Corona pandemic and a Christian view
By: Bahram Khozairy
Copyright © 2020 by Bahram Khozairy. All Rights Reserved.
With much talk among Christians regarding the current Corona Virus pandemic in the world, I thought to share my thoughts in this article as well.
Although I focus and specialize in apologetics and core theology, current events as well as eschatological events and issues at times do raise our awareness and thus, cause us to shift focus on our study, analysis and discernment via correct hermeneutical basis for the purpose of edification, education and service to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
The most popular verses or chapter in the Bible among the evangelical protestant Christians during this pandemic time is Psalms 91. I would say the entire Psalms 91 is sited as a comfort and protection over the Lord’s children, when it comes to the pestilence.
Here is the entire Psalms 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord,
“My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will
not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my
refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For
He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14 “Because
he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
The world Pestilence (Hebrew, דֶּבֶר, deh'-ber) also translates to Plaque.
Although Psalms 91 is extremely a powerful & beautiful portion of scriptures that reassures a Christian of a comfort and peace of knowing Lord has provision for a Christian in times of difficulties, calamities and distress (i.e. pestilence, plaque, hardship, etc.), it is not a 100% guaranteed that it will happen 100 % all the time, in every place.
Why?
Because we live in a world dominated by sin & death, due to the divine curse that God has placed over the entire universe. Because of this, we have no immunity from the laws of nature. No matter what sort of theological reasoning a person can assemble or how passionate of polemic one can lodge against the affect of sin, death and destruction, the inextricable laws of nature is still in full force against our mortal bodies. The death rate is still one per person, as Dr. Walter Martin used to say! Our bodies are subject to decay no matter how well we take care of them. It is a divine appointment that one day, each person will face that dreadful event!
Hebrews 9:27 declares that:
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”
Even the health and wealth cult leaders are subject to the above emphatic declaration, no matter how erroneous, faulty and corrupt their arguments might be, or how they twist the scriptures for their own sordid gain; Hebrews 9:27 applies to every single one of them, without any exception.
Now what about the promises that are declared in Psalms 91? How can we interpret those passages so that they can supply us with practical and abundance of comfort? What is God the Holy Spirit guaranteeing the Christians in those passages?
I believe the promises declared in Psalms 91 are more over the body of Christ (Lord’s church) as a whole, though they may (according to Lord’s grace & will) be applied to individual Christian as well.
Christ’s own pledge was a declaratory promise that the gates of hell, or powers of darkness will not defeat, overcome or triumph over His established church, which consists of millions of Christians, which are the adopted sons and daughters into the family of Christ:
Matthew 16:18
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. “
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Moreover, the following are my outline points and their elucidations:
1. Gods promises for our victory over sin are certain, as we put our trust in the Lord:
1 John 5:4
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Our faith can move mountains and our confidence in the Lord is assuring, so long as they are in the center of Lord’s will:
1 John 5:14
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
We are certainly promised protection from the enemies of our soul, but not necessarily the enemies of our bodies:
Hebrews 13:6
“so that we confidently say,
“The
Lord is my helper,
I will
not be afraid.
What will man do
to me?””
Psalms 118:6
The Lord is for
me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
Lord Jesus’s Words guarantees and seals our ultimate destiny and His Divine Love over us in Luke 12:4-7,
“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
Scriptures are loaded with comfort and peace declarations for the believers in Christ. Lord has told us NOT to be afraid of mortal man, nor of any calamities that may befall us, because our eternal security is set, and our names are written in Lamb’s book of life. Our ultimate home is set, and no one can take it away from us.
Lord Jesus uttered the phrase “do not be afraid” 365 times in the New Testament, not to mention many occurrences of “fear not” or “be anxious for nothing”, all over the Bible.
Our comfort is in the absolute assurance that Lord is with us no matter what circumstances befall upon us. Even to the point that we can sometime see God Himself allows and causes calamities or pain for His own sovereign purposes:
Exodus 4:11
“The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
And Jesus dealing with the blind man explained that the blindness was allowed by God Himself:
John 9:1-3
“As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
God is absolute Sovereign. And He is also absolute LOVE. Jesus is LOVE incarnate; although Love sometimes can be ruthless or painful, simply because we humans don’t fully understand it; at least not in this side of heaven.
Just look at the way Lord delayed coming to the aid and healing of his close friend Lazarus (John 11). He purposely delayed arriving there, which caused Lazarus to die! But the story didn’t end there of course. Jesus raised him from the dead, all so that God will receive the glory. But one thing we know for sure that Lazarus died again at some point.
