{"id":2703,"date":"2020-03-25T15:41:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T13:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2703"},"modified":"2020-03-25T15:48:22","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T13:48:22","slug":"a-christian-response-to-the-corona-virus-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2703","title":{"rendered":"A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE CORONA VIRUS, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Plagues are divinely ordained and sent by God. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Lev. 26:21 If then, you act with hostility\nagainst Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven\ntimes according to your sins.<\/li><li>Exodus 7-11 The ten plagues on Egypt. <\/li><li>Numbers 11:1 The Lord sent a fire that consumed\nthe people. <\/li><li>Numbers 11:33 They were consumed by a plague\nfrom the Lord. <\/li><li>Numbers 16:46-49 They were consumed by a plague\nfrom the Lord. <\/li><li>Numbers 21:6 The Lord sent an abundance of\npoisonous snakes. <\/li><li>Numbers 25:3-4, 9 The Lord killed 25,000 by a\nplague. <\/li><li>1 Samuel 24:15 God sent a plague that killed\n70,000 Jews. <\/li><li>Jeremiah 25:27-29 You shall say to them, \u2018Thus\nsays the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, \u201cDrink, be drunk, vomit, fall and\nrise no more <strong>because of the sword which\nI will send among you<\/strong>.\u201d&nbsp;\u2019 28 \u201cAnd it will be, if they refuse to take\nthe cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, \u2018Thus says the Lord\nof hosts: \u201cYou shall surely drink! 29 \u201cFor behold, <strong>I am beginning to work calamity in <em>this<\/em>\ncity<\/strong> which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from\npunishment? You will not be free from punishment; for <strong>I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth<\/strong>,\u201d\ndeclares the Lord of hosts.\u2019<\/li><li>Amos 3:6 If a calamity occurs in a city has not\nthe Lord done it?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did God send COVID 19? Yes. Is He trying to get our\nattention? Yes, of course. But the right response is repentance and humility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president of Zambia declared his country was Christian\nand prayed that the virus would be healed. Is this more than a political stunt\nin a country where 86% call themselves Christian? Public prayers are easy to\nmake and mean very little unless they are backed up by widespread repentance\nand humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Proverbs 28:9 He who\nturns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an\nabomination.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summary: Disruptions in society are controlled by God and are often a direct response to the society\u2019s defiance of His laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. A crisis does not make government more dependable or efficient. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Romans 13:1-7 gives government the right to punish criminals\nand reward law-abiding citizens. But experience teaches what could be learned\nfrom Scripture that government has a very narrow specialty and when it steps\noutside that realm, it is usually inefficient, corrupt, and cumbersome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, politicians are always looking for more power.\nA previous mayor of Chicago<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Pb-YuhFWCr4\">,\nRahm Emmanuel said<\/a>, \u201cYou never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And\nwhat I mean by that is its an opportunity to do things that you think you could\nnot do before.\u201d Who is Emmanuel referring to? The government. What new things\nwill they do? Whatever they can get away with in a crisis. They do this by\npassing more laws which sometimes <a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/library\/decriminalize-average-man\">make innocent people\ncriminals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who treats you better: The waitress at a restaurant or the\nlady at a government office? Politicians are glad to have a crisis if they can\nmanipulate it to get more taxes or power for their own agenda. The Communists\nof Eastern Europe and China during the 20<sup>th<\/sup> century are the best bad\nexample of the danger of expanded government. Every new law in a free society\nchips away at the liberty while adding to the burgeoning girth of government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1 Sam. 8:11-18, Samuel warned Israel that a king would\nraise taxes until the people are exhausted and infuriated. This is exactly what\nhappened by the third king of Israel (1 Kings 12:4). The people hated the exhausting\ntaxes of Solomon\u2019s reign, but Solomon\u2019s son Rehoboam would not listen to them\n(1 Kings 12:12-16)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christians however do not look to government for help in\nmost areas of life. First, they are commanded to work for themselves in secular\nwork to \u201cmake certain about His calling and choosing you\u201d (2 Pet. 1:10). Second,\nChristians don\u2019t trust sinners in the government (Jer. 17:5). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201cseparation of powers\u201d is the control that the president\nhas over the parliament and the courts have over the president. It is the\npolitical innovation that tries to stop the power of any one group. It also\nrecognizes that government constantly tries to grab more power because of the\nsinful nature of those who work for it. The most important application of the\ndoctrine of total depravity to society is a government with a very small scope\nof operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, a crisis gives the government the chance to\ngrow. But a growing government is no more a blessing to society than a thriving\nthief is an entrepreneur. Sadly, many governments are taking freedoms from\ntheir people in order to stop COVID 19. Then we can expect them to borrow or\nsimply print massive amounts of \u201cmoney\u201d in order to \u201cpay\u201d for the consequences\nof the things they decreed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It strains credulity to the breaking to think that the\ngovernment and its cadre of media\u2014a group that thinks men and women are the\nsame, we should all stop driving cars and eating meat so the world does not\nburn up, children should be taught in school that chickens came from the\nTyrannosaurus Rex, and money can be printed to stop poverty\u2014are really\ndependable to restructure our entire economy, force small businesses to stop\nworking, and then fix it by sending out free money that we had to borrow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summary: Christians are cautious of a government that takes freedoms away from its people by multiplying laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4. Sensible hygiene saves lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most common piece of advice is: Wash hands. Filth,\ngerms, and contaminants are spread more easily than cleanliness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Hag. 2:12-14 \u2018If a man\ncarries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold,\nor cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?