Part one in a series on the current global pandemic
By Mike Wingfield
My friends, we are living in a unique time. Never in the annals of modern history has the entire family of nations dealt with the magnitude of a deadly pandemic such as we are facing. As we go to press with this publication, the coronavirus is in 198 countries and territories, with more than 800,000 cases and almost 38,000 deaths. What we are experiencing is unprecedented.
This virus and its ramifications have the potential to radically alter our global community. Schools and universities are closed. All sporting events are cancelled. Many businesses are closed or they are working with a drastically reduced work force. Hundreds of millions of people are unemployed. The financial outlook for the nations seems to become more critical with each passing day. The medical resources for many countries are overwhelmed. Church services are cancelled. Millions of people around the world are self-quarantined in their homes. The travel industry, including air traffic, is increasingly coming to a grinding halt.
Many nations have closed their borders to all foreign visitors. Governments are placing greater and greater restrictions upon their people as they deal with the growing number of cases and deaths from this pandemic. A real sense of fear and of the unknown is driving the global population to horde food, water, and other essentials. It seems as if the world is ready to experience a total breakdown in law and order as desperate people scramble to reach some level of personal safety and security.
Furthermore, it is uncertain how long this pandemic crisis will last. Some are saying it could be months before some sense of normality returns. Others are predicting that this crisis in the U.S. could extend into this fall or early winter.
Governments around the world are taking great ricks financial to help their people financially cope with this
storm. The U.S. government is planning to send out a financial stimulus package to each American family due to the crisis. It is reported that this financial stimulus package will cost our government more than two trillion dollars. The Federal Reserve is printing trillions of dollars to keep the banking industry from collapsing. We can only imagine how this will impact our burgeoning national debt.
I am absolutely convinced that only those who know God and His Word, and especially His prophetic Word, can understand the nature of what we are dealing with. While speaking about the end times, God said to the ancient prophet of Israel, Daniel, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand” (Daniel 12:10).
Earlier in the book of Daniel, God demonstrated to His prophet that He is the only one who knows and controls the future of all the nations and kings on earth. After the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream, he sought the wisdom of all of his royal advisers. He asked them to tell him about his dream and to give the interpretation. After their failure, God send Daniel with the divine response. He reported to the king that the God of heaven “revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him” (Daniel 2:22). After Daniel revealed the kings vision and its interpretation, King Nebuchadnezzar replied, “Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret” (Daniel 2:47).
Today, God speaks to His servants through the powerful Word of God. God has revealed to all those who read and study the Bible His sovereign plan for the future of our world. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
In the next few months, I want to present to my readers a series of questions that we need to answer from the Bible. What is God saying to all of us as our lives are being dramatically altered by the coronavirus? What is God doing at this moment through this virus? What does God want us to do? I believe that the Bible gives us very clear and precise answers to these questions. Please share this newsletter with your family and friends. God is speaking. But are we willing to listen?
It amazes me that a majority of the people, and even pastors, in professing churches in America are not interested in Biblical prophecy. There are many explanations for this. However, at the core of people’s rejection of Biblical prophetic truth is their arrogant attitude – they believe they control their destiny. They like their cozy little world and they do not want God to disrupt it. A pride-filled independent spirit has gripped the soul of too many who claim Jesus is their Savior.
The world worships at the feet of self and the physical trappings that bring comfort, security, and pleasure to their lustful bodies. They don’t need God. They do not believe He created them and they do not pay respect to His sovereign control over them.
At the heart of man’s rebellion is the desire to avoid God. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, their immediate response was to run away and hide from God. Genesis 3:8 says, “And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” Since that beginning, mankind has continued to run from God. The Psalmist wrote, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. … He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity” (Psalm 10:4, 6).
God has repeatedly declared and demonstrated in the Bible that He is sovereign. He is in control of all of His creation and He is moving it toward His divine conclusion for His purposes.
During the days of the prophet Isaiah, the nation of Israel was far away from God. They had fallen into the trap of worshipping other gods and idols. In the Old Testament book that carries his name, Isaiah continually rebuked the nation of Israel and called them to repentance. In this confrontation with Israel, God spoke to them and said, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou has not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me: I am the LORD, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:5-6). This declaration is repeated many times in the book of Isaiah. God was confronting them at the foundation of their sin – they did not know Him as their One and only God.
In the immediate context of God’s statement concerning His sovereign self-existence, He said there is one way in which He demonstrates His sovereign power. God often attempts to get man’s attention through adversity or crises (disasters and diseases). In Isaiah 45:7, God said, “I create evil.” The Hebrew word for evil is not speaking of moral wickedness. God is holy and He cannot be charged with creating something that is against His holy character or nature. The word used by Isaiah indicates that God creates disasters and diseases for His purposes.
