The Book of Amos is uncompromising in the judgments it declares on the nations. In the first part of chapter 3 the focus is on Israel, of whom the Lord said, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” Describing events which don’t happen without a cause, God asserts, “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?”
The Covid-19 pandemic has been concentrated in many cities around the world; are we to dismiss this as not the work of our Creator? With conspiracy theories abounding, it is very easy to lose sight of the fact that “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan 4).
Prophets Who Have Heard
Through Amos, the Lord continued by assuring Israel, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.” We must therefore conclude that this pandemic, and its consequences, were foreseen by his prophets. But who are they and what have they been saying?
One difficulty we have is that we usually look to contemporary prophets to fulfil this role, but first we should look beyond them, back to the prophets of Scripture.
I realised recently that just two chapters of the Law provide the foundations for every subsequent prophet in Israel.
These passages are Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the latter being the better known. They follow the same pattern; both open by listing the benefits of obeying the Lord, followed by a much longer description of the curses which arise from disobedience to him.
Later Jewish prophets simply pointed back to these twin foundations. Their message, effectively, was 'Look at what has been written! You have reached this stage in your rebellion, and this is what you have been warned will follow next!'
We must conclude that this pandemic, and its consequences, were foreseen by God’s prophets. But who are they and what have they been saying?
Foundations for Understanding God’s Work Today
Which, then, are the prophetic passages that shed light on the situation in which the world finds itself today? I will highlight just two here, with which I have been burdened for some time.
As long ago as 2001, in the print edition of Prophecy Today, I described the dangers of ‘Reversing Babel’ – moving back from a world of independent nations to one global system. Citing Paul’s speech in Athens (Acts 17), I emphasised that national boundaries limit the outpouring of the Lord’s judgment and encourage us to seek him.1 My emphasis is that once nations are removed and humanity reunited, however, the Lord will be able to righteously judge mankind as one global society – a much more fearsome prospect.
Secondly, many Christians are surprised by how quickly the LGBTQ+ lobby has become influential in almost every nation. In 2013 I wrote that we should perceive this as judgment already upon societies, rather than something which would bring judgement. In Romans 1 the Holy Spirit has put on record that when any society embraces sexual immorality and deviance, this signals that God has already given them up!
I believe that these two passages provide an understanding for what we have seen happening in recent months. Taken together, they help us to understand what our Father is doing on the earth today.
Five Solemn Statements
I believe that the Lord has now placed on my heart five aspects of what he is doing through this pandemic. I do not share them lightly, for he will hold me accountable. I invite you to test these five statements prayerfully.
Here I can only summarise the understanding behind each one. I explain them more fully in a longer article elsewhere, ‘Is Our God Asleep?’ Some may find one or more of these statements hard to embrace.
1. We have crossed the Rubicon from national judgments to global ones.
When the Roman general Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon, he recognised it to be the 'point of no return' in his rebellion. Today, I believe that the benefits of the post-Babel division into nations have now been lost. This pandemic signals that there is no going back to national accountability before God.
Over the last two decades, initially Western nations and now many others have experienced the judgment described in the second part of Romans 1. Having reached the end of those, an increasingly united world has now brought upon itself global consequences.
2. It is the Lord who has closed the schools, forcing parents and children to spend more time together than they have done for a long time.
In recent years, schools have become the front line in the culture war to promote LGBTQ+ immorality. A year ago, MPs at Westminster voted by a majority of 538 to 21 in favour of new RSE regulations.2 This opened the way for sexual immorality to be taught as good in all schools in England. Similar moves are taking place around the world.
However, according to UNESCO,3 over 90% of learners world-wide have now been out of school for several weeks. The majority of these have been returned to the full-time care of their parents, who have thus been given an opportunity to reclaim their God-given role as the primary educators of their children.
In Romans 1 the Holy Spirit has put on record that when any society embraces sexual immorality and deviance, this signals that God has already given them up!
3. It is the Lord who has closed church buildings and removed any semblance of his authority from the mouths of institutional church leaders.
Over recent years, the majority of denominational leaders have sought to embrace the rebellious rush into immorality, rather than challenging it. Their attitudes demonstrate that they do not believe Jesus was serious when he warned of the dangers of causing “one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble” (Matt 18:6).
In Britain the official united statements from denominational leaders4 in response to the pandemic have been far from prophetic; their pronouncements are better described as pathetic!
Isaiah declared, “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).
4. Christians who are not already learning how to be led by the Holy Spirit should seek our Father earnestly in the midst of this pandemic, that he might teach them this reality.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:14). This is the hallmark of every true child of God.
Alongside multiple unfulfilled prophecies of revival, there has been for many years a small but significant number of voices warning those with ears to hear that there is trouble ahead. With these warnings has come the consistent advice to draw close to the Lord now, and to discover how to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Recently, David Noakes’ 1994 prophecy ‘Walking on Water’ was republished on Prophecy Today UK. This highlights the importance of individual Christians discovering how to be led by the Holy Spirit.
The only way for believers to survive as the labour pains increase will be to abide in Christ in the midst of the difficulty.
5. The lockdown has provided an incredible opportunity to rediscover family life.
What we recently considered to be 'normal' life has come to a grinding halt.
Families are spending more time together than they have done for a long time. The dominant political agenda of recent decades to undermine the role of family, and of fathers in particular, has been put on pause.
This is a God-given opportunity for Christian fathers to discover how they can feed the family flock for which the Lord has given them responsibility.
This is a time when the words of the Prophet Malachi could be fulfilled in many homes:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Mal 4:5-6)
Please weigh these solemn warnings prayerfully. I hope they will be as great an encouragement to you as they have been to me. May we all learn to appreciate how the Lord’s outstretched arm is at work in this pandemic.
References
1 The same passage was mentioned in Anna Coxon’s recent article for Prophecy Today UK, ‘Why We Need Nations’.
2 Hardy, R. More Significant than Brexit. Prophecy Today UK, 5 April 2019.
3 Covid-19 Educational Disruption and Response. UNESCO.
4 E.g. see statements from Churches Together in England, here and here.
