By Bishop Paul J.M. Kawimbe
The World Health Organization was informed on December 31, 2019, about segments of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause that was detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified by the Chinese Authorities as the causative of the disease.
Following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee on January 7, 2020, the World Health Organization Director-General declared that the outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic, and recommendations from the various medical and government resources provided guidelines to adapt to the guidelines that may have eventually brought solutions to this global tragic situation. Since then, we have seen and experienced across the world the chaos, devastation, pain, and death of a greater proportion the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to humanity.
I thank God for those in the medical science field who are searching for a solution to COVID-19, the front-liners, the pastors, political leaders who are attempting to provide direction that will keep the general citizenry informed, calm and peaceful. But still, I believe that the Church has a great responsibility before God to provide the spiritual leadership needed to guide the world through these tragic and existential peril times.
I asked my wife, Dr. Lister M. Kawimbe to explain to me the scientific meaning of the terms epidemic and pandemic. She made it very simple for me to understand as a layperson and her response was, “An epidemic is a disease that is prevalent in a certain area that is localized in a specific region, while a pandemic is a disease that is prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world.” But is there a word from the Lord about this Pandemic?
I certainly, admit that there is no lack of secular advice given as to how to approach COVID-19. But, I strongly believe that the ultimate approach should be from the biblical perspective, which presents God’s way of dealing with pandemics. The truth of the matter is that we need to look at COVID-19 through the eyes of a biblical worldview.
Is there a word from the Lord?
Who is the Cause of the pandemic?
The Physical cause is Man
Reviewing the record of “the fall” in Genesis three, we notice two important characteristics critical in today’s world. First, Adam and Eve doubted God and believed the serpent, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”(Genesis 3:1-2 ESV). Second, the tempter was sly, “the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals.” Satan customized his temptation to meet desires he suspected present in Eve. Notice the sequence: Mistrust of God’s goodness led to the disobedience of God, disobedience of God led to sin, and sin led to calamity and death.
It was the distrust of God’s goodness, the unbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority that made our progenitors transgress God’s command, which brought knowledge of evil into the world. It was this fact that opened the door to every species of falsehood, disease, and manner of evil. Our progenitors Adam and Eve lost all because they chose to listen to the deceiver rather than to Him who is Truth, who alone has understanding. Our existential disaster causes existential despair. The only tools available to our inadequate “gods” are denial and hiding. These are the only ways we have to decrease our suffering.
The Metaphysical Cause is God
Outbreaks of pandemic diseases, such as Ebola or the coronavirus, have prompted many to ask why God allows—or even causes—pandemic diseases and whether such illnesses are a sign of the end times. The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, describes numerous occasions when God brought plagues and diseases on His people and on His enemies to make them see His power. “For this time I will send all my plagues on you and your servants, and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth”(Exodus 9:14, 16 ESV).
He used plagues on Egypt to force Pharaoh to free the Israelites from bondage while sparing His people from being affected by them. “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13 ESV) and “saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer” (Exodus 15:26 ESV), thus indicating His sovereign control over diseases and other afflictions. God also warned His people of the consequences of disobedience, including plagues “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins, and I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy (Leviticus 26:21, 25 ESV).
On two occasions God destroyed 14,700 people and 24,000 people for various acts of disobedience (Numbers 16:49 ESV) and (25:9 ESV). After giving the Mosaic Law, God commanded the people to obey it or suffer many evils, including something that sounds like coronavirus: “The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation . . . which will plague you until you perish” (Deuteronomy 28:22 ESV). These are just a few examples of many plagues and diseases God caused.
It’s sometimes hard to imagine our loving and merciful God displaying such wrath and anger toward His people. Is there a word from the Lord? Yes, there is a word of hope and assurance from the Lord. “When I shut up the heavens so that there are no rain or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:13-14 ESV)
