By A. Freeman
As of March 23, 2020, the number of people around the world who had contracted the coronavirus exceeded 350,000. and the number who died exceeded 15,000. Just a few weeks later, the number of cases exceeded 2,000,000 and the number of deaths exceeded 150,000. Where will the numbers will be tomorrow?
People all over the world are praying and looking for divine intervention. The following headlines are becoming more and more common:
“Looking for divine intervention: Woman makes signs with humble message” {1}
“COVID-19: Religious Leaders Urged To Pray For Divine Intervention” {2}
“COVID-19: Power Of God, Seeking Divine Intervention To Stop The Spread” {3}
“We are desperately in need of divine intervention” {4}
“Government officials, lawmakers seek ‘divine intervention’ against coronavirus” {5}
“Brazil’s President Calls for National Day of Prayer and Fasting to ‘Free Brazil from This Evil’ Coronavirus” {6}
“’God Is Bigger than the Coronavirus’: America, it’s Time to Pray!” {7}
In Jewish households around the world, April 8 marked the beginning of Passover with the retelling of the Israelites enslavement in ancient Egypt and their liberation through divine intervention.
British church leaders have often called for special acts of worship. The latest being a “national day of prayer and action” in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A preface in the form of a prayer used during plague epidemics in the 16th and 17th centuries declared in part: the godly have been provoked and stirred … to ponder their lack of thankfulness and forgetfulness of God’s merciful benefits … cause thine Angel to sheath his sword again, and preserve thou those which are appointed to die. …”
Even P. Diddy has asked for divine intervention. Fans were concerned that he was losing it after they saw a video he posted: “Forgive us God … Cause if you forgive us, then you would send us the cure or what it would be your own way. And we would have learned our lesson, so God please come to our rescue. Amen.” {8}
So far, despite our prayers and wishes and despite the pandemic’s growth in numbers, we have not seen much sign of divine intervention. This may have led some who prayed to wonder, “Why hasn’t God responded?” “What more can be done to get God to forgive and take care of us?”
Actually, the more important question is: “If this is a message and if we are supposed to ‘learn our lesson,’ have we learned it?” Taking a closer look at the issue of divine intervention, we recall one significant early instance:
Genesis 6:5: “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
6:6 So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart.
6:7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of this earth.”
When humans became wicked and had evil thoughts, the Lord did not forgive them. Instead, He created a flood to cleanse the earth and to start over. After the flood, He made a covenant with Noah: “Never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
God has left us an example that when humans lose their virtue and their moral compass, when their acts deviate from His will, simply calling God’s name to beg for forgiveness may not bring them the rescue they seek.
If we seek His word,we find that God has also provided man with a way out to avoid complete destruction and starting over. Man needs to change. He could look inside his heart, discover what righteousness is and change his wicked ways. In that case the Lord may provide him an alternative:
2 Chronicles 7:14 “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
If we consider these words to be a guideline, we may ask ourselves, “Have we merely prayed for the Lord to stop the virus because we want to live life the exact same way we did before the virus or have we tried to discern what we have done wrong and what ways we need to turn from? Do we really believe that our lives depend on our answer?”
In Part I of this series, we will take a closer look at man’s actions as well as his interactions with the Divine and whether we have learned to recognize our lessons when we are presented with them.
Series of the “On Divine Intervention”:
On Divine Intervention – Introduction – Seeking Divine Intervention
On Divine Intervention – Part I – Ignoring Divine Guidance
On Divine Intervention – Part II – Can Man Discern Evil?
On Divine Intervention – Part III – Choosing Evil over Virtue
Endnotes:
{1} Wilson Times, “Looking for divine intervention: Woman makes signs with humble message,” April 1, 2020.
http://wilsontimes.com/stories/looking-for-divine-intervention,205322.
{2} Tribune, “COVID-19: Religious Leaders Urged To Pray For Divine Intervention,” April 3, 2002
https://tribuneonlineng.com/covid-19-religious-leaders-urged-to-pray-for-divine-intervention/.
{3} Fiji Sun, “COVID-19: Power Of God, Seeking Divine Intervention To Stop The Spread,” March 30, 2020.
https://fijisun.com.fj/2020/03/30/covid-19-power-of-god-seeking-divine-intervention-to-stop-the-spread/.
{4} Boksburg Advertiser, “We are desperately in need of divine intervention,” March 8, 2002.
https://boksburgadvertiser.co.za/362747/we-are-desperately-in-need-of-divine-intervention/.
{5} Business Recorder, “Government officials, lawmakers seek ‘divine intervention’ against coronavirus,” March 18, 2020.
https://www.brecorder.com/2020/03/18/581084/government-officials-lawmakers-seek-divine-intervention-against-coronavirus/.
{6} Christian Headlines, “Brazil’s President Calls for National Day of Prayer and Fasting to ‘Free Brazil from This Evil’ Coronavirus,” April 6, 2020.
https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/brazils-president-calls-for-national-day-of-prayer-and-fasting-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html.
{7} Christian Headlines, “God Is Bigger than the Coronavirus’: America, it’s Time to Pray!” March 18, 2020
https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/guest-commentary/god-is-bigger-than-the-coronavirus-america-it-is-time-to-pray.html.
{8} Electronic Urban Report, “Fans Concerned P. Diddy Is Losing It After He Posts ‘Forgive Us, God’ Video [WATCH],” April 2, 2020.
https://eurweb.com/2020/04/02/fans-concerned-p-diddy-is-losing-it-after-he-posts-forgive-us-god-video-watch/.