Coronavirus – A unique crisis like never before

Coronavirus has gone from an Asian contagion to a world wide pandemic that has put the quarter of the world in lockdown in 4 weeks. A tiny unseen virus has threatened the existence of mankind and challenged global super powers which built nuclear weapons, sent space probe to other planets and has technologies for genetic engineering! This  pandemic is a unique crisis like never before in the history of this world. Many people are looking for answers in the bible to understand if the bible talks about this crisis. Historically speaking, every time a nation or a leader rebels against God that nation suffered severe consequences. There was a nation called Babylon which rebelled against God. Babylon trusted in its knowledge and understanding. Babylon defied God’s word and created its own laws based on its knowledge and understanding and revelled in pleasure. It persecuted the people of God and stood against God’s word. Look what happened to Babylon? It no longer exists! You can only see the remains of Babylon in modern day Baghdad. Isaiah 47 was written for Babylon but every verse in that chapter applies to this modern day crisis.
 
– This crisis affects the entire world at the same time. There were only few crises/disasters in the past that affected the entire world such as world wars and the great influenza pandemic of 1918. But this pandemic has come at the height of advancement in air travel as people can travel very quickly to anywhere in the world and pass these deadly infections. No human being is exempt not even the leaders of the most powerful nations in the world and the monarchs. No other place is safer in this world. Isaiah 47:3 says, “I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
 
– In the last decade, Man invented smart phones, high speed computers, sent space probe to Pluto, discovered genetic engineering and developed understanding of complex diseases, built computer algorithms to accurately predict the weather, deployed advanced satellites, developed nuclear bombs etc. Man thought that through his scientific knowledge any problems can be resolved. Man disregarded the Word of God and relied in his knowledge. He defied God and redefined his own laws and rules for living based on his knowledge. But this crisis caught everyone by surprise as even with the latest advancement in science and technologies, there was no immediate remedy than self isolation and quarantine.  There is a serious shortage of medical equipments and testing kits. This crisis has taken everyone by surprise as none of the nation could cope with the dire need. It was almost like man has been brought to his knees.  Isaiah 47:10 says -> “Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.”
 
– The last 4 years stock markets were booming and many people became millionaires and billionaires. But this week saw the stock markets erasing all the gains of the past 4 years. This wiped out trillions from the world economy and several people lost  billions of money within a week. Everything happened suddenly without a warning. All the major predictors of the markets are currently stunned. On 23rd Dec 2019 President Trump tweeted “NASDAQ UP 72.2% SINCE OUR GREAT 2016 ELECTION VICTORY! DOW UP 55.8%. The best is yet to come!” And the same month he tweeted “Economy is GREAT, Big Stock Market uptick today. Best ranking in 20 years admits CNN!”. This crisis shows how the economy and money are so fickle. The greatest lesson that this crisis taught us is that we cannot put our trust in money or fame. Without warning it can all be wiped out in a single day. Isaiah 47 says -> “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day.” Paul warned Thessalonians saying ,“While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” 
 
– All the past crises like world wars, Berlin wall, 911 etc brought people together. But this crisis isolated people, stopped social gatherings and entertainments. “Social distancing” was put in place and countries were put in lockdown. Isaiah 47 says, “Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians.”
 
– Man has prepared “ammunition” to fight against every kind of enemy. We successfully fought world wars against rogue leaders like Hitler. The past 2 decades we have been fighting against terrorism and successfully developed advanced technologies to combat terrorism. Man has come out with a solution to handle all kinds of enemies he faced in the past. But this crisis brings a new “unseen enemy” which makes this war more difficult. This virus is the outcome of the hunger and selfishness of man to gain more knowledge, money, power, pleasure and fame. This virus is not sent by God but a direct outcome of man’s bad choices. Isaiah 47 says : “Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.”
 
– One of the latest booming field is the field of Artificial intelligence(AI). Through AI man has started writing algorithms to predict the weather, stock markets, cancerous outcomes, genetic disorders, earth quakes etc. But this disaster overtook man suddenly and completely! Isaiah 47 says, “those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.”
 
Isaiah 47 is a very stark warning  for a nation that boasted and relied on its own knowledge and understanding. Look at what we as humans have done to this world. We have redefined marriage against God’s word, de-criminalised abortion and allowed abortion of babies upto 24 weeks, criminalised preaching of the Gospel, protested venues being given to the preaching of the Gospel, taken the name of God in vain and making jokes in the name of stand-up comedy and cartoons like Simpsons, directing movies with values that stands against the word of God and poisoning the minds of our children and next generation, stopped going to churches thinking it is not relevant anymore and the list goes on! We have simply kicked God out of this world and think we can do better without God. Well, it’s time to think again. If what is written in Isaiah 47 is true and applicable for us, it is only a beginning! We cannot fight against the living God!
 
So, what is the answer and how can we avoid another such crisis like this? Well, God is not someone who sits in the cloud with a lightning rod to strike us with vengeance. He showed that he loves us by coming into this fallen and broken world and dying on that horrible cross. He not only got isolated from his family and friends in that cross but he got isolated from His father in heaven when he cried, “My God My God why have you forsaken me!” He went through “heavenly-isolation” as the sin of the entire world was placed upon him that even his father turned his face away. He went through this because God wanted to identify with us and he wants us have his peace and joy in times like this. We all can have this peace and joy even in times of crisis like this. We can avoid another such disaster by coming back to God who created us. So as human beings we all need to come back to basics and come to our creator. The bible says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
 
So here are some things we should do to avoid another such crisis and put an end to this crisis.
 
1) Stop thinking that the bible is irrelevant and obsolete and start looking at it with a different light. Put the bible at the heart of your life and  start reading it. God speaks to you everyday through his word. For every situation you are going through there is an answer for you in his word.
 
2) Try praying. God answers prayer every time we pray. Sometimes you don’t see the result straightaway but God is always working.
 
3) Start going back to your local church. Church is not boring and irrelevant. There are lots of online churches even during times of lockdown. Start attending one of these online churches.
 
4) Pray for our nation. If we all pray God will give a breakthrough from this pandemic.
 
5) Wait and see God doing amazing things in our nation and in this world!
 
Let us always remember what God said to His people about his sovereignty in Isaiah 46.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.’

You may also like...

4 Responses

  1. Jey says:

    #perspective #brilliant #monologue
    Thank you for the reminder.

  2. Israel says:

    Insightful. Thank you.

  3. Good one Davidson! It is true. The whole world has come to a grinding halt because of an unseen speck! Now mankind as a whole will once more realise that God is the only one who can put a stop to this. There is no other power who can accomplish this except the powerful name of Jesus!!!

Leave a Reply to Israel Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *