Is God Punishing Us?

Matthew 24:6-8

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.

                I have been asked on several occasions if I think the current Covid-19 pandemic is God’s judgment on humanity. It is a question that echoes throughout history. Every time the world faces a major crisis like this, people begin to wonder if this is the end. Let’s put things in context. This is not the first time the world has faced such a crisis.

                Between 1347 and 1351 Europe was devastated by an outbreak of the plague. An estimated 75-200 million people died as a result of that pandemic. Many people in that day felt that the world was ending. Many people turned to the church during that time, seeking comfort and reassurance.

                The world was devastated again in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1920. During that outbreak between 50-100 million people worldwide died. It was the deadliest pandemic since the plague. Within the first 25 weeks, 25 million people died. On the heels of WWI, that pandemic caused many to wonder if the world was coming to an end. Unfortunately, many people turned away from the church and put their faith in science instead as the savior of the world.

                Today we face the Covid-19 pandemic. To date there have been 394,828 confirmed cases, with 17,226 deaths worldwide. Again, people are asking the question, is this the end of the world? Is God judging us?

                We need to put what is happening into biblical perspective. At the most basic level, this pandemic is a result of living in a sinful, fallen world. All sickness and disease are a result of sin; not necessarily a specific sin, but sin in general. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, the process of death entered the world. With death came sickness and disease. Therefore, all of humanity is subject to sickness, disease, and death.

                When God created this world, He created it with a cause and effect reality. He made this clear when He instructed the people of Israel about the way life is. As Moses related God’s Law to the people, he summarized the situation with this statement:

    See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-- the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. Deuteronomy 11:26-28

                What God wanted the people to know was that if they obeyed His laws there would be a positive outcome and if they disregarded God’s laws there would be a negative outcome. It is similar to the warning that we give to children regarding the fireplace. If you keep your distance from the fire, you will benefit from its warmth. If you stick your hand in the fire, you will get burned. This is the world that we live in today. Because in the main humanity has disregarded God’s laws, we have to deal with the negative consequences. Disease and sickness are one of those consequences.

                Is this current pandemic God’s punishment for the world? Maybe yes, maybe no. What I can say is that this current crisis is a wake-up call for all of us. It is a sign of the times, and the time is running short. Christ could return at any time, and we need to be ready. Throughout the scriptures God’s message to us is the same. Don’t worry about the times or the circumstances that you are in. Instead, be alert and be prepared. We should live every day as if Christ will return today.

    "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

    "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:36-42)

                If the Lord does not return now, we will weather this current crisis. That is the lesson of history. The greater question is, how will this current crisis shape the way that we think about life and about God. This current crisis causes all of us to face the fragility of humanity. It causes all of us to face our own mortality. It is an inevitability that we cannot avoid. The great assurance we have is that if we place our faith and trust in Jesus, we don’t have to fear death.

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"