A Christian Response to Coronavirus, with Rev. Dan Osborn (94)

Joel Settecase has Dan Osborn on for a live chat (via video, since we're all quarantined) over Facebook. Listen in as they respond to viewer comments and answer questions. Below are some questions you yourself may have about the Coronavirus. Get the full show notes at https://thethink.institute.

Joel Settecase has Dan Osborn on for a live chat (via video, since we’re all quarantined) over Facebook. Listen in as they respond to viewer comments and answer questions. Below are some questions you yourself may have about the Coronavirus.

Is God unhappy with mankind?
Is COVID-19 a sign of the End Times?
Are those who catch COVID-19 under God’s judgment?
Is it okay for churches to cancel Sunday worship services?
Why is God allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to happen?
Is the COVID-19 pandemic part of a conspiracy?
Is God in control of plagues and pandemics?

Some verses to consider for each question:

Below, I’ll list some Scripture passages for you to think about as you seek to answer these questions. This is not a fully-fleshed-out article, but rather think of it as a bin for you to reach into and pull out raw materials, with which you can construct your own, satisfying, biblical answers.

Is God unhappy with mankind?

God is a righteous judge and a God who shows his wrath every day (Ps 7:11).
Is 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray.”
Ro 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death.”

Is COVID-19 a sign of the End Times?

Mt 24:5-8: wars, rumors of wars, national uprisings will happen, “but the end is not yet.” “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” This likely refers to the time before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Mt 24:38, 44: And yet, the end could come at any moment. “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Are people who catch COVID-19 under God’s judgment?

Lk 13:1-5: From this passage we learn that those who experience terrible calamities are not necessarily more or less sinful than anyone else. The point is for the rest of us to see it and repent.

At that time, some people came and reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And he[a] responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well. 4 Or those eighteen that the tower in Siloam fell on and killed—do you think they were more sinful than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well.”

Is it okay for churches to cancel Sunday worship services?

He 10:24-25: “And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
Ro 13:1-5: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Le 13:4: The government has the authority to quarantine a sick person for seven days (a period of time to test whether a disease will spread).
Le 14:41-45: The government has the authority to quarantine a house and even destroy it due to disease. This is different from prohibiting the free exercise of religious observance, which is where fruit of the Spirit are exercised, against which there can be no law (Ga 5:23).

Why is God allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to happen?

Ro 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.” The Fall brought sin and death into the world. COVID-19 is a means of death. It’s a result of the Fall.
Ro 8:22: All creation groans under the Fall: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
Ps 119:67: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” God may use it to purify and bring people to repentance and faith.
Ja 1:2-3: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” To give his people an opportunity to joyfully trust and hope in his promises.

Is the COVID-19 pandemic part of a conspiracy?

Ps 2:1: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” There are conspiracies.
Is 8:12: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.” The fact is, whether this is a conspiracy or not (N.B. it’s probably not), that doesn’t change God’s sovereignty over it. In that Psalm 2 passage, right after it acknowledges that people rebel against God, it says that God’s response is to laugh. “Conspire against me? That’s cute.”

Is God in control of plagues and pandemics?

Pr 16:4: “The LORD has prepared everything for his purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.”
Ro 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Dan and Joel address other questions that were written in by viewers during their live conversation. Listen in and see if your question got answered!

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