“Is the Coronavirus a modern-day plague?” This question arose at a Tuesday morning training session for young gospel workers. We’d been studying Exodus and had reached chapters 7-11 which describe plagues that the Lord sent to decimate Egypt and make his name known in all the earth. Around the same time as the Coronavirus was picking up steam, the news was published that locusts were decimating crops in East Africa. Of course, to students of Exodus, an army of crop-devouring locusts rings a bell (Exodus 10:1-21). Are destructive powers like the Coronavirus and the locusts in East Africa modern-day plagues? […]
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What Does the Bible Say About Disease? Part 2: Job and Justice
If God is good and loving, why does he allow suffering in the world? If God is omnipresent and all-knowing, why does it feel like He’s far from me or that He is quiet? If God is almighty and powerful, why does he not heal all those who are infected with COVID-19? If you have struggled with questions like these, you are not alone. We continue our walk through the Bible and today we look at disease and pain in the book of Job. It is not one of the easiest books to read, not simply just because it is […]
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Psalm 62: Our Hope is in Christ Alone
PSALM 621 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3 How long will all of you attack a man, to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? 4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly, they curse. 5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On […]
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Trusting the Lord in Troubled Times
The prophet Isaiah lived in turbulent times. Times of change. Turmoil. Upheaval. Uncertainty. Fear. Fake news i.e. conspiracy theories. As we can see from Isaiah 1:1, Isaiah’s vision spanned the reign of four kings of Judah who reigned from about 740 BC to 686 BC. During Isaiah’s lifetime and ministry, the super-powerful Assyrian army conquered nations including the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC. Isaiah served in Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom, which, during King Hezekiah’s reign, was attacked by Assyria around 701 BC but was protected. The city was spared until the Babylonians overtook it around 586 BC. […]
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What Does the Bible Say About Disease? Part One: Lockdown in Leviticus
In the previous study we looked at how sin, disease and death entered the world, right after God’s creation of an initially perfect and harmonious universe. All seemed lost. But God’s plans never fail. In Genesis 12:1-3, God spoke to Abraham: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will […]
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