repentant sinner and the unrepentant sinner.

Long before science discovered that water is in the clouds, the Bible declares it to be so. Job 26:8 [8] He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

Long before science discovered about evaporation and the winds do not move randomly, the Bible informs us already. Psalm 135:7 (WEB) Who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings with the rain; Who brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

The same loving God is a jealous God and should not to be taken for granted. When His name is profaned and ignored, the same God who gives us rain (Psalm 135:7) is the same God who said in the next line, (Psalm 135:8-10) Who struck the firstborn of Egypt, Both of man and animal; Who sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, Egypt, On Pharaoh, and on all his servants; Who struck many nations, And killed mighty kings.

What if there is no rain in the land for three (3) years? It will result in famine, extreme poverty, diseases and death. What if it is caused by God? What tirades people will hurl on Him! But God did it. There is nothing you can do about it.
James 5:17 (WEB) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months.

Second, why does God send the plague?

God is not fanciful, impulsive and arbitrary. All His ways are right, just and according to His perfect timing. If He is not, He could have destroyed the sinful word long time ago.

He could have razed down the Amorites, the enemies of Jews, before the Jews entered the promised land. But it would not happen yet. When the sins of the Amorites became full, when people begin heaping their iniquity up to a certain measure, then God begins to flatten the curve to prevent overflow of wickedness and to execute His judgment at a particular period of time.

God is the Creator of the beginning and we need to connect our lives to the source. To believe that from nothing or from empty space, the universe evolved is the height of insanity. There is no blind cause for it assumes there is something non-intelligent and brainless cause which produce intelligence, emotion and order in the universe.

In the human realm, if somebody helps you, it is natural to express gratitude.

But how do we express gratitude to the One from whom we owe our lives? Should we not be filled to the core so that gratitude springs spontaneously out of our hearts? Yet, there is lack of reverence to our God.

God has this to say, Rom 1:21 KJ2000 Because, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Luk 17:17-18 KJ2000 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There was not found one that returned to give glory to God, except this stranger.

We sacrifice our lives for the sake of environment, climate, human and animal rights. These are wonderful things to do. But to stand up on God is a shame in the sight of the world. To speak about God is uncomfortable and disturbing. God is not an acceptable story or a story that does not deserve due consideration. He is just a meme.

People will rather relish on creatures rather than the Creator.
Rom 1:23 KJ2000 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

Not only we fail to express gratitude to God, to give the glory that belongs to Him alone, we want to override and change the order the Creator has made and designed.
2Ti 3:2-4 ISV 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, and LOVERS OF PLEASURE RATHER THAN LOVERS OF GOD.

We want to live our lives apart from God. God does not take this lightly. He is the God of love and also the God of wrath.

When His demands for righteousness are ignored and refused, He has the right to avenge against the lawlessness and rebellion of the people. He is THE GOD OF VENGEANCE.
Rom 12:19 KJ2000 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.

2Th 1:8 KJ2000 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

The loving God is the avenging God. When only one attribute of God is presented as the loving God, as the God who cares for us, when man becomes the object of creation rather than God, it is a clear indication that creatures want to live in their own terms rather than God’s.

We use “plague” and “pestilence” in a broad sense. They are infectious disease, affliction, calamity or evil caused by misuse and abuse of nature or as a means by which nature fights back and ultimately linked as some kind of punishment to a higher being. They can involve extensive human mortality, destruction of environment or climate.

Time and again, God shows His displeasure and punishes when people sin and disobey.

This appears to be a repetitive process. But it will not be running in a loop forever because time may be seen as cyclical but the cycle is not stationary but moves in a linear mode since it has a destination. There is a time when God will finally end the disobedience of people so that ALL KNEES WILL BOW BEFORE HIM.

The believers will bow in joy.

The unbelievers will bow in dreadful fear.

Plague and pestilence are always associated with sin, disobedience and rebellion. They are not connected so much with unhygienic life because when people fear God they become wholesome in their lives.

When David sinned against God, a sin of self-exaltation, he wanted to enjoy the grandeur of his kingdom apart from God, God gave him three (3) choices as his punishment.

He was not given an option to get rid or escape. He was to accept only any of the punishments.

a. seven (7) years of famine in the land or

b. three (3) months of running away from his enemies who will pursue
him fiercely or

c. three (3) days of pestilence.
2 Sa 24:12-13 NET “Go, tell David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.’” Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide what I should tell the one who sent me.”

Indeed, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. He establishes what is right and just. We fear Him because He is the Creator and to disrespect this Creator results in our harm and loss. We fear satan and his league because they lead us astray.

We fear God in reverence, in majesty and in awe because He holds our lives and their conclusion. None can take our lives except God. When He takes the lives of unrepentant sinners, it is to give their due punishment. When He takes the lives of His people, the repentant sinners, He gives full healing in eternity.
Deu 32:39 KJ2000 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god besides me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Third, what is our response?