Remember that God revealed in Psalm 10:6 that the wicked says in his heart that he “shall never be in adversity.” Unfortunately, sinful man does not have time for God until adversity comes and then God knows he will cry out to him during that time. So, God brings adversity to get our attention. God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). He demands that we worship and serve Him, and have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3). If we disobey, He has promised to discipline those who refuse to give Him this respect, worship, and obedience (Exodus 20:5). All of this is at the foundation of all of God’s commandments. That is why we call them “the 10 Commandments.”
As we face the coronavirus, we are seeing the hand of God in our world. God has created our world with the potential for all of these diseases. These diseases are all under His divine control. God has created physical and 
spiritual boundaries, and when mankind violates or ignores these God-given limits, there are consequences. We all understand that the law of gravity displays these limits immediately. The consequences of other laws of God are not so immediate. However, sin does have a payday. The Bible says, “Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).
When God wanted to release His people, Israel, from more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt, He crushed the enemy of His people with diseases. Notice what God said to Pharaoh through Moses in Exodus 9:14-16, “For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and unto thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence [diseases]; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”
Is it a coincidence that the Middle East, including Israel, is in the midst of this coronavirus as the time of Passover, April 8-16, approaches? Passover is a time when Jewish families gather to celebrate their deliverance from slavery more than 3,400 years ago. With millions of Israelis under strict quarantine, most Israelis will not be able to celebrate the Passover with their entire family.
God spoke through Moses to warn Israel that if they ever departed from Him, He would send diseases [plagues or pestilences] among them as an act of judgment. Read Deuteronomy 28:22, 27-28, 35, 58-62. Also, consider Leviticus 26:25. God used a horrible disease to kill 70,000 because of King David’s sin (2 Samuel 24:10-25).
In the days of the prophet Amos, God warned Israel that He would send them many forms of judgment to bring them back to Him (Amos 4:6-13). One of these judgments was diseases (Amos 4:10).
God demonstrated His control over all sickness and diseases when He sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth almost 2,000 years ago. Matthew, in his gospel, presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah to the Jewish people. The healing power of Jesus over all kinds of diseases was one of His credentials as Messiah (Isaiah 35:5-6). Matthew says that Jesus healed “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23). Matthew 9:35 says that Jesus healed “every sickness and every disease among the people.” Jesus demonstrated that God has power over every kind of disease.
God has sent the coronavirus around the globe to call all people to repentance and salvation. Friend, the Bible tells us that we all have an appointment with God. It is called death. The Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Life is precious. Life is fragile. Life is “even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Are you prepared for eternity? Where will you live forever? Are you procrastinating getting right with God? What if you or a family member were to contract the coronavirus and die? Are they, or you, ready to die? What are you waiting for? Now is the time to cry out to God and ask Him to forgive you of your sin and to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord. The Bible says that “now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Read Romans 10:9-13. I encourage you to read the gospel of John and to place your trust in Christ as the Son of God before it is too late for your soul.
Too many of us who claim to be saved are not spending time with the Lord. More than anything else, He wants us to cease from our labors and activities to know that He is the Lord. Read Psalm 46. In this Psalm, the writer speaks of a time when the world is in ruins. In the midst of this massive geological upheaval, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). God has placed many of us in quarantine to make us be still. He wants us to spend time with Him. If we refuse, what else will He do? We know. It is recorded in His Word!
God sends global judgments for a reason. In Isaiah 2, the prophet tells us that there is coming a time when God shall arise “to shake terribly the earth” (Isaiah 2:21). This will happen during the time of the Tribulation. Why will He do that? In this great chapter, Isaiah 2, God says he will do this “for the glory of his majesty” (verse 10). He will do this to humble all of humanity so that “the LORD alone shall be exalted in the day” (verse 11).
God is speaking through the coronavirus. He is calling us all to humility and brokenness. He is showing us that He, not man, is in control. In the midst of our fear and pain, we need to turn to Him and surrender our time and possessions to Him.
Friends, in my next newsletter I will demonstrate that this global virus is only a harbinger of more horrific pandemics and divine judgments that are coming upon this earth. This pandemic is only the beginning of what God has in store for a world that is in open rebellion against Him. This pandemic is only the beginning of the end.
God is being very merciful to all of us. He has sent this pandemic to wake us up before the big judgments strike one after another for seven very long years upon this earth. In that future day of the Lord, the God of heaven will invite His people, who are saved after the Rapture, to quarantine themselves to be sheltered from the wrathful judgments of God that will fall upon the wicked. He will say to them in that day, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation [passes by- as in the time of the Passover in Egypt]. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isaiah 26:20-21). This speaks of a time at the end of this age when the global death toll will be so great that there will be no time to bury the millions who will suddenly die.
