The Pandemic and Bible Prophecy

(Finding Victory over the Virus)

The global pandemic has resulted in near-global panic. Medical facilities, markets, educational institutions, and churches, all enormously experience the impact. How is the Christian to respond to the Corona-crisis? Does God’s Word provide an answer to the questions people are asking today? Some are asking – “Is this the beginning of the end?”

To help you find victory over the virus and respond biblically as our culture continues to confront this global pandemic, we need to seek answers in the Bible.

God’s word provides an abundance of instruction on the matter of disease. If you look for the words, “plague” or “disease” in the Bible you will discover that God is not silent about human illness.

DISEASE COMES AS A PUNISHMENT

The last truly germ-free environment was a place called, “The Garden of Eden.” Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin corrupted absolutely everything! Romans 8:22 says, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Sin affects every part of God’s creation! Therefore, in a real-way, every sickness and every disease is a part of the punishment that God levied upon the world because of sin.

God sometimes punishes individuals with disease

1. II Chronicles 21 tells the story of Jehoram, the King of Judah. Jehoram led the people of Judah into idolatry. God told Elijah the prophet to write a letter to Jehoram. This is what Elijah wrote, “Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father … and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself; Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease … (II Chr 21:12-15). II Chronicles 21:18 confirms the fact that God smote Jehoshaphat with an incurable disease! The Bible says that there are times that God punishes individuals with disease.
2. In Numbers 14, we find the record of the report that the 12 spies gave when they came back from their survey of the Promised Land. You will recall that Caleb and Joshua gave a good report of the land and told the people to go in and conquer it. The other 10 spies we not so bold. They gave a bad report instilling fear into the hearts of the people. Numbers 14:37 says that the 10 spies who brought the people of Israel an evil report about the Promised Land died of a plague sent by God!
3. There is a very interesting story in Acts 12. King Herod assembled his subjects in the great Colosseum of Caesarea. He stood before them in his royal garments. As his heart filled with pride – Acts 12:23 says that God sent worms to destroy him. God is not willing to share His glory with anyone and does not look kindly on those who live as if He does not matter.

The Bible says, God sometimes punishes individuals by sending disease.

God sometimes punishes nations with disease

1. I Samuel 5 says that when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant and brought it to their Temple in Ashdod, God sent them a plague of hemorrhoids.
2. After God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, they made a golden calf and defiled their worship of Jehovah, Exodus 32:35 says that God sent a plague upon them.
3. In Numbers 16, Israel rebelled against the leadership of Moses by following after Korah. Again, God sent a plague upon the Israelites for their disobedience. 14,700 people died.

I know that there are those who will say, “Pastor, we live in the age of grace! You are talking about the Old Testament. Let me remind you that in Acts 12 God sent a disease that took the life King Herod. Herod did not live in the Old Testament times. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You should not try to impose a limit on God’s ability to send disease. God still rules (Da. 4:27).

The Bible makes it clear – sometimes disease comes as a punishment from God. In Deuteronomy 28 God promises to bless the nation of Israel with good health if the people are obedient. But listen to what He says will happen if the people are disobedient – “The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning.” (Dt. 28:21-22).

When people ask, “Could the virus that is now stopping the world in its tracks be a messenger of God?” We should not rule out that possibility. People everywhere are asking – What is God doing? The Bible makes it clear that God can punish individuals and He can punish nations with disease. Let me ask you – Have you given God a cause to punish you? Has our nation given God cause for anger?

This thought may frighten some people. So let’s move on and consider a second scripture-based thought.

