The coronavirus, known as COVID-19, is now a worldwide problem. It is really a pandemic. It has spread very quickly to so many nations. So, is the coronavirus pandemic judgment from God?
There is no doubt that there is a definite connection between sin—that is, disobedience to God—and suffering. Adam and Eve sinned and as a result they suffered, and all their descendants. The first fourteen verses of Deuteronomy 28 give God’s promised blessings upon the children of Israel but beginning in verse 15 there are many curses given for disobedience. Verse 15 says, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.”
Do we have a cycle of obedience, disobedience, and judgment in the Book of Judges followed by God raising up a mighty judge, or deliverer, to rescue Israel? Indeed, we do have that cycle. Because of times of Israel’s apostasy, God would bring oppressors upon them who would afflict the people greatly because of their sin. We see this clearly in the Bible. Ananias and Sapphira disobeyed God and God took them out.
In John 5 God gave a warning to the cripple at the Pool of Bethesda. In John 5:14 we read: “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”
A good example of judgment following sin is found in the words of Nathan to David, after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, murdered. In 2 Samuel 12, verse 10 and following Nathan says, “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun,” meaning publicly. That was a very strong pronouncement against David. I think the reason was that God had blessed David with so much. David sinned despite all the blessings of God.
In Nathan’s parable he was like the man who had many sheep, but he went and took a poor man’s pet ewe lamb. That poor man only had one. In 2 Samuel 12 Nathan told the parable of the ewe lamb. There were two men in the city; the one rich and the other poor. And the rich man took the poor man’s ewe lamb. So, the judgment was harsh on David because he sinned against the many wonderful blessings of God. But we need to remember that God would much rather show mercy than judgment. Even after Adam’s sin, God gave the promise of the first Gospel, in Genesis 3:15.
In these days of quarantine, the falling stock market, people concerned about their livelihoods, we do need to humble ourselves. That involves confessing our sin and making sure we are saved and have accepted Jesus Christ.