If a plague is a form of judgement from God, it needs right understanding and profound reflection on how we can properly respond.

This response is even revealed in the Bible.

Plague is an enemy of the rebellious humanity. It is a curse against its loose living and arrogance. It is not the punishment of satan. It is a disruption of the sinfulness of mankind. It is a wake up call to mankind that God sees every evil we do and He will not let it unpunish.

It is also a trumpet call that we are actively distorting and corrupting the planet owned by God. Deut. 10:14 KJ2000 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S your God, the earth also, with all that is in it.

When we teach that the world is owned by satan, we grossly disrespect God. satan is the god of the worldly evil ways but not the god of the planet earth.
Psalm 24:1 (KJV). The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

When we believe that man has the right to tamper what God has created even punishing by legislation those who believe that God created only male and female, that the right to kill unborn babies is an absolute human prerogative, when people live as if the God who upholds the sun and the cloud does not matter, let us not fool ourselves that God does not mind because He loves unconditionally. Let us remember when God loves unconditionally, He changes the lives of these persons to adore Him, not play around or ignore Him.

We cannot keep on punching and biting God for nothing. He is the God of love and justice. His love compels Him to rid of injustice and sin otherwise He is just a god of disorder. A lawless god or a god that does not care about lawlessness and sinfulness cannot be a loving god. It is an anarchic and an immoral god.

The Bible shows how we should respond properly before this awesome God.

First, God calls the leaders of the land to stop boasting of their human abilities and resources. The rich and the mighty, the strong and the renowned are called to wear sackcloth and put ashes on their heads and hearts when evil befalls or about to. God calls our leaders to mourn and humble themselves to the high heavens.
1Ki 21:27 KJ2000 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

King Ahab of Israel is the husband of the wicked woman Jezebel. He was idolatrous and served Baal. God will bring him evil, even the dogs will lick his blood in shame. King Ahab dreaded the evil that will come on him.

He humbled himself and the Bible says, 1 Kings 21:29 (WEB) See you how Ahab humbles himself before me? because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but in his son’s days will I bring the evil on his house.

Even evil kings when they humble themselves before God, God listens. God reminds human rulers, He still sits on the throne. Even when all march against Him, God laughs in derision (Psalm 2:4).

No matter how evil the rulers are, they are still the servants of God in human governance at a particular time. There is only one King, His name is King Jesus, all other kings will fade and bow out.

King Cyrus defeated the mighty kingdom of Babylon. He was not a follower of God. Yet, unknown to him, when he proclaimed the return of the jewish people to rebuild their temple in their own land, he was simply following the plan of God. (2 Chr. 36:22-23).

COVID-19 shows that all of us, without exceptions, for the first time, a global pandemic can threaten our existence. Things that we are proud of do not matter anymore. Everyone is just as brittle as anyone else. God is giving clear warning to the world that wants to live in disconnection and utter disregard of Him.

We have right now one world government. satan does not have to unite every nation to believe in particular political creed or manifesto. There is no monolithic one world government. It will not happen. satan is too brainy and cunning to establish a uniformed one world government. It will be easy to identify. Russia will not submit to the United States of America (U.S.A.) nor will U.S.A. submit to China.

All governments believe they have the capability to rule over nations apart from God. That is one world government mindset.

The governments are the representatives of God in this earth but they have rejected the true source of their human power.
God calls the wicked to know He is still the Supreme Ruler not the puny human ruler. Every human ruler governs because the governed give their consent. God does not ask consent to govern for by His very nature He governs with or without the consent of the creatures.

God brings healing when our leaders pray and recognize God even externally that they need His help. There is a provisional and ceremonial admission that God is in charge of the affairs of mankind. The admission, though, is not necessary because regardless of what man thinks, God is ALWAYS in full control of the universe.

The Bible shows us recurring instances. People sin, they call good evil and evil as good. They corrupt humanity and environment by using them in ways different from the pattern and order of God. God renders momentary punishment, people pray and seek God, God brings healing until that one final day, then all things will be over and we will see the King of kings and Lord of Lords in all of His glory.

There is an ultimate end of this age. There will be no reversion to sin for sin will be no more when the final judgment has come. What we see today is a series of the fulfillment of what is written and what is to come.

No other books can even come close to the Bible in terms of its story and prophecies. What we see today is what King Jesus said:
Matthew 24:7-8 (KJV) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

This is the beginning of sorrows for the world will continue to live a life independent and grossly contrary to God’s standards and in rebellion against His very throne.

Many people will call upon God because of this crisis but more will ignore God. What happened in the past will be repeated until the final day.
Amos 4:10 “I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me.”