DISEASE MAY BE PREVENTED

No, I am not saying that every disease is preventable. II Corinthians tells us that Paul, himself, suffered affliction with something. Paul prayed three times that God would cure him. God promised Paul grace rather than a cure. God promised to sustain Paul when his flesh was weak. While God did not cure Paul of his affliction – Paul was content to learn that when he was weak he was strong. However, as we study God’s Word, we find two ways that sometimes prevent disease:

First – Isolation may prevent disease

Leviticus 13 and 14 presents a God-imposed quarantine. God required the examination of lepers. The Old Testament priest examined the lepers, diagnosed the disease, and quarantined the afflicted. Once diagnosed, a leper was required to self-identify by calling out, “Unclean, unclean.” More than that, God commanded lepers to leave their homes while others burned their clothing, destroyed their furniture, and sanitized their houses. Lepers relocated to colonies, kept their distance from those who were healthy, and kept to themselves as the disease slowly destroyed their bodies.

God quarantined lepers to protect the healthy. Those who study God’s isolation laws in Leviticus 13 and 14 will find them to be ahead of their time. Before scientists invented microscopes to study microbes, God gave specific directions to isolate the afflicted for the well-being of the nation. Before scientific advancement – our Creator already knew that isolation is an effective way to prevent the spread of disease.

Many congregations are not assembling this morning. Naturally, we are grieved. Those who love the Lord love to celebrate His resurrection by singing His praises and fellowshipping with His people. Today some of us are coming to understand how John must have felt in isolation on the Island of Patmos. Let’s not forget that while he was far away from the churches that he loved he was still able to say that he was, “In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”

In the Old Testament, God directed a quarantine for the good of the nation. I believe that God has given our national leaders the authority to direct a quarantine for the good of our nation. We ought to respect the council of our Governor and President and we ought to rejoice as we realize that God has given them wisdom as they seek to preserve the lives of our fellow-citizens. I am committed to doing everything that I can to cooperate with the counsel of those that God has placed in positions of power over me. Let me encourage you to do the same. Pray for our civil authorities. Pray for those who are working in health care positions. Why? Because …

Intercession may prevent disease

We all know that there is power in prayer. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call on the Lord in the day of trouble”. God encourages us to ask, to seek, and to knock in prayer because when we do, God will give answers to us, we will discover God’s blessings, and God will open doors. We can ask God for anything, at any time, and expect that God will hear and God will answer because our relationship with Jesus gives us access and power (Jn. 16:24). What about when disease descends on our land? Can we expect God then?

When Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem, he prayed a very special prayer, recorded in II Chronicles 6. Listen to what Solomon prayed. “If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence . . . Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when everyone shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place.” (II Chr. 6:28-31)

Solomon specifically asked the Lord to intervene when disease came upon Israel. Solomon, a man well known for his wisdom, believed that God could turn back disease when people pray! Do you believe that? I do! I believe that God can answer the prayers of those who cry out to Him for healing.

II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Yes, intercession can cure disease and prevent the spread of a plague.

This afternoon we will be sending out an electronic prayer chain to involve as many as we can in the work of intercession. I hope that you will respond and join me in praying that God will heal our land. Now is the time for us to labor in prayer. Sign-up to be part of our prayer partners. God has the power to heal our land.

We have considered 2 biblical facts about disease: 1.) Disease comes as a punishment, and 2.) Disease may be prevented through isolation and intercession. I’d like to share a 3^rd thought with you.

DISEASE CAN BE PREDICTED

I want us to look together at 2 very interesting New Testament references where we find the word, “Pestilence.”

First, turn with me to Matthew 24. Matthew 24-25 is The Olivet Discourse. This is our Lord’s longest prophetic message. While seated on the Mt. of Olives (Mt. 24:3), Jesus begins to answer the questions His disciples posed about the future. Specifically, they asked Him to tell them what it would be like before His coming. I want you to notice carefully what Jesus said.

There will be disease prior to the Tribulation

In Matthew 24:4-7 we read, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” In this passage Jesus provides 6 signs to indicate the nearness of His coming.

