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Is
Coronavirus a Divine Judgment or a Call to Faith?
No matter if this is
a natural plague or one sent by God, whether it is a call to believer or
sinner, it reminds us why we are here and what our priorities should be - thus,
it is truly a lifesaver for those who will believe
Dr. David Kyle Foster
Author
From Exodus to
Revelation it is clear that God does indeed send plagues and disasters upon the
earth.
This begs the
question: Is today’s coronavirus pandemic one of those plagues?
Let’s look at some
scripture in both the Old Testament and New Testament regarding plagues:
“I
will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials
and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:14)
“The
Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged
disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.” (Deuteronomy 28:59)
“A third
of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came
out of their mouths.”
(Revelation
9:18)
“They
were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had
control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him.” (Revelation 16:9)
“I
warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone
adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in
this scroll.”
(Revelation
22:18)
This historical
certainty, and foreseen revelation, leads to even more questions.
Is Coronavirus a ‘Birth
Pain’ before Judgment?
Many are also
wondering if the current pandemic is one of the ‘birth pains’ that
presage the soon return of our Lord, where Jesus will be the final judge.
Let’s look at some
scripture regarding this as well:
“You
will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in
various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8)
“This
will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus
Christ, as my gospel declares.” (Romans 2:16)
“In
the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the
dead.”
(2
Timothy 4:1)
We Don’t Know if the
Time is Now
The truth is, no one
really knows if the current plague is a judgment from God on our unbelieving,
immoral, materialistic, compromised world.
No one can prove with
absolute certainty that indeed coronavirus is a sign of the final judgment.
But we do know this:
sooner or later, the final judgment will come in its fullness.
“It
is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)
What About the
Prophets?
If you believe, as I
do, that the gifts of the Spirit given to the Church at Pentecost were meant to
be active until Jesus’ return, then how are we to receive the modern prophetic
pronouncements about the origin of the coronavirus that are at odds with each other?
Many prophets say it
is a judgment from God, while others say that it isn’t.
So how is the average
person supposed to know which prophecies are true?
In the Old Testament,
the answer was easy. If a prophet prophesied falsely, that was a guarantee that
he was not a true prophet.
Those self-appointed,
so-called prophets either spoke out of rebellion against God and His will, or
blindness caused by their sinfulness, imagination, presumption, or
self-exaltation. The true gift, therefore, was made an infallible gift. (See Deuteronomy
13:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:21-22).
In the New Testament
era, however, things are different.
Prophets today do not
have a 100% batting average.
Their gift is one of many
spiritual gifts that have been given the Church, all of which are given to
fallible people and all of which are expressed imperfectly (see Romans 12:6; 1
Corinthians 13:9-12; 1 Corinthians 14:29-33; Acts 2:17-18).
Prophecy is now for
everyone to whom the Holy Spirit deems to give it. And as with other spiritual
gifts, the person having it is sometimes wrong.
Consequently, the
average believer must ask for the gift of discernment as well as examine the
prophet’s accuracy record.
Such discernment is
developed more accurately in those who have developed an intimate relationship
with God.
As in the Old
Testament, many so-called prophets today do not have the gift of prophecy.
The Bible indicates
that they speak visions from their own “minds” and “imagination,”
not from the mouth of the Lord (Jeremiah 23:16c; Ezekiel 13:2b).
Why the difference
between OT and NT criteria?
Spiritual
gifts in the Body of Christ are graces that allow believers to participate in
the work of the Holy Spirit, or as Scripture says, “participate in the
divine nature” and the work of Christ (2 Peter 1:4).
Is Coronavirus God’s
Wrath or Nature’s Fallen State?
Sometimes, disasters
are simply the exigencies of nature, (which began when Adam & Eve sinned),
expressing its own fallenness.
We know that the
whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
(Romans
8:22)
On rare occasions,
disasters of one sort or another are God’s attempt to warn us that our time on
this earth is but a vapor, a breath.
“You
also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not
expect Him.”
(Matthew
24:43b)
“You
do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist
that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
“Man
is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” (Psalm 144:4)
“Remember,
O God, that my life is but a breath…” (Job 7:7a)
Our Eternal Fate
Involves a Choice
So, what is our
response to God's offer of eternal life (beyond this vapor) through Jesus
Christ?
It is a choice we’re
offered through trials and tribulations — that we ignore at our peril.
The truth is, all of
us were born with a sinful nature.
“I
was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)
“Through
one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death
spread to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12)
God’s Holy Fire
Consumes
The problem for us as
sinful humans is this: God is holy. His holiness is a fierce fire that destroys
anything that is not holy.
“Our
God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews
12:29)
“Who
among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?” (Isaiah 33:14)
As sinful people, we
cannot live in the presence of His holy fire without being consumed.
Thus, for us to live
in His presence, we must be made holy as He is holy. Unfortunately, our
righteousness is as filthy rags.
“All
of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us
away.”
(Isaiah
54:6)
What Is the Antidote
to Our Unrighteousness?
God has mercifully
given us the antidote to our sin.
“But
thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
“For
as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one
man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
How does Jesus make
unrighteous man righteous? Let’s follow the path through scripture:
“There
is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no
one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
“All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
“Therefore,
since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
(Romans
5:1)
“God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“The
wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.”
(Romans
6:23)
“There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“If
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
“Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
The Present Darkness
of Pandemic Is a Warning Not a Question
So, is the current
pandemic a judgment from God? In truth, this is an irrelevant question. The
pandemic is a manifestation of our present darkness (Ephesians 6:12).
It is a warning, if
you will, whether from fallen nature or from God Himself, that we must turn to
the Lord to be saved before it is too late.
And as we’ve seen, too
late for us may be today!
The most important
question of all is: When we do go, where will we go? Where will we be spending
eternity?
And as we’ve seen
already, only the Bible has the answer to that one.
It is also a call to
those of us who have already been saved by the blood of the Lamb: that the
purpose of our lives (whether here or in heaven) is to pursue an intimate
relationship with our Creator.
That is the purpose
of life itself! Why not take that seriously as well, by spending regular,
quality time with the Lord.
Whether Final or Not,
Choose Christ
The final day of
judgment will indeed come as a thief in the night when it will be too late to
choose. In such a case, suffering becomes a warning and a hard mercy.
“But
God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things
you have prepared, whose will they be?’” (Luke 12:20)
“For
you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief
in the night.”
(1
Thessalonians 5:2)
Thus, it is truly a lifesaver for those who will believe.
Dr. David
Kyle Foster is the author of Transformed Into His Image and Love Hunger and
is the founder/director of Pure Passion Media (www.PurePassion.us). His newest
book is The Sexual Healing Reference Edition. You can listen to his
twice-weekly podcast by going to: www.charismapodcastnetwork.com/show/purepassion.
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