Plagues and pestilence are found in the Bible of such great scope and severity the worst we experience can be termed of "biblical proportion." Though these are acts of God who is to be feared, He is our Deliverer and Saviour. His proud enemies will be made to cower before Him, yet those who trust in Him are protected like Noah and his family in the ark. The God who strikes the earth and man is able to heal and restore. The sons of Korah wrote in Psalm 46:1-3, "God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we
will not fear, even though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the
sea; 3 though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah"
It is because God is good, gracious, loving, merciful, and faithful we were not consumed long ago by our own pride, greed, selfishness and folly because the wages of sin is death. God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust and is longsuffering towards the worst of the worst. But we do see many scriptures where God judged His own people because of their sins. It is true He afflicted the Egyptians and their gods with 10 severe plagues, yet it is the action God took upon His own people for their ultimate salvation. Even as a surgeon removes necrotic flesh which sickens and places the entire body at risk of death, God judged the children of Israel many times so they might be restored to fellowship with Him. Like a farmer uses the right implement and force to thresh grain, God metes out corrective judgment wisely.
When Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Sinai, during that short space of time the high priest Aaron, at the urging of the people, made a molded image they worshiped as the "gods who brought you out of Egypt." Exodus 32:35 says, "So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made." On another occasion the people murmured against God and Moses for his dealings with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Notice how the passage describes how God was involved in the plague for sin and causing it to cease in Numbers 16:47-50: "Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. 50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped." The sin of the people was the cause of this plague, and a righteous God is not at fault for dealing justly--though unrighteous men stand foolishly in judgment of Him.
There was another time when the Hebrews entered into sexual sin and idolatry with the women of Moab. Numbers 25 describes in detail the command of the death penalty for those who sinned, and how the plague which claimed 24,000 people ceased when Phinehas zealously obeyed God in executing judgment. Still another plague occurred after David numbered the people of Israel without receiving the census tax (Exodus 30:12). King David was given the choice of three years of famine, three months of being defeated by their enemies, or three days of pestilence. 1 Chronicles 21:13-15 reads, "And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man." 14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite." The severity and swiftness of these plagues make the current pandemic small in comparison.
What is so comforting about our great God is His great love, grace, and compassion in judgment. He could have destroyed the nation without remedy, but He looked upon His suffering people and said, "It is enough." He went further than determining the measure of judgment but was able to stop it. He said to the angel, "Now restrain your hand." God is able to stop deadly plagues and pestilence dead in its tracks. This is the comfort and consolation available today to followers of Jesus Christ, for we know He is on the throne and supreme in power. We are wise given the current situation to do everything in our power to practically prevent the spread of illness and protect the vulnerable, yet without God we cannot do anything. Doctors who treat the sick are able to become sick themselves and this reveals the vulnerability of all people to a microscopic organism. There is much we cannot know, but what we can know is God according to His grace has the power to heal bodies, save souls, and say "It is enough." Then restoration can begin.
It is because God is good, gracious, loving, merciful, and faithful we were not consumed long ago by our own pride, greed, selfishness and folly because the wages of sin is death. God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust and is longsuffering towards the worst of the worst. But we do see many scriptures where God judged His own people because of their sins. It is true He afflicted the Egyptians and their gods with 10 severe plagues, yet it is the action God took upon His own people for their ultimate salvation. Even as a surgeon removes necrotic flesh which sickens and places the entire body at risk of death, God judged the children of Israel many times so they might be restored to fellowship with Him. Like a farmer uses the right implement and force to thresh grain, God metes out corrective judgment wisely.
When Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Sinai, during that short space of time the high priest Aaron, at the urging of the people, made a molded image they worshiped as the "gods who brought you out of Egypt." Exodus 32:35 says, "So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made." On another occasion the people murmured against God and Moses for his dealings with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Notice how the passage describes how God was involved in the plague for sin and causing it to cease in Numbers 16:47-50: "Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. 50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped." The sin of the people was the cause of this plague, and a righteous God is not at fault for dealing justly--though unrighteous men stand foolishly in judgment of Him.
There was another time when the Hebrews entered into sexual sin and idolatry with the women of Moab. Numbers 25 describes in detail the command of the death penalty for those who sinned, and how the plague which claimed 24,000 people ceased when Phinehas zealously obeyed God in executing judgment. Still another plague occurred after David numbered the people of Israel without receiving the census tax (Exodus 30:12). King David was given the choice of three years of famine, three months of being defeated by their enemies, or three days of pestilence. 1 Chronicles 21:13-15 reads, "And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man." 14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite." The severity and swiftness of these plagues make the current pandemic small in comparison.
What is so comforting about our great God is His great love, grace, and compassion in judgment. He could have destroyed the nation without remedy, but He looked upon His suffering people and said, "It is enough." He went further than determining the measure of judgment but was able to stop it. He said to the angel, "Now restrain your hand." God is able to stop deadly plagues and pestilence dead in its tracks. This is the comfort and consolation available today to followers of Jesus Christ, for we know He is on the throne and supreme in power. We are wise given the current situation to do everything in our power to practically prevent the spread of illness and protect the vulnerable, yet without God we cannot do anything. Doctors who treat the sick are able to become sick themselves and this reveals the vulnerability of all people to a microscopic organism. There is much we cannot know, but what we can know is God according to His grace has the power to heal bodies, save souls, and say "It is enough." Then restoration can begin.
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