Coronavirus: Thoughts on God’s Responsibility & Purpose

These are sobering, uncertain, and anxiety producing times. I can recall nothing this severe in my lifetime. The coronavirus is a danger unlike anything our nation has faced for many decades. Some have likened it to conditions during World War II, and I can well imagine that to be the case. Nearly everyone is concerned about scarcity of supplies as they survey empty store shelves. Many are afraid of sickness and possible death. Others are panicking about the sudden evaporation of their retirement accounts. Fortunes have vanished in a moment. Some fear the break-down of law and order with rioting and looting. Gun sales have soared over the past several weeks. News report usually begin with pandemic updates along with accusations, finger-pointing, and blame-shifting. As Christians, we need to listen less to the voices around us, and more to the wisdom of God. Thinking biblically is the best remedy for our fears.

Is God responsible for coronavirus?

That is a most important question, and the answer is, “Yes.” This answer does not eliminate secondary causes, but it is important to remind ourselves that ultimately, God is both the author and controller of these momentous events. Some Christians have been taught that Satan is responsible for the “bad things,” whereas God is the author of everything good. Realistically, we are unable to determine accurately what is good and bad. Oftentimes, the things that initially seem bad turn out to be great blessings, and some things that we label good lead to disaster. Who hasn’t known someone who was ruined by the sudden acquisition of wealth, and others whose struggle with poverty formed their strong and noble character. But beyond the fact that we don’t always know which events are bad and which are good, the most important fact is that God controls everything.

Acknowledging this does not eliminate instruments that God uses to accomplish His sovereign purposes, the secondary causes employed by the First Cause. Is the coronavirus an attack by Satan? Undoubtedly it is, for Jesus said that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. He delights in death and destruction, and unleashes it as often as he can, but only as God allows. Ultimately, Satan is merely the unwilling servant of Jehovah. His purpose is to oppose and destroy the people of God, but he can never succeed. Satan unleashes his fury and destruction, only to see his actions overruled by our sovereign God to accomplish His wise and eternal purposes. Why doesn’t he ever learn that it is impossible to damage God or His people? His hatred is such that he blindly rages on until the day God pronounces final judgment, and casts him forever into the Lake of Fire.

Let’s consider a few examples where God takes full responsibility for events that many would consider bad. When Moses balked at God’s assignment to confront Pharaoh because he had a speech impediment, God responded, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11) God is the author of physical infirmities.

In the Wilderness, God told Israel, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight…I will put none of the diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians” (Exodus 15:26). God declares Himself the author of disease, whether cancer or coronavirus.

Listen to this insight from the prophet Amos. “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?” (Amos 3:6) There are additional similar texts, but these should suffice. God is as much responsible for the “bad things” as the good.

Why has God ordained coronavirus?

If God is responsible, our natural inclination is to ask why? What is God’s purpose for such devastating calamity? The short answer is that nobody knows. No one can explain God’s reason with certainty, because no one but God knows the mind of God. The only way we can know God’s thoughts is if He reveals them to us. He has not revealed His purposes for COVID-19, no matter what insider information some may falsely claim.

But God has revealed His purposes for similar events in the past. What He has given us in the Bible is for our edification, and we can benefit by meditating upon some similar instances. Consider these words of God to Israel.

But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God…The Lord will make the plague cling to you…The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever…they shall pursue you until you perish. (Deut. 28:15-22)

In Israel’s case, God promised severe diseases as judgment for failure to obey His Word. Can anyone rightfully declare that God does not act in a similar fashion today? Although it is foolish and unwarranted to claim to know exactly why God sent the coronavirus, it is just as foolish to claim that He did not send it as judgment for sin. How can anyone know that? In truth we do not know, but wisdom counsels us to examine our hearts for unconfessed sin.

Jesus publicly evaluated two tragedies that befell the Jews in His day. The first involved Pilate’s slaughter of a group of Galileans while offering sacrifices in the Temple, and the second, eighteen men who were crushed to death by the collapse of the Tower of Siloam. The response to both events was the same. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5). God ordained these two events to provide lessons about repentance and judgment. Temporal judgments are illustrations of the greater eternal judgment to come. Did God send coronavirus to arrest the world’s attention and cause people to consider their sin before Almighty God? Is this epidemic designed to prepare hearts of repentance for the final Day of Judgment? It would be wrong to dogmatically assert this as the God-intended purpose, but it would be equally wrong to deny the possibility. Wisdom admonishes us to search our hearts, and to prepare our souls for the day when each one will give account to his Maker. God may have sent coronavirus as a messenger to awaken people to flee from the wrath to come.

What should be our response?

In the face of coronavirus, what should we do? First, we should acknowledge and embrace God’s sovereign rule of this universe. “The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). God is sovereign over everything. All people, all events, all nations, all rulers, all diseases. Some will deny this truth, but it is foolish to do so. Others grudgingly acknowledge God’s rule, but rail against God for His sovereign decisions, and reject His rule in their lives. This is equally foolish. The only wise course is to embrace His rightful rule. As Creator, He has every right to rule what He made. As righteous judge, He has the right as well as the responsibility to judge sinful rebellion. As gracious Lord, He has given His own Son to redeem those who embrace His rule, and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. That should be our first response to this crisis.

Beyond that, Christians should meditate upon God’s many gracious promises to His people. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Christians can rest peacefully, knowing that whatever God intends for the coronavirus, His purpose for His dear children is good without the slightest mixture of ill. “Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him” (Thomas Kelly, 1769-1854). We should pray for our friends and loved ones, our nation, and the world. Pray that God will use this crisis to bring many to Himself. We should also seize this opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ to those around us. We can be generous, kind, and helpful to those in need.

Our God reigns! There is no reason for any child of God to fear. God promises to take care of His own. We can rest secure in His loving embrace, and we can look for occasions to minister truth and grace to others. Perhaps, in the goodness of God, He will use coronavirus to bring genuine spiritual revival to America. Who knows? If so, who would not rejoice and call this virus a great and gracious good!

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