Covid-19: Is It God's Judgment on Humanity?

From time to time, I connect with someone who is upset with Christianity’s position on evil, hell, and judgment. Of course, these are not easy subjects to discuss, but I do have a simple response that I use over and over again, “So, you dislike justice?”

It is interesting to me to understand how justice and injustice are ingrained into our minds at a very early age. It does not take long before we hear young children scream out, “That’s not fair!” In fact, as we mature, anytime a wrong has been done to us, our first instinct is to demand justice. A world where wrongs are left uncorrected is abhorrent to us.

So, why don’t we expect the same from God? After all, if anybody is going to get justice right, He is. Yet, if the outcome is something we don’t want, we express our distrust, our rebellion, or even our disbelief. Ironically, I have heard people say, "I can't believe in a God like that" as if the existence of God is dependent on their belief.

This brings me to the question for today. Is it possible that the pandemic of the covid-19 virus is a judgment on humanity? I’ve already come across “prophetic” voices that have declared with absolute certainty that it is God’s judgment and that things will certainly get worse before it gets better (or perhaps it will not ever get better).

Some of these voices are the same that preached doom and gloom about the AIDS crisis, the 9-11 attacks, and Hurricane Katrina. Over and over again, outlandish predictions are made that don’t come true. I get the feeling that God gets blamed for a lot of things that are not His fault.

Yet, I do recognize that there have been prophets through the ages that have been ignored, unwanted, punished, and even executed. Just read the account of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures and you will get a first-hand account of what it is like to deliver messages that no one wants to hear.

We live in a time that the church is increasingly uncomfortable about talking about God’s wrath. It seems to be so opposite of the church’s emphasis (perhaps an over-emphasis) on God’s love and grace. Indeed, I do not think we can ever fully appreciate the depth of God’s grace and mercy unless we understand the severity of God’s anger and wrath against sin and injustice. That being said, it has caused me to pause and ask these questions: Could God really be that angry with us? Could He be so disgusted that He causes or allows a virus like this to exist? The more I thought about it, the firmer my conclusion became a resounding “Yes!”

Consider the following:

• We have increasingly become a nation that is spiritually cold and does not fear God.
• We “Christians” go to church to get a “pick-me-up” and feel good, instead of being challenged by the Scriptures to be true followers of Jesus.
• We lack the discernment in understanding that just because something is legal per our government does not mean it is ethical according to God’s standards.
• We remove dependent living beings from the womb and treat them as property, instead of unique creations.
• We increasingly reject God’s good design of gender and marriage and think that we have better ideas.
• We break sacred promises of commitment, loyalty, and love and choose divorce because we deserve to be “happy.”
• We continue to excuse racial and ethnic injustice instead of seeing the essential equality we all possess as beings made in the image of God.

This all being said, how long do we think the sovereign God will stand by and do nothing? The Scriptures reveal that God is rather consistent in His response to our rejection of Him. For example:

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

Psalm 2.1-4

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.

         Nahum 1.2-3

The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

II Chronicles 36.15-16

I confess, the last four words in II Chronicles 36.16 struck at my heart. There came a time in the life of the Kingdom of Judah that God‘s wrath was aroused and He was done. The author informs us “there was no remedy.” Opportunity after opportunity was given to get it right. Opportunity was given to live the very best life that could be lived and it was rejected. Judgment came. There was no remedy.

Could it be that the covid-19 virus is God’s final judgment? Yes, I fear so. We have done much to arouse His anger. Nevertheless, I hope there is a remedy. Unfortunately, while our scientists look for testing kits and vaccines (and I pray that they are successful), there is only one remedy that will truly work. We ignore Him at our peril.