As the prophet Jeremiah lamented over the horrific destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, he wrote to his people and said, “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). The Lord continues to show us His mercy, even in the midst of all of the death and pain of this global pandemic. We can rest assured that what is happening now is not the end. According to the Bible, there is at least another 1,007 years left for mankind on this earth.
The Lord is also saying to all of us through this pandemic that He is the only one who can protect and save us. Most of the time, we attempt to face our problems within our own power. Only after we fail to find the answers to our crises do we turn to the Lord as a last resort. This is shear foolishness. We need to remember that He is the only one who can protect us and provide for all of our needs.
I encourage you to read Psalm 91. This psalm gives us a great promise that is very appropriate for what we are facing with the present pandemic. First, please remember that this psalm was not written to us but does contain wonderful admonitions for us. This great chapter is a promise given by the most High God to the Jewish nation of Israel. 
In this psalm, God’s people are invited to run from the fear of diseases and crises to take refuge in the shadow of God’s almighty power and grace. It is very important to realize that this promise is given only to those who are willing to dwell in the presence of God. This is not talking about those who intellectually know about the greatness of God. It is speaking to those who daily seek after God and desire His presence as they walk and talk with Him throughout the course of the day. This person will constantly think about God. They will attempt to practice His holy presence in their daily walk. They will acknowledge God in all of his ways (Proverbs 3:6). They will seek His face to have an ongoing audience with God in thought and word. They will “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Their utmost desire will be to please God, to honor and praise Him with their lives. It is said of Noah and Enoch that they “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). This is what is meant by, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (verse 1). He will make God his “habitation” (verse 9).
Friend, this is really what God wants. He wants us to spend time with Him. He is our Father. He wants us to share life with Him. Jesus prayed for us when He said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). He wants us to adoringly look into His face and worship Him with a whole heart – FOREVER!
As the psalmist speaks of God’s protection of believers, He says that God will “cover thee with his feathers” (verse 4). God is a Spirit. He does not have actual feathers. Here, the writer uses the imagery that depicts little birds that are frightened and seek shelter under the wings of their mother who cares for its young. Jesus used this imagery when He spoke of His love for the people of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” What love! Even in the midst of Israel’s great sin and rebellion, the Lord continued to express His love for His own people.
I remember a childhood story I learned in Sunday school shortly after I was saved at the age of nine. The story was depicted in a colorful book about a little red hen that died in a tragic barn fire. When the fire was out, the farmer went out to examine the debris. When he saw the charred feathers of the little hen, he kick it over with his foot and out from under the ashes of the hen came three little chicks that were alive. The story was told how the hen could have flown away and saved her life from the flames in the barn. However, she hovered over her chicks, giving her life to the flames to protect her little ones. Then, it was explained to me, that the little hen was a picture of Jesus who took upon Himself my sin and died for me that I might live and not face the fires of hell. [As the Lord was speaking to me in my spirit at 4 am this morning about this newsletter, I thought about Psalm 91. Also, for the first time in many years I thought about this story I heard in Sunday school as a child, sixty-one years ago!]
God has not promised us in Psalm 91 that no believer will avoid getting sick or not have a disease. Many godly people have died at the hand diseases throughout the ages. And, the Bible does not teach that all sickness or disease is a result of personal sin. Again, please remember that Psalm 91 was written to the nation of Israel. John Phillips, a well-known Biblical scholar who taught at Moody Bible Institute for years, wrote, “We need to remember when interpreting these wonderful psalms that they are part of the Hebrew hymnbook. These are not gospel songs, written for those who have put their trust in Christ since Calvary. They are old Hebrew hymns and belong primarily and essentially to the nation of Israel. We need to exercise spiritual discernment before claiming such promises as blanket guarantees of well-being today. The Old Testament blessing for Israel included national prosperity and divine protection. So long as Israel walked in step with God there was not a nation that could defeat her in battle or successfully invade her land. The godly Jew could legitimately claim the promises of Psalm 91 in an hour of danger and could expect that, although people fell all around by the thousands, neither the flying arrow nor the sinister pestilence would come near him” (John Phillips, Exploring the Psalms, 89-150, p. 32).
I believe that God is now saying to the nations, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). The arms of Jesus are wide open to all whom will come to Him for salvation. He is saying, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).
In these days of isolation, read your Bible. Let God speak to your heart. He is speaking. Are you listening?
Get ready for the shout that will take us out!