All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath” (2 Chr 36:20-21).
“King Nebuchadnezzar took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, until the land had made up for its sabbaths. Blue skies have once again been visible in Chinese cities, and fish have returned to the canals of Venice.
Today, sometimes it feels as though nature has pressed the Pause button on our human lives. If God’s people go astray, he will remove them from the Promised Land and allow it to remain fallow. “As long as the land lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it” (Lev 26:35). Does God have wisdom that we overlook at our peril? However, until a few weeks ago, our society tended to operate 24/7, without taking time for resting. The first creation story in the Book of Genesis describes God creating the world in six days, and then taking his sabbath rest. “On the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day” (Gen 2:2). Today we can find it hard to understand why God allows so many people to suffer from the coronavirus, but Job’s words may help us gain a positive attitude. God gives us many good things, and sometimes he gives bad or unpleasant things. When Job experienced the loss of his health, he initially responded with an attitude of acceptance. “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” (Job 2:10). All he could do was to acknowledge God: “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” The Lord had given him ten beautiful children, and now for some inscrutable reason had taken them away. Although Job lost all ten of his children in one disaster, he responded with faith, recognizing that everything he possessed had come from God. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The pandemic has reminded us that for each of us, our time on earth is limited. These words of God to Adam, used on Ash Wednesday, now speak to