Is The Coronavirus God’s Judgement?
Southaven, Ms
By: Mike Upchurch
My my, there certainly are a lot of opinions being offered up out there on social media, newscasts, YouTube, blogs, etc. on whether God has sent the Coronavirus as His judgement on the earth for it’s wickedness. You may have even heard a sermon on that very thing this morning. Many are saying it’s a plague sent by God, along with the invasion of locusts in Africa and the excessive rains in the U.S., and it proves this is the end of time! “These are the Revelation Plagues” some cry! It does seem as though this planet might have an end time feel to it, but is it really the end of time and has the clock started? Well, my opinion may contrast or disagree with the current thinking, but trust me on this, I can back up what I say with scripture. You won’t be able to convince some people I’m right in what we’re about to discuss, as I’ve tried. It’s best just to let it go and not argue. Granted, my opinion is no greater than any other, but has been developed from study coupled with prayer and with revelation given me by the Holy Spirit. Again, I can back my opinion up with scripture verses, a reference which the current mainstream media knows little of, and which some preachers are ignoring as well. It is after all, popular to preach judgement. Good people want bad people wiped out, so a sermon like that will rally the troops, but it’s not accurate. Let’s do some sound thinking together.
I’ve addressed this subject before, with direct reference to 9/11, when respected Church leaders were saying the destruction of the Twin Towers was God’s judgment on America for abortion. And if you remember my remarks concerning that day, you’ll remember I firmly denounced and rejected that assessment, as I still do now. To put it mildly, I called it hogwash! It wasn’t the judgement of God. He allowed it but He didn’t send it. I’ll show you why I believe that in a moment.
So now we have the Coronavirus terrorizing almost every nation on earth with just over three thousand deaths reported, including a dozen here in America as of this writing.
So is it God saying “That’s it! I can’t take any more of their wickedness!” Has He decided that He will wipe out the earth with a deadly virus? Is He operating as He did in the days of Noah and the flood, when He blotted out the total population of the earth except for Noah and his Family?
No.
Seriously.
Let’s look to the Bible for understanding. We’ve addressed this subject in times past concerning other tragedies, but let’s do it again now regarding the Coronavirus.
When Jesus went to the cross to pay for man’s sin, several things took place that day. First, we who would believe could be redeemed from the curse of sin. We could pass from death to life. Our sins could be forgiven and we would be given eternal life as a gift. But there was more; the wrath of God was once and for all settled against sin. No longer would God judge the wicked on earth as He did in the great Flood, or with individual cities such as Sodom and Gomorrah when He destroyed them for their wickedness. And remember the Lord had threatened to destroy Nineveh through His prophet Jonah as he preached throughout that City because of their sins.
But Jesus took care of the wrath the Father had against sin and disobedience by giving Him an eternal solution. Now people could choose to escape judgement by accepting Jesus’ payment for their sin. But if they didn’t accept Jesus’ payment, THEN the wrath of God will be unleashed on them at the end of time. Not during their lives, but at the end of time. Though we’re in the last days, it’s not the end of time yet. Yes, there IS coming a DAY of judgement. But it’s not going to be sporadically and randomly doled out now and then. Observe Paul’s warning…..
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds:”
Romans 2:4-6
The DAY of wrath. That day hasn’t come yet or millions would be perishing. And notice it will be against INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE, not Nations. And here’s something else to consider; only the WICKED will be punished on that day, not believers; not God’s children. Which is another reason I reject 9/11 as God’s judgement; Christians died as well on that day.
Remember Abraham pleading with the Father over Sodom and Gomorrah? He asked if He would spare the Cities if there were any righteous people found in them. And the Lord responded that He would not destroy them even if 10 righteous were found (Gen 18:32). As it turned out the only righteous people found were Lot, his wife and his two daughters, and so they were removed before the cities were destroyed with fire and brimstone. And then Lot’s wife looked back longingly to the sin and was turned into a pillar of salt. Yes, sometimes instant judgement happened in the generations prior to the Cross!
Let’s look at judgement against the wicked from Jesus’ own words…..
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
John 5:22-23
ALL judgement has been given to the Son. All means all. So that would have to be Jesus giving out the Coronavirus, correct? But look what Jesus said regarding judgement…..
“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”
John 12:47-48
Wait, did you see that? Jesus doesn’t judge anyone. So if God gave all judgment to the Son, and the Son doesn’t judge anyone, then HOW can the Coronavirus be the judgement of God??
Exactly, it can’t. It’s a sickness. It’s a virus. It’s part of the curse of this world that is filled with sin and death, thanks to Adam’s fall. But be warned though, there WILL be judgement. It IS coming. It just has not come yet or again, only wicked people would be dying, and not Christians as well.
This week I watched a video of a young man on YouTube who said that China was being judged with the virus for persecuting Christians. Hmmm, well even Paul wasn’t judged for persecuting and killing Christians, but was instead saved. Remember, God is a God of mercy and grace. And again, the wicked aren’t punished here on earth for their sins or there wouldn’t be many wicked people around now would there?
Remember the Passover and the children of Israel? Their applying of lamb’s blood to the doorposts so that the angel of death would “pass over” them was symbolic. It represented what Christ the Savior’s shed blood would mean for us now who believe, and that we would escape judgement, death, and eternal separation from the Father.
So now since we are post-cross, shouldn’t only wicked people be dying from this virus if it were punishment for sin? Wouldn’t Washington, D.C. be missing several people by now? Wouldn’t the halls of Congress be somewhat empty?Wouldn’t certain newsrooms be empty of a lot of their anchors? And what of Hollywood? Wouldn’t the morgues there be filled?
Seriously, there WILL be judgement, and it will come upon the entire earth. And it will come upon every person that hasn’t received Jesus as their Savior. That’s why He is called “Savior”; He saves men from the wrath of God! Again, there will be a DAY of judgement. Look again at Jesus’ own words…..
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
John 5:26-29
So there WILL be a day and an hour of judgement! And billions will die, up to a third of the earth! But it hasn’t come yet. When it does you’ll know. Trust me you’ll know.
So, use common sense. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water as the CDC recommends. Cover your mouth with your sleeve when you sneeze. If you shake someone’s hand avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. You don’t need to wear a mask unless you have the virus. Trust God to protect you! And most importantly, you need to be saved today in order to avoid the Day of wrath and judgement that will come. You need to accept Jesus’ payment for your sins. Or you won’t be escaping the wrath of God; you’ll experience it first hand. I would not hesitate if I were you. The WORLD may not end tomorrow, but yours might, and then it will be too late!
And that’s the way I see it!
Pastor Mike