COVID-19 will go in its time. It is the virus that determines our responses. We do not determine the timeline of the virus. We can only observe how it moves around until God has slowed it down to complete His time frame for this current global warning.

Even if it comes from China, it is still an instrument of God to chastise mankind and to call attention that there is only One who runs the affairs of the universe.

If we mess what God has established, man will reap what it sows.

In the human realm, there are safeguards we should take in dealing with this viral crisis. But we do not take precautions on how we live before God.

Godless nations can do so much but they cannot transgress the boundaries set for them. Even the proud King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who inflicted terrible sufferings on the nation of Israel can only say in the end:
Daniel 4:35 (WEB) All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or tell him, What do you?

Second, it is a wrong and misguided response to curse and cast out plague or pestilence as if it is the enemy of God. It is of God. It comes from God. God’s prescription when pestilence and plague come is to call people to humble and call upon Him and forsake their sins and then healing will come upon the land.

These series of events will continue in history until the final day comes. There will be unheard disastrous events.

COVID-19 is the first and a mild form of global notice from the high heavens.

It is the beginning of warning and the beginning of sorrows.

What if natural catastrophic events such as lightning, earthquakes, wars and typhoon come in sequence or in unison?

There is no communication, no cell phone, there is shortage of food. The rich and the mighty will have no security themselves when there is pervasive famine, disease and severe economic inequality.

Lest it be forgotten, there will be, as it is now, persecution of the people of God because the world does not like to listen to God. When we take the name of God, people will hate us because the world does not like to be governed on how they run their lives.
John 7:7 (KJV) The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

John 15:18 (KJV) If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Many people say COVID-19 comes from satan, and God has nothing to do with the pandemic crisis. We have a pathetic God who was overtaken by the devil. It is sad that people cast it out, ask for its reversal, seek its nullification, cancellation and even its destruction as if it is a diabolical event. It is calling God to destroy God.

None of these things are the means by which God shows us what to do. God wants us to fall on our knees.

We have seen preachers exposed as “fake news” for their bravado to command the virus to leave and even set a deadline to no avail.

If the viral crisis is a form of God’s judgement, it is a frightful thing to condemn it as satanic work. To pray to God to remove it as a moral evil is a terrible lack of understanding of the sovereign power of the Creator of the universe and His Word – the Bible.

God’s way is to humble before Him, not to arrogate the authority which belongs to Him alone. The “prosperity gospel”, the “name it, claim it”, the “positive thinking gospel”, the “decree with your mouth” have been exposed by this formless and invisible virus as fraud. They work seemingly in good times but they mean nothing when our lives are in extinction and in the midst of calamitous events.

Those kinds of preaching do not mean anything to the impoverished christians in Ethiopia, the killing of christians in Indonesia and the persecution in China.

Instead we ought to say:
Romans 14:8-9 (KJV) For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

James 4:15-16 (WEB) For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.” But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.

God is sitting on His throne. He is in perfect command of every atom that exists in the universe. This is clearly a warning to the peoples of the earth that sins are not being overlooked.

The overwhelming global movement of the virus is methodical and the whole world adopts almost the same measures to deal with it. This is not a haphazard or mindless act of nature.

Some call COVID-19 as stupid. It costs the nations trillions of U.S. dollars to confront it. It brings shivers to the rich and the mighty. How can it be stupid? It is a warning sign.

COVID-19 is destructive. It is true. It is destructive to our human confidence. It exposes the frailty of human life apart from God. It is an enemy of our boasting and loose living.

COVID-19 is an instrument of God to call people to come to Him, we are never His equal, we are infinitely distanced from Him, and our lives without God is this:
Isaiah 40:17-18 (WEB) All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?

COVID-19 is not an indiscriminate event. It is systematic in its movement. The whole world reacts as one and in panic against this invisible “enemy”. It gives a distinct warning to the whole world to reckon this God and at the same time because it is an act of God, it brings restorative effects on our land. What our governments cannot do to clean the ocean, to clear the pollution of the land and to regain new sight of the landscape of the mountains and nature, it does in weeks quietly and without any fanfare.

Third, not only the leaders of the land are warned, the peoples of God are particularly called to be involved in this crisis. The church, the people of God, are called to help in this time of viral crisis.

In his new book, Coronavirus and Christ, John Piper writes, “The coronavirus is God’s thunderclap call for all of us to repent and realign our lives with the infinite worth of Christ.”

In Brazil or perhaps in other places, christians are literally praying on their knees at public streets (they observe social distancing) begging God for mercy, talking about their sins and praying to God to spare the nations of the world.

We need to mourn. Blessed are those who mourn is not a sporadic event in a believer’s life. It is a lifestyle (Mat 5:4).

Mourning is a deep reflection of our inadequacy, that we have failed God again and again and how He accepts us in Christ when we deserve wrath.

