Sword, Famine, and Pestilence

MeditationsBible StudyGod's LawGod's JudgmentGovernmentCurrent EventsPolitics
Written By Norman Patterson

The way I see it, we have three main fears circulating in the United States and throughout the entire world right now; the fear of tyranny, the fear of a collapsed economy, and the fear of COVID-19. For many people, these fears overlap one another.

Generally speaking, I think the heart of most disagreements lies in emphasis. Those who fear tyranny are more likely to downplay the seriousness of the virus. Those who fear the illness support more government control and are willing to put off economic worries, at least for now. And those who’s businesses are going under or are feeling real hunger pains are ready to take more health risks to stay alive. Who is right? I think each of these concerns has validity.

What bothers me is how Christians are responding to this present crisis. I’m writing this as a Christian to Christians. If you do not share my faith, you might as well stop reading. It will have little value to you unless you are curious about the present-day failure of modern Christians and the Church. If you are a Christian, I implore you to set your pride aside and heed what follows.

Whether it’s tyranny, the destruction of the economy, or COVID-19, it all adds up to one thing - God is trying to get our attention. When you read the Bible, you discover time after time, God acting in and through disasters. In fact, God even says He is the Author of calamity. He says in Isaiah 45:7:

𝐼 π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘š π‘™π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘˜π‘›π‘’π‘ π‘ ; 𝐼 π‘šπ‘Žπ‘˜π‘’ 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑙-𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’ π‘π‘Žπ‘™π‘Žπ‘šπ‘–π‘‘π‘¦; 𝐼 π‘Žπ‘š π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ πΏπ‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘, π‘€β„Žπ‘œ π‘‘π‘œπ‘’π‘  π‘Žπ‘™π‘™ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘ π‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘”π‘ .

You can’t read the Bible long before you see, there is more behind disasters and difficulties than just random natural acts. God uses things to call sinful people back to Him.

Jeremiah 14:12 speaks specifically about God using tyranny, a collapsed economy, and COVID-19. He said to His people:

π‘‡β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘¦ π‘“π‘Žπ‘ π‘‘, 𝐼 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ β„Žπ‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘¦, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘¦ π‘œπ‘“π‘“π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘›π‘‘ π‘œπ‘“π‘“π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘”π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘–π‘› π‘œπ‘“π‘“π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘”, 𝐼 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘π‘π‘’π‘π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘š. 𝐡𝑒𝑑 𝐼 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘ π‘’π‘šπ‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘š 𝑏𝑦 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ π‘€π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘‘, 𝑏𝑦 π‘“π‘Žπ‘šπ‘–π‘›π‘’, π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ 𝑏𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.”

The sword is tyranny. Famine is the sign of economic collapse, and pestilence is a fatal epidemic disease such as COVID-19. The context is about Christians in the Old Testament who paid lip service to God, but their hearts were far from Him. They participated in the sins of the culture with no fear of God or His retribution.

If this verse isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is. I implore my brothers and sisters in Christ to take these words seriously. Let’s stop arguing and use our time and energy for something far more profitable - prayer and preaching the gospel. The world is in crisis, and we are fighting about who is right and who is wrong? About whether Donald Trump is the Messiah or the Devil? Whether we should wear a mask or not?

A while ago, I put out a plea for Christians to pray. I even made a simple outline on how to pray during this time. I don’t know why, but I got more responses about memes on tyranny than on my call to prayer. I admit, I get distracted too, but isn’t it time we put our pride away and get serious? It doesn’t matter if a call to prayer comes from someone you don’t like or someone you disagree with. Let’s put away our differences and unite in Christ. Let’s call our nation and our world to Jesus Christ. Let’s use our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to proclaim the only Way that will save this lost and dying world. That Way is faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His Law.

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Norman Patterson
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