\u2019&nbsp;\u201d And\nthe priests answered, \u201cNo.\u201d 13 Then Haggai said, \u201cIf one who is unclean from a\ncorpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?\u201d And the priests\nanswered, \u201cIt will become unclean.\u201d 14 Then Haggai said, \u201c&nbsp;\u2018So is this\npeople. And so is this nation before Me,\u2019 declares the Lord, \u2018and so is every\nwork of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cleanliness, washing, and quarantine were in the law of God.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Deut. 23:13 and you\nshall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside,\nyou shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leviticus 13-15 teaches the Israelites how to handle\ninfectious diseases. Science did not discover germs and viruses for many\nhundreds of years, but God revealed the basics of hygiene long ago. Those who were\nthe victims of false religion did not know this for many centuries and so they\ndied more quickly. Perhaps the single greatest tool to save human lives was the\nsimple habit of washing hands with soap and water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The virus passes through the air, through droplets in\ncoughing, and as it is left behind from touching. Some studies believe that it\ncan live possibly up to 72 hours outside a host. Each person infected with the\nflu infects approximately 1.3 other people, but COVID 19 infects 2-3 other\npeople. Yet it may not be as bad as some original reports had feared: \u201cSo far,\nthe new coronavirus seems to be more contagious than most strains of the flu,\nand roughly as contagious as strains that appear in pandemic flu seasons.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/29\/health\/coronavirus-flu.html\">Denise\nGrady, NY Times<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far the most important safety advice includes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Wash hands constantly with soap or sanitizer. <\/li><li>Cough and sneeze into your elbow. <\/li><li>Avoid direct contact or close quarters with\nothers. <\/li><li>Wear a face mask.<\/li><li>Quarantine yourself if you are sick or show\nsymptoms until the virus passes. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Matt. 7:12 In\neverything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you,\nfor this is the Law and the Prophets.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summary: Since filth breeds disease and the bacteria and viruses that destroy, cleanliness really is a godly trait. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>5. Personal responsibility is God\u2019s plan for mankind. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">God gave Adam and Eve only one law in the garden because He\nwas glad that they were free (Gen. 2:17). Yet they did have a law, and they\nwere responsible to obey it. Ezekiel 18 tells the story of three generations, a\nman, his son, and his grandson. In each generation, the man is judged or\nrewarded based on his own actions and merit. God would have us to live with our\ndecisions and their consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mosaic law is only 613 laws\u2014compare that with the many\nthousands of laws in countries today. In 2013, the House of Representatives in\nAmerica asked the Congressional Research Office for a list of all the laws. One\ngovernment office replied to the other, \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough staff or money to\ncount the laws.\u201d A private firm, the Heritage Foundation counted at least 4,450\nand said there were many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Personal responsibility is the father of freedom, and freedom\nis the soil in which the Great Commission grows best. Personal responsibility\nmeans that each person has the right to make his own decisions and enjoy the\nresults of them. Some people choose to buy TV\u2019s before the Bible or books. What\ngood would it do if I wrote a law requiring men to buy Bibles? What if they had\nto recognize the church? Would that make them Christian? Would a law give them\na new heart? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some or even many people will use their freedom in a foolish\nand irresponsible way. But restricting freedom will usually have repercussions\nthat are far-reaching and long-living. This is the main point in Henry\nHazlitt\u2019s excellent <em>Economics in One\nLesson<\/em> or in <a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/library\/forgotten-man\">the brief\narticle by William Graham Sumner, \u201cThe Forgotten Man.\u201d<\/a> Cutting off the head\nmay cure the headache, but it leaves the body with a greater problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Specifically for this situation: Some people are willing to\ntake more risks than others. David took a great risk when he went to fight\nGoliath, but we remember him because he won. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summary: Personal responsibility urges each man to develop his skills including his judgment and ability in order to achieve the goals he wants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Series navigation<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2701\">A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 1<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2703\">A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 2<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2708\">A Christian response to the Corona Virus, Part 3<\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2. Plagues are divinely ordained and sent by God. Lev. 26:21 If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. Exodus 7-11 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2703\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[387,474,476,236,477],"class_list":["post-2703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoral","tag-christian-worldview","tag-corona-virus","tag-covid-19","tag-economics","tag-politics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3QrZa-HB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2703"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2712,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2703\/revisions\/2712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}