* Treasure Chest Ministries note: The following post is by a guest writer, pastor and long time friend. Our purpose in posting it is to help relieve fear which this pandemic has brought with huge force. We are attempting to educate of things not being talked about in general media not make a political stand.
I read an interesting article on the Spanish flu pandemic of the early 1900s. It answered some questions I have had about our current Covid-19 situation. Here are some of the salient points excerpted from the article:
“There was never a declaration that it was over.
History says the Spanish flu lasted from February 1918 until April 1920, but there wasn’t a definitive statement that the pandemic was over, according to Time magazine. Basically, the pandemic came to a halt when the virus had infected enough people around the world to where it became harder for the virus to find new hosts.
There wasn’t a vaccine that ended it.
Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no race for a vaccine among companies around the world. With technology and research being nowhere close to what it is now, there was no waiting around for a vaccine to help quell the Spanish flu.
The end might have been just as much mental as physical.
Historically, pandemics can end not necessarily because a disease or virus has been vanquished, but because people simply learn to live with it and thus don’t talk about it, according to the New York Times.”
I then wondered if there are currently any active cases of Spanish flu. I found no evidence, except that it was probably an H1N1 influenza virus, but it may have been a different type, too – I also saw other H-es and Ns and other numbers associated with it. It certainly appears that no one is concerned with the Spanish flu in 2021. I also wonder how Spaniards take to that name – why is there no uproar over that? That’s for another article…
So, if there are not really any cases of Spanish flu today, why not? As stated above, the pandemic came to a halt because there were fewer people susceptible to it as a result of immunity. There was no vaccine (which, a vaccine is the act of infecting people with the disease – albeit in a controlled dosages). And the final point above, people just learned to live with it. Say that out loud – people learned to LIVE with it. LIVE. For biblical reasons, I suggest that this “pandemic” has been handled completely incorrectly.
Before going any further, please know that I do not support the idea that God will magically put a safety shield around people who believe in Him and keep them from getting sick. That is simplistic and dangerous. My view goes to a more basic point. Here it is:
God made mankind to physically fight disease. He put into our creation the ability to withstand and overcome diseases of many varieties – even viral diseases. My biggest problem with the way Covid-19 has been handled is that it is based on an unexpressed, but clearly believed, rejection of God’s design and proven work in human existence. Yes, I know there are Christians who are doing their best to help their fellow man by masking up and locking down. And in many cases – even in MY case – the charge of hatred of others is leveled at people who do not participate in such actions. We will address that shortly.
God built disease mitigation into our existence. In the Covid-19 of 2020 and beyond “pandemic,” we have not allowed the natural course of things to happen. By masking up, by locking down, by shutting down business and activity, we have, in a real sense, told God, “We don’t trust You. We can handle this one ourselves.” We trust masks, we trust vaccines, we trust distancing, we trust shutdowns, we trust government officials, we trust medical professionals. But we do NOT trust You, God.” If we had trusted God instead of our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5,6), it is not only possible, but I submit that it is PROBABLE that God’s design would have worked as it always has for the 6,000 to 10,000 years mankind has lived on earth. I certainly am starting to wonder if an immediate spike at the beginning would have resulted in fewer deaths and infections than what we have been subjected to because of avoidance of God’s built-in mitigation system.
Remember the giant oil spill from the offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico a number of years ago – the Deepwater spill of 2010? Remember how we were told by “experts” that the entire eco-system of the Gulf would collapse as a result? What happened? In an incredibly short amount of time, God’s design of the ocean and ocean-life took care of the problem without mankind having to do anything. That was not luck. That was not mankind’s efforts to fix anything. That was God’s design at work.
Well, Spanish flu killed millions – the Deepwater spill killed or injured lots of ocean-life. Yes – I admit that. I also have to remind anyone going down that road of thinking that millions are dying every year anyway from any number of diseases, maladies, accidents, and unknown reasons. Death is the condition of mankind under sin in the world. Death will never go away until God brings it to an end. This was one of my first comments back in March of 2020 – do we really think that we can impact the death rate of ANY disease and get it to ZERO? That is absurd. Here are numbers from the CDC and WHO on recent years’ mortality rates:
In the United States of America, in these years, these total number of people died
2017 2.8 million
2018 2.839 million
2019 2.84 million
In 2020, even including Covid-19 deaths, through November 16, the number of deaths was at 2.4 million (an article at Reuters claims that this information is inaccurate, and then goes on to “estimate” future death totals – a ploy that I would also call “inaccurate” –
The long and short of these stats is that for the most part – even if Covid-19 really picks up and adds another 600,000 deaths by December 31, it is not far off from typical rates of death. Death is part of mankind’s existence because of our rejection of God through sin. One hundred percent of us will experience death no matter when or how it comes. We believers in Jesus Christ have great hope because of Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection – and we even have the words of Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then comes the judgment.” That seems to indicate that the arrival of each person’s time of death is an appointment – so if a person dies prior to his/her appointment, we can ask God to raise that person from the dead, and it might actually happen.
I consider our societal trust in the various mitigation actions foisted by mankind to be an affront to God Himself. It has become such an issue of rejection of God that it is now considered virtuous and normal to give up one’s rights and be locked away and then to demonize those who do not comply. I do not comply because I see it as a rejection of God and His design. But I also do not subscribe to the mindset that anyone who sees it the other way is my enemy. That is not love and will not be effective.
And the truth is, again, God has designed mankind to fight disease and overcome it. And as followers of Jesus, putting our trust in man’s solutions rather than God’s, we have arrived at a point, now approaching a year into it, where we tend to look at others with suspicion rather than love or patience or kindness – even within the Body of Christ. This is unhealthy for the people of Jesus, and it is being normalized by the world. This kind of thinking is infecting the Church with unbiblical living.
So, what is the answer? How will Covid-19 ever be defeated? A vaccine? No – the flu returns every year and has vaccines. The common cold – a coronavirus, by the way – returns every year with multiple mitigation efforts and treatments. When the vaccine doesn’t eradicate Covid-19 – and it will not – and then in 20 years when the as yet unknown side-effects of the vaccine are finally known (because the vaccine was rushed through development), what will we do? Will we be endlessly forced to continue quarantine and lockdown and social distancing and masks? That strategy cannot and will not work. God has showed us and built into us the solution to any and all pandemics, epidemics, sicknesses, and even some diseases – HIS DESIGN.
Healthy people must be allowed to live and be exposed to the virus – and then, as nearly 99% of them have already, recover. Clearly “at risk” people should be in safe places, not risking exposure – which has been the practice of mankind for years and years – and has ALWAYS worked, because God designed us this way. There is one group of people who are free of Covid-19 – the dead. Our mission as the people of Jesus is to share the good news with those who currently reject Him and risk eternal separation from Him. When death comes – and it comes for everyone – the next thought will have nothing to do with Covid-19. The next thought for non-believers, and every succeeding thought, will be regret and emptiness for rejecting Jesus Christ. We must move beyond masks and distancing and vaccines and get to the only thing that will rescue lost people – the good news of justification by faith and God’s indwelling righteousness through the work of Jesus Christ.
By Pastor Michael Wolfe, Plattsmouth Bible Church
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