A Call to Prayer

What's happening!?! The worldwide coronavirus pandemic seems to get worse by the minute. President Trump, in the midst of offering hope, warned that the next two weeks would be "brutal." On April 1, the news was reporting over 858,000 cases worldwide, only to have that number increased within minutes to over 911,000 cases. Worldwide, the death count from the virus was over 45,000. In the United States, the totals were over 203,000 cases, with nearly 4500 deaths.

People have asked me if this is a plague sent by God to punish our nation, or perhaps the whole world, for our sin. They ask if this is one of the plagues of Revelation, indicating that we are in the last days. To answer these questions, we need to first understand the purpose of plagues in the Bible and what caused them.

In the Old Testament, plagues seem to come from one of two sources. One, a plague can have purely natural causes, as in Amos 4:10 where it speaks of "a plague after the manner of Egypt." Sent by God, these natural disasters were intended to bring repentance. Two, there are times when a plague appears to be more of a direct strike from God, as in Exodus 11:1, where we are told, "And the LORD said to Moses, 'I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt.'"

The seven last plagues of Revelation 15-16 are referred to as the completion of the wrath of God: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete" (Rev. 15:1). These plagues are aimed solely at the people of the Antichrist. But the coronavirus does not so discrimiinate. It ravages believer and unbeliever alike.

So it would seem more likely that this is simply a natural disaster rather than a supernatural act of God. Still, as in Amos 4:10, God intends for it to bring us to our knees in repentance and prayer. A neighbor told me that he believes, though not an indication that we are in the Last Days, it may be a "dress rehearsal," testing the church to see how we respond.

So how should we respond? Second Chronicles 7:13-14 says, "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Natural disasters, especially something as devastating as the coronavirus pandemic we are now experiencing, is intended to bring us to our knees. The response God wants from us is four-fold: (1) Humble yourself brfore God—get on your knees, or better, prostrate yourself before God; (2) Pray; (3) Seek after God; and, (4) Repent—"turn from [your] wicked ways" (v. 14a). That is what God wants from you.

Do these four things and God will respond in three ways: (1) He will hear your prayers; (2) He "will forgive [your] sin" (v. 14b); and, (3) He will "heal [your] land" (v. 14b). When we seek God in the face of pestilence, He respionds in mercy. God is still in control. Have faith. Trust Him. Amen.