Forget the charlatans who promise that good life can be obtained to the fullest now. What we have now is nothing compared to the eternal glory.

Mourning is desperation without Christ. Mourning results in joy and peace in Christ because one has entrusted his life to the One who alone is able.

The Book of Psalms is full of prayers of lamentation. Lament is suffering turned into prayer. It is desperation and hopelessness that become an act of worship. It is saying, in a very literal sense, without Christ, we are nothing. We lament and reach out to God, God rejoices in it.
Psalm 30:5 (KJV) For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

This is the time for the church to stand up, not in arrogance or in haughtiness or with an air of superiority, but in humility that we need God.

What the world esteems and lives for are vanity and cracks in the face of a microscopic onslaught of a silent bug.

The great Daniel, the servant of God offered this prayer.
Daniel 9: [4] I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, [5] we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. [6] We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. [7] “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. [8] O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. [9] The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; [10] we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. [11] All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. [12] You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. [13] Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. [14] The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

Just as God wants to humble the rulers of the nations, the true believers of God are told to do the same. Daniel continued:
Daniel 9:18-19 (WEB) My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake. Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

The believers are likewise called to continue to seek the mercy of God, to ask forgiveness of their sins for God’s sake because healing on the land can come through the intercession of His people.

This healing is not a one shot deal. People will manifest time and again their resolute defiance against God. Many will answer and bow before King Jesus as their Lord and Savior but huge multitudes will live in resistance and even confront the wisdom of God. They will refuse the authority of God over their lives.

This is a process in time, sin and healing, defiance and healing, punishment and healing but it will come to an end when the final judgment comes.

At this time, the church is not in the sidelight. It is not just of the channels of healing and restoration. The church is the only channel, the only light in this world, darkened by the state of sin. Scientist, medical practitiners and economists have their part to play, but the main thing happening in the world right now is the need to look into the high heavens whether rulers care or not.

It has been said, hard times are good for Christians. There is less resistance when one talks about God at this time. This is an opportune time for the church.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

MORE TO COME.

We do not bring delusion that when COVID-19 rests, when the people of God humbly prays before God, everything will finally be over. After a pause, more will come. This a wake up call to the world that God, without firing a bullet, can foil the strength of mankind.

We are altogether lighter than a breath. We have a terrible illusion of strength forgetting the air we need does not come from us but is freely given. If we are deprived of this free stuff, we die in few minutes.
Psalm 62:9 (WEB) Surely men of low degree are just a breath, And men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.

Isaiah 40:15 (WEB) Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

There will be a time when men will seek death because of the terrible and rotten physical condition arising from diseases. COVID-19 is the reverse. We pray for survival and life. The incoming ones, we will seek death for life is not worth living anymore when affliction and calamity come. Yet, the world will persist in rebelling against Him inspite of the forewarnings.

A local example. Jeremiah 8:3 (KJV) And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

A global phenomenon. Revelation 9:6 (KJV) And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

It is so inspirational when people give high praises to our frontliners: the medical and health staff, the nurses, the farmers, the food deliverers, even the military and police personnel who sacrifice their lives in the prevention of the virus.

As christians, we do the same. Let us extend our help and encouragement to them in this crucial viral crisis.

But we need to do more because the world cannot. Let us bring the name above all names: Jesus Christ. Only the church can do this. We call on them this is the time to be serious with their lives.

The world will seek for cure and vaccine somewhere else. The church will show to the world the real and lasting need – to fall on their knees and worship the One who sits in His throne.

God does not close His eyes to our iniquity yet there is forgiveness and restoration in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The believers are told to stand firm.

The world will be shaken. The believers will be shaken but they cannot be shaken completely because whatever happens they have peace that passes beyond understanding. It is a peace that does not depend on circumstance. It is a peace that depends on who Jesus Christ is.
John 16:33 (KJV) These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

There is a great day when the kings, the mighty and the rich will hide and seek death. They will prefer natural calamities to fall on them because they cannot endure to see the glory of God. They know they have sinned against God yet they live as if they own their lives.
Rev 6:15-17 KJ2000 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the generals, and the mighty men, and every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH HAS COME; AND WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND IT?

Let us not fool ourselves. There is no utopia. People will still grow in wickedness after COVID-19 is over.

Only the final judgment of God, the Day of the Lord, will usher the new age. Let us “endure.” This is a word that is foreign to the “false gospel.”
2Ti 3:12-13 KJ2000 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

2Th 1:4 KJ2000 So that we ourselves boast of you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure:

Our joy is always in Jesus Christ. If not, why not? When we realize that COVID-19 levels down the rich, the mighty, the famous and lump them together as one, we see a truer picture of life.

If the COVID-19 comes from satan, tremble before him, if it comes from God, tremble before this God, the only hope, protection and confidence not only during COVID but in every situation.

CORAM DEO – j.b.