Sir Keir Starmer, the new leader of the Labour Party in Britain, has called upon the Government to publish its plans for ending the lockdown of the nation when the coronavirus pandemic reaches the right point for some social interaction to begin. His call has kickstarted a debate of when it will be right to allow some loosening of the total lockdown, to allow some schools to reopen and some businesses such as hairdressers to recommence work.

Every day the lockdown continues damages the economy, and for many businesses the damage may be terminal. Most economists already recognise that it will take many years for the economy to recover and for the nation to clear the enormous public debt that is being created to support the millions who are unable to work during the pandemic crisis. Getting the timing right for ending the full lockdown is essential if we are to avoid both a second wave of infections from the virus and a total collapse of the economy.

Asking Why

It is slowly being recognised that Britain will never be the same again. But in spiritual terms that is the whole point of the plague. We have already said on Prophecy Today UK that God does not create evil. God is good, and God is love. It is human beings who create evil and whatever the physical source of this pandemic is found to be – it cannot be said to have been created by God. But undoubtedly God has allowed it to happen; so, we must ask some straight questions about why.

There are places in the Bible where God speaks about being angry with the nations¹ and there were times, such as in the lifetime of Abraham and Lot, and of Noah and his family (who were the only ones saved), when disasters occurred. This pandemic is undoubtedly a disaster on a colossal scale. And there has to be a reason why God is allowing it to engulf all nations in the world.

It is slowly being recognised that Britain will never be the same again - but in spiritual terms that is the whole point of the plague.

Sins of Injustice

The best place to look for help in answering this question is in the writings of the prophets of Israel in the Bible. It is from them that we learn that God hates injustice, oppression and greed, which are values at the heart of the world economy. The uneven distribution of resources leaves most of the world’s population struggling for subsistence and a very tiny minority wallowing in luxury. Our civilisation idolises celebrities in entertainment and sport but fails to recognise the value of thousands of less savoury jobs done to guard our health and welfare and provide us with vital food, hygiene and waste disposal.

The prophets show God’s anger in the face of injustice and oppression. Listen to Amos saying that God will sweep through the nation unless there is repentance and change:

You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground…and hate him who tells the truth. You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts…Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you…Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:7-15)

Sins of the Flesh

God also hates licentiousness, lust, adultery and all the sins of the flesh. Through Amos, God said “Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name” (Amos 2:7). Paul linked together all the lustful sins of immorality, idolatry, adultery, prostitution and homosexual acts, with theft, greed, drunkenness, slander and swindling – saying none of those who practice these will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10).

The word of God is particularly severe on the Amorites, who were renowned for their perverted sexual practices which are said to be detestable to God. King Ahab was said to have “sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel” (1 Kings 21:25). King Manasseh was also said to have committed the vilest sins of the Amorites (2 Kings 21:11).

There is a telling phrase in Genesis 15:16: “the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure”. Are we reaching that point today?

The prophets show God’s anger in the face of injustice and oppression.

The New Testament speaks of terrible times coming in the days leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus. It may be that the ‘sin of the Amorites’ – and all the other sins we have piled on top - has reached a point that has triggered God’s decision to allow the plague of Covid-19 to shake the nations, in order to make people stop and think what has gone wrong with our civilisation. It may be that the most heinous offence in the eyes of God is the attack upon the fundamentals of truth – the turning upside-down of the value system upon which all human behaviour is based – a time foreseen by the Prophet Isaiah who says “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isa 5:20).

In the lifetime of most people still living many nations have changed their laws to allow babies to be killed in the womb and to make homosexual relationships equal to the marriage of a man and a woman which is part of God’s Creation. Homosexual practices cannot create life and can lead to disease and death.² The sin of the Amorites has been spread to the poorer nations by the rich nations, who make acceptance of those practices a precondition for aid.

Hope for Deliverance

I have no doubt that if Amos, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah were here today, they would be calling for repentance and turning as the only hope of stemming the tide of the plague that is sweeping the nations. The first essential outcome of the virus needs to be the recognition of the sins that have corrupted the nations. Thousands are dying every day and going to an unknown eternity because salvation is only found in Jesus Christ. As Jesus himself declared to Nicodemus, a leader in Israel, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3).

Life will not return to normal until a vaccine is discovered, which may be a long time. Until then the prospect of untimely death is facing every person. Our loving Heavenly Father has surely allowed the pandemic as a call to everyone to reflect upon their own life. Everyone needs to hear the words of Jesus – no-one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again. We only have to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour to take away the fear of death and come into a right relationship with God our Creator.

Britain might not be the same after coronavirus, but will it really change the nation?

Notes

1 See Isaiah 26:20-21: "Go, my people, into your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer."

2 For scientific research into this issue, consider resources published by the Family Research Council (e.g. this report) and the Family Research Institute, both US-based.