Do Christians suffer in this world? Absolutely! Suffering is a natural part of a Christian life. Just look at the life of the apostle Paul, the one whom went to third heaven; the one that was commissioned by the Lord Himself to be the apostle and the missionary to the gentiles. Did apostle claim victory over disease and suffering? No. He declared victory over every sin and enemy of our soul, namely the devil and his demonic followers.
Suffering and Christians are tantamount.
2 Timothy 3:12
“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
And yet, we also know that no amount of suffering, plaque, death, sorrow or pain will ever separate us or keep us from the shadow and the reach of the Lord’s Love.
Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans chapter 8 is a powerhouse of dual declaration: one that pounds on the facts that we as Christians must and will be persecuted for Christ’s sake; and second is the absolute assurance and facts of God’s provision and love and eternal protection over His adopted children.
Other notes to consider:
2. We are promised protection from the enemies of our soul, but not necessarily the enemies of our bodies.
3. Lord Jesus rebuked Satan in Matthew 4 and Luke 4, when the devil took psalms 91 out of context.
4. In Luke 21:11, Christ mentions pestilence or plaques (Greek, λοιμός, loimos) as one of the signs of end time, leading to His return.
5. Lord Jesus described the end time and earth conditions like a birth pang (Matthew 24:8), leading to the great tribulations, which leads to His return. Understanding birth pangs will leads us to understand that each pain intervals shortens as the woman is getting closer to the delivery of her child. The same parallel can be applied to the intervals between each calamity in the human civilization, whether natural or otherwise.
Interval between each of the events will be shorter and shorter, such as (just using basic examples):
· World War I à World War II
· World War II à Vietnam or Korea War
· Vietnam War à Sept 11, 2001 attack
· Sept 11, 2001 attack à SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) illness
· SARS à Corona virus
Observing these will lead us to understand (without much confusion or doubt) that we are getting closer and closer to Lord’s return.
6. As each calamity will bring us closer to Christ return, Lord also uses each calamity to sift the world like a winepress, in order to call the lost out of darkness. Matthew 21:33-24 could be sited here as a parallel analogy for harvest time or winepress time. God is not willing for any to perish, and that is one of the main reasons for allowing the Great Tribulation to occur.
7. Our assurances of Lord’s Love and Grace should never be minimized at ANY time, during ANY circumstances that we personally face, or the entire globe faces all together.
As Christians, the ones that have given their life to the Lord and have received Holy Spirit life and have become born again into His glorious royal family, the family of Kingdom of Christ, we can always claim Christ’s peace, which surpasses all understanding.
Philippians 4:7
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We have a mighty and great God that will either takes us up to His heaven or until then, gives us His grace to takes us through whatever circumstances we might face.
Our respond should be opposite of the lost world that has no hope. We should be the light and salt of the earth and hands and mouths of Christ among the non-believers. We should ask God earnestly to open opportunities to bring Jesus’ message of Love & Hope to our circle of influence, in any way, shape or form. It is during this time that the Holy Spirit grabs the attention of the lost and gives them the opportunity through His children (us) to bring Christ’s good news. It is during the difficulties that humans start to look up more than before. Let’s not become fearful or worried for tomorrow, but rather be ready to partake in Christ’s work among darkness today. Jesus said we must work while there is daytime; night is coming where no one can work (John 9:4). Remember, the calamity that are allowed globally are by God’s divine appointment, for the purpose of fishing more fish from the slime pool of darkness and sin into Christ’s ultimate light of liberty.
8. We are encouraged throughout the whole scriptures to pray earnestly and ceaselessly for protection, provision, comfort and peace for ourselves, our loves ones and for our brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, we ought to pray for EVERYTHING… no matter how big or small the request is. Nowhere in the scripture are there any indications that we should ever cease to pray; the opposite is the case. We are told to dedicate or devote ourselves to a persistent and non-stop prayer.
Romans 12:12
“rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,”
Lord’s parable in Luke 18:1-8 is a very cogent lesson about persistent prayer:
“Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?””
And finally, it would be very difficult to ignore such extremely powerful and encouraging passages as:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing;”
Philippians 4:6-7
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,”
2 Chronicles 7:14
“and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Jeremiah 29:12
“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.”
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Cheer up brothers and sisters, Jesus has conquered the world and we can have 24/7 peace and rest in Christ during this difficult time of corona virus pandemic we are going through and even forever more:
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”