1. Mt. 24:5 – The 1^st sign – False Christs (People like David Koresh, Jim Jones and Sun Yung Moon)
2. Mt. 24:6 – The 2^nd sign – Wars and Rumors of Wars
3. Mt. 24:7 – Cataclysmic Wars (Wars in which Nations and Kingdoms are involved. Like WWI & WWII)
4. Mt. 24:7 – Famines (Consider the national famines of Ukraine, Somalia, Ethiopia and China)
5. Mt. 24:7 – Pestilences
6. Mt. 24:7 – Earthquakes

Then, in verse 8, Jesus says, “These are the beginning of sorrows.” Our Lord is using prophetic language as He tells His disciples to be on the lookout for these signs and to realize that they are just, “The beginning of sorrows.” Literally, He says, “These signs are like labor pains.” Jesus is using the word, “sorrows,” metaphorically. He says, just like labor pains increase in frequency and intensity, you can expect these signs to increase in intensity and frequency before the end comes (cf. Is. 13:6-8; 21:3; Je. 30:1-7).

Is that happening today?

Black Death – The Bubonic Plague came to Eurasia in 1347. It resulted in the deaths of up to 200 million within just three years. The toll was greater than any epidemic or war in human history.

For people who caught the disease, death came quickly. First, those who were infected showed signs of fever, delirium, speech disorders, and loss of consciousness. Then they would break out in large boils. Even healthy individuals could die within days. The odds of survival were low.

Years ago, I toured the catacombs of St. Stephen’s Church in Vienna. Viennese prisoners stacked the bones of the victims of the plague tightly together.

In 1918, the Spanish Flu Pandemic ravaged the world. From 1918 to 1920, it infected a ½ a billion people (that is 27% of the world’s population). Estimates are that at least 17 million died. Some say that the number was closer to 100 million.

Some will say, “It seems that we are experiencing fewer plagues and far-less intense.” However, that it not really the case. While doctors and their patients are thankful for antibiotics, scientists warn of the dangerous super-viruses, which may be the result of over-much use of antibiotics.

The truth is, our world is beginning to feel the pains of disease frequently and intensely.

• HIV peaked from 2005 to 2012. Since its discovery in 1981, it has caused more than 36 million deaths.
• HIN1 came on the scene in 2009. Some estimate that HINI has taken nearly 600,000 lives.
• Ebola appeared in 2014. Almost ½ of those who contracted the disease died.

Could it be that we are seeing an increasing number of deadly diseases?

Are the diseases becoming increasingly virulent?

Is this the beginning of sorrows?

Are these birth-pains indicators of more to come?

There will be disease during the Tribulation

When we open our Bibles to Revelation 6, we find the 4^th horseman of the Apocalypse in verse 8. Here we read, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

There are currently over 7 billion people living on planet earth. When the 4^th Seal of the Book of the Revelation is opened, ¼ of the world’s population will die. That would be 2.8 billion people. Notice how the people die. “The sword” (i.e., war and persecution), hunger (i.e., famine), death (i.e., disease), and the beasts.

I have long puzzled over the part that the beasts will have in the death of so large a part of the world’s population. After all, most of us have very little fear of the beasts that roam the earth. Our guns are much stronger than their claws or fangs.

The Bible says, great death will come from the sword, from famine, from disease, and from the beasts. God may one day use the beasts to carry incurable disease into our human population. Recently HIV came from a Green Monkey. We have all heard of Avian Flu and Swine Flu. Scientists say that Ebola came from bats. While we do not yet know the origins of the Corona Virus, many people say it came from Chinese meat markets and came via a transference of a virus carried by bats.

I have one final consideration and it may be the most important. When we ask, “How should a Christian respond to the corona virus?”

DISEASE OUGHT TO BE PRODUCTIVE

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Surely, the Corona Virus can become a productive problem in the plan of God. Let me suggest that …

Disease presents an opportunity to strengthen faith

God can protect His people from disease. Psalm 91:10-11 says, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Yet we know that there are times in which God allows His people to go through a trial rather than around it. It may be that God will want some of us to go through the trial of disease. If you test positive you are told to, “Count it all joy” (Ja. 1:2). When the Apostles were afflicted they rejoiced because they were, “Counted worthy to suffer” (Ac. 5:41).

