Leviticus 26:21-25 “If you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.”
Today we hear about natural disasters in the news almost everyday; Tsunami’s, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning strikes, wildfires, avalanches, droughts, and floods, but infestations and disease outbreaks also. These natural disasters, produced by nature, are commonly labeled as “Acts of God” when they bring devastating results to life and property. Various outbreaks of pandemic diseases, such as Ebola (killing up to 70% of those infected), SARS (having a mortality rate close to 10%) or the current coronavirus have prompted many to ask why God allows—or even causes—pandemic diseases. Is Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic an act of God?
Leviticus states that, at least some natural disasters, are enacted through nature (naturally) by nature’s God (supernaturally) as the result of our sins (you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me), but their intention is reformation and restoration of our fallen relationship with our Creator. What is sin against our just and holy God? Sin is defined as the voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule of rectitude or duty, prescribed by God; any voluntary transgression of the divine law, or violation of a divine command; a wicked act; iniquity. Sin is either a positive act in which a known divine law is violated, or it is the voluntary neglect to obey a positive divine command, or a rule of duty clearly implied in such command. Sin comprehends not action only, but neglect of known duty, all evil thoughts purposes, words and desires, whatever is contrary to God's commands or law. Sin differs from crime, not in nature, but in application. That which is a crime against society, is sin against God.
Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” The world that Jesus speaks of is the God-rejecting world system. The sinful world.
Caused or allowed by Almighty God, this epidemic outbreak is definitely a wake up call to repent, reform, reconcile and return to the Lord, to truly love and willfully obey His perfect statutes and commands with joy, walking the “straight and narrow path” of righteousness by His holy Word, Will and Way in thought, words and action, aligning our purposes with His purposes. It's a "come to Jesus" moment in time. The question is not whether God causes or allows diseases, natural disasters and catastrophes but why does He allow or cause these to occur. Answer: Sin. It’s as if God is pleading with humanity to get right with Him … to seek Him and establish a relationship with Him … to repent and be saved. God desires that none perish but that all would come to repentance and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).
In Christ, Brian
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