Some people wonder how a virus so small we can’t even see it (except with an image created by an electron microscope) can cause illness and even death and so change the world in which we live. This unseen enemy is causing illness, sometimes severe and life-threatening, and wreaking fear and havoc upon our lives. Why?

While I hate to speculate into the unknown or try to understand the workings of the Divine Creator, there are certain things He has revealed to us and we would do well to take them to heart.

First of all, consider the words of Psalm 2: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (verses 1-3).

It’s happening! Our people, our teachers, our leaders are raging against the LORD and His Anointed (Christ means anointed). They deny Him as their Creator, they reject His commandments and they do not look in faith to Christ Jesus. In fact, in so many ways we fight against God and His Word — neglecting to hear and learn His Word or worship and honor Him, killing millions of unborn children He is creating in the womb, rejecting His design for marriage between a man and a woman and flaunting our own wickedness on TV and computer screens.

But, as the psalm says (verses 4-9), “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

People reject the LORD God who created them and gives them life, and they reject God the Son who came into this world to pay the price for their sins and win for all pardon and forgiveness, and so they come under God’s judgment — Christ Jesus will be their judge!

I think of God’s warnings to His own people in Deuteronomy 28:15, 20-21: “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee … The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.”

There are the four horses of Revelation 6:1-8: “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Think of how this has been fulfilled over the centuries and even in our own lifetimes. How many millions have died in wars and battles between nations and kingdoms? How many have died from crimes and violence? How many have died from famines and food shortages? And how many have died from disease and famine and other causes of death? Why? The Bible reveals to us that it is a part of the curse of sin upon this world and God permits it to bring us to examine our ways and look to Him for mercy and forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ, God the Son.

So, why the coronavirus and disease and death? I cannot tell you the specific reasons known only to God, but I can tell you from the Bible that God removes His hand of protection over us and allows us to suffer the consequences of our own sins and of sin in general in an effort to wake us up and make us see our own frailty and our need to repent of the sin and evil in our lives and then look to Him for mercy in the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And God does judge wickedness and disobedience — consider what happened to the wicked and unbelieving in the days of Noah, at Sodom and Gomorrah, and even to His own people again and again throughout the history recorded in the Bible.

If we do not repent, things will get worse and not better — the four horses will continue their work of vengeance and judgment in this world.

But God also gave this promise to His people: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14).

Even if the rest of this world continues to rage against the LORD God and His Christ, it is certainly time for all who call themselves God’s people to examine their ways in the light of God’s Word, humbly repent of their sins and disobedience and look to Him for mercy for the sake of Jesus and His blood, shed upon the cross.

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:10-12).