Covid-19 – Judgment of God or Something Else?

I don’t think the world has seen a pandemic like the Covid-19 virus in the lifetimes of many of us. Add in the recent Australian bush fires and it begs the question, “Are these judgments of God?”  Or are they something else? In pondering this, consider the following analogy: In World War One, soldiers found guilty of desertion or cowardice were often executed by firing squad. That is judgment. However, if a modern soldier were to go on patrol and could not be bothered to wear their bulletproof vest, and takes a fatal shot, that is not judgment – that is lack of protection.

When nations reject God and his only son, Jesus, as many nations have, he is forced to lift his hand of blessing and protection off those countries. Those nations then become prey for humanly or satanically engineered circumstances, or random events, that cause much suffering and oppression. I believe that is what we are seeing currently. I do not believe that the day of judgment has arrived or that the Covid-19 pandemic is such a judgment.

Isaiah, one of the great prophets of ancient Israel, predicted that the promised Messiah would say of himself: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God…” (Isaiah 61:1-2a NIV).

When the Messiah, Jesus Christ, finally came he quoted this prophecy at the start of his ministry. Luke 4:18-19 records, “He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’”

Do you notice that Jesus stopped short and did not include the phrase ‘and the day of vengeance of our God’, which is another term for the day of judgment? That is because Jesus’ first coming inaugurated the time of God’s favour where Father God would show mercy and grace to a lost world, wanting all people to be saved. When that time is finally up, Jesus will return to judge the world and rule over the nations. That will be the day of vengeance against all of God’s enemies.

But it is not here yet. We are still in ‘the year of his favour’. Any judgments God sends now are not judgments of wrath as described in the book of Revelation, and which will occur prior to the second coming. Rather they are judgments of discipline that are redemptive in nature – a loving Father correcting an errant world to get its attention and cause it to return to him. And as already stated, it’s not that God is sending these judgments constantly – it is our lack of protection that brings such things on our heads. It is important to know this for then we can be confident to ask God for mercy and deliver us from evil.

Matthew 5:44-45 (Passion Translation) says, “However, I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father. He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil.”

If God expects us to show mercy to those who harm us, how much more then will he respond to our cries for mercy for an unprotected world. This is what the Australian church, and other Christians around the world, did in the face of the recent terrifying bush fires. God answered and sent the rain well ahead of the time weather experts predicted it would come, so much in fact that floods occurred in places. The fires were put out.

In the somewhat theologically controversial yet inspiring book, The Shack, God speaks to Mack, a father who is angry at Him due to the kidnapping and murder of his six-year old daughter: “Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only give you false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering, you will find grace in many facets and colours.” 

Once again, let the global church ask God for spiritual rain that will put out the fire of this current pandemic. And also pray that there will be a great spiritual awakening in the hearts of those filled with fear. I don’t believe that God sent this pandemic, but he will use it for his own purposes – to reshape the church, awaken us to his Kingdom priorities, soften people’s hearts, and usher in the long prophesied global harvest. Once it is over, may we never return to being the same as before.