Finger Pointing
As the Corona virus continues to dominate the news, church buildings are left empty (literally). Is the Corona virus judgment upon this world? With all fairness, it may be easy to rush ahead and jump to this conclusion, but we are left with an inconclusive argument either way. Not until we get to heaven will we receive any answers to questions such as this. We must be extremely wary of any who speak, write, or preach (heaven
forbid!) these messages. That being said, let us look deeper into this subject.
In Genesis 3, sin enters into the world. Adam and Eve, believing the serpent, disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. At a moment’s notice, everything changed. A garden of perfection suddenly became a garden of imperfection with only one choice. The penalty was harsh - death! Man sinned. God judged man.
Ultimately, all sin and judgment stems from this choice.
Sin, however, did not stop there. It continued to ravage our planet to the point in Genesis 6 where God is ready to start all over. It broke His heart, but through the Flood, God judged the world as guilty of their failures to follow His desires. You would think after man saw firsthand how serious God was with sin, people
would be reluctant to partake in anymore sinful activity. You would think.
However, by Genesis 11, the world was again an evil place. Sin was on the move, and no more was this apparent than the plan to build the Tower of Babel to reach heaven. Previously, God had instructed His people to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Again, man disobeyed by building a tower instead of spreading out around the world . God again judged them. In Genesis 19, we read of two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, whose inhabitants also experienced the fullness of God’s judgment. Because of their wickedness, God
wiped them off the face of the earth, never to be found again!
Slip on over to Exodus and the judgments against Egypt for keeping the Israelites (God’s people) in slavery. God placed 10 plagues upon the Egyptians; resulting in the release of millions of God’s family into freedom. God’s judgment equaled God’s message executed.
Venture into the New Testament, and in Luke 13, briefly meet Jesus explaining to His listeners about the incident at the Tower of Siloam. This tower, located at the southern end of the city of Jerusalem, seemingly collapsed and killed many. Were these “worse sinners” than the ones who everyday walked the city pathways? No, of course not. This was God’s way of warning others of the dangers of sin. Jesus later speaks, “As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent me.” Jesus qualifies that everything that happens, happens for a reason; only Jesus knows this reason.
What do we make of this? Is God some kind of “cosmic kill-joy” ready to intervene and interrupt our lives at His convenience? Psalm 19:9 clarifies, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” Some might be thinking, “Who is God to tell me how to think?” Romans 11:33-34 answers, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” Revelation 19:2 is correct in saying, “For true and righteous are His judgments,” we must rest in the certainty of the uncertainty. We must take, by faith, that God is always working this world out for our good and for His purposes.
Back to our original question: is the Corona virus judgment upon the world? The answer: yes and no. (I despise a fence-straddler.) Romans 14:10 is helpful to our discussion: “But why do you judge your brother?
Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.” For us to pronounce, “This is a judgment from God,” or, “This is not a judgement of God,” is not our call. It’s in the mind of God. We must remember Jesus’ words: “Judge not lest you be judged.” We can agree with Paul, who writes, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him.”
Therefore, let us be slow to call our (or any) calamity as “God’s judgement” upon a certain people group. It may be. It may not be. The area of concern for the church should be manifesting the love of Christ through the calamity.