Ozwitness

I’m sure many of you saw TV news pictures of crowds in Asian countries re-acting to the threat of COVID 19 by fleeing en-masse to their home countries,  providing an ideal scenario for the virus to spread to their homelands. I was not alone in suggesting that this would result in huge death statistics, but it did not happen.

Instead, it has been in the US, Britain and Italy that we have seen the rapid spread of this plague, despite their best efforts, and Asia and the Third World has  (So far) been spared  the expected results.

That could change, but it is still remarkable that the US,  Britain and Italy  have been hit so much harder, while closely related nations to Britain,  Australia and New Zealand, have seen much lower death rates. Does the Bible provide a reason?

Long ago God chose one man to be the father of a nation which would be His example to the world. That man was Abraham, and the nation was Israel. Do not confuse Israel with the Jews, who are just one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

God fulfilled all the promises he made to Abraham and his descendants Israel, which split from the Jews. As promised, it became the single great nation and a company of nations, Genesis 35:10-11,  ‘And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.’

And Genesis 48:19-20, ‘But his father said, “”Son, I know what I am doing. It’s true that Manasseh’s family will someday become a great nation. But Ephraim will be even greater than Manasseh, because his descendants will become many great nations.”” CEV.

While God fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Israel failed  to provide the example God expected and required, and so He has gradually been taking away His blessings because of the evil choices and rejection of God’s Laws the US and UK have made. Only the company of nations (British Commonwealth) have not followed Britain so deeply down the path of homosexuality, abortion, drugs and violence.

Italy led the whole Protestant world into breaking God’s Commandment about the 7th day Sabbath.

Justice requires that further punishment can be expected with no repentance;  that COVID-19 is just the start, but the whole wold is also guilty, so the rest of the nations will not escape, though individually we can be protected, if we will personally repent.

The whole world is shaken by what none of us have seen before, a simple virus that is turning our lives upside down, and it seems as though, unless science can come up with the answer, almost all people will eventually fall victim, with the weak and the elderly at risk of their lives.

When something like this happens, our comfort zone disappears, perhaps along with our jobs, our regular supply of food, and our normal social contacts. We fall back on the support of our families, and the true values in life become clear.

Christians who are close to God’s word have long expected such plagues for they see prophecy fulfilled before their eyes on TV daily, and Matthew 24:7 has warned it would arrive, along with other scriptures.

In fact, it could be God’s way of showing us that something is wrong; that our assumption that we can decide what is right and what is wrong, is not correct. We need to recognise the Truth. Isaiah 24:5,  ‘The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.’   We have as good as poked God in the eye with our gay pride marches, adulteries, murders, abortions, lying, stealing, etc.  Our sins are blatant, and God has promised increasingly severe punishment. Isaiah 24:6, ‘Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.’

We must understand that this is only the start. A chance to put our lives right, so that, eventually, we may be one of those “”few men left”.  Read Psalm 91 to find the Way through, but it is conditional. See verse 9, and may God help you to see the Truth.