April 1, 2020 – Click here to listen
A friend of mine, Tom Bonus, sent me a well-written piece concerning the Coronavirus and Easter. It states in part:
As we are now entering the time of Passover/Easter in the midst of the Covid-19 plague, it’s noteworthy to reflect on the fact that the first Passover happened as Moses was confronting the King of Egypt (Pharaoh) about releasing the Jewish nation from slavery. Moses warned Pharaoh that if he did not release the Jewish people, God would afflict all of Egypt with 10 consecutive plagues – Pharaoh refused, and the plagues happened as promised:
Water turned to blood, lice and gnats, the death of Egyptian livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of every household’s firstborn from a plague if the blood of a sacrificial lamb was not applied above their doorway’s entrance. God promised that if the lamb’s blood was placed above a home’s doorway, the death-plague would “pass over” that family, thus the name of “Passover.”
Egypt, the most powerful nation in the world at the time was shaken just as the entire world is now shaken. As the Passover/Easter holiday begins, most Americans will be quarantined, and seeking God for protection in earnest as never before. God has our attention and is using Covid-19 to “nudge” us to deeper faith and trust in Him. It’s not that God desires for people to be afflicted with sickness, but that God uses that sickness for good by drawing us closer to Him . . .
During this time of need, let’s join together to humbly and thankfully honor God-Jesus though daily communion and prayer – placing our trust in Him for short term and eternal deliverance.
As we seek to interpret and apply the killing of every firstborn in Egypt, not only of men, but of the animals as well we turn to Scripture. It informs us that this slaughter was directed at the Egyptians alone, and without regard to social or economic status. While every Egyptian home suffered loss, all of the Israelites were spared. At midnight, the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, from the king of Egypt to its cattle, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh to that of the prisoner. The weeping and wailing that night was not like anything ever heard in the land before.
The firstborn of Israel were not spared because they were more worthy or more righteous than the Egyptians. Like the Egyptians, the Israelites were sinners, fully deserving of divine wrath. Had Israel been worthy, there would have been no need of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, with its blood applied to the door frame. The firstborn of Israel were spared due to the grace of God alone. God’s provision of a means of escape was based upon His grace, not Israel’s merits. There is no clearer example of salvation by grace in the Old Testament than the Passover. Every person in Egypt, whether an Israelite or an Egyptian, was worthy of God’s divine judgment. The reason why men find the judgment of God in the smiting of the firstborn so difficult to justify is that they do not grasp the seriousness of their own sin. God views sin with a wrath that is difficult to understand; however He so loved us that He sent His own Son as a sacrifice for sins of believers which is equally difficult to understand. The lamb’s blood covered the Jewish people’s sins that night and they were spared, but today the blood of the Lamb of the Lord covers Christians for all of eternity thus sparing us from undergoing the punishment of our dark sins.
Friends many among us look at these Old Testament books and scoff; however God is not mocked. The Egyptians led by Pharaoh scoffed at God and we see where it got them. Tom wrote to me and said that what we need is a great revival, a returning to God. Now is the time to return to God. Please pull out those Bibles and wipe the dust off them and listen to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and obey Him by repenting of our sins. Pray to God to forgive us our sins, spare us from this plague, and have mercy upon our souls. Ask Him to restore our country and heal the sick and comfort the suffering. We no longer need to place blood over our doors because the blood of Jesus already covers us. Pray that the angel of death will pass over us and leave our families whole. Amen . . .
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.