Friend, I want you to know that even if you are infected and isolated, you are never alone! Hebrews 13:5 reminds us that, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” In Isaiah 43:2, God says, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee!” Jesus says, “I am with you always!” (Mt. 28:20)

Our adversities ought to strengthen our faith. I love Romans 5:3-5. Listen as I read what it says. “I glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

God uses our trials to strengthen our faith. It is in the trial of the furnace that we find He walks with us. It is in the experience of suffering that we find His grace is sufficient. Count it a joy to suffer. By suffering, your faith is strengthened. Disease ought to be productive!

Disease presents an opportunity to enlarge ministry

News of a pandemic presents a unique test for the Christian and for the Christian community. Those who do not know the Lord live for prosperity, longevity, and happiness. Those who know the Lord have a higher calling. Paul said it this way, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain!” (Ph. 1:21).

Let me ask you something. If you knew, your neighbor was dying of the plague and he asked you to come and share the gospel with him, would you go to him? If you knew that you were going to get the plague would you still go?

Philippians 1:20 says “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” Since Christ bought us with His blood, He owns all of us – including, of course, our bodies. When God called our children, Chad and Courtney to heaven at the age of 25 and 24, He decided to use their bodies through death to bring life to others. We have met people who have put trust in Christ as Savior through our children’s death.

Charles Spurgeon was a 21-year-old pastor in 1854 when cholera came to his community. Spurgeon said, “During the epidemic of cholera, though I had many engagements in the country, I gave them up that I might remain in London to visit the sick and the dying. I felt that it was my duty to be on the spot in such a time of disease and death and sorrow… Family after family summoned me to the bedside of the smitten, and almost every day I was called to visit the grave.”

When the shadow of death draws near, the light of the gospel shines the brightest. People see that life is short. Fear takes hold of many. That is when the cross stands as a great beacon of hope.

1. Be open to new opportunities to serve.
2. Share a message of hope to those who have little hope.
3. Take literature with you to every appointment and point people to God.
4. Entrust yourself to the Lord.

The believer should not dread disease. Those who know salvation have heaven to gain – “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He did something amazing. He stood up and declared that He was going to heal the blind, the lame and the deaf. Then, He immediately began His ministry of healing. The first one healed was a demon-possessed man. Then a leper. Then Peter’s fevered mother-in-law. Soon people were bringing their friends to Jesus so that He could heal them.

Four men picked up their paralyzed friend, tore up the roof of the house in which Jesus was preaching, and lowered their friend down in front of Jesus. Jesus looked at the paralyzed man and said, “Thy sins be forgiven thee!” (Mk. 2) The religious leaders immediately cried out – “Only God can forgive sin!” Jesus responded by saying, “So that you can know that I have the power to forgive sin – I say to this man, Rise, take up your bed and walk!”

Forgiving sin is an invisible work. It is the work of God. When Jesus did physical miracles of healing – He did them to prove He could do the invisible work of forgiving sin.

Late in the Lord’s ministry, He heard that His friend Lazarus was sick. Instead of going to Lazarus to heal him, Jesus let Lazarus die. Then, as He stood outside of His friend’s grave He called for his resurrection. Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive. People were amazed. That is when Jesus taught His friends a great lesson. Sometimes Jesus allows His friends to be sick and sometimes He lets them die but He has the power to raise them from death!

All disease is a result of sin. Eventually, sin will bring death. “The soul that sins will die!”

Jesus has the power to heal sickness and to forgive sin. One day He will raise all His friends from the grave. Those who trust in Jesus may get sick. They may even die. But they will all rise again. Jesus provides forgiveness from sin. In fact, He died to pay the penalty of our sin. One day soon He is coming to resurrect the dead and to bring His friends to heaven with Him.

As the first pandemic of the 21^st century continues to frustrate the world. Believers ought to be looking up and living by faith!

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Dr. Charles Phelps is the pastor of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash, pasted over Revelation 6.8 by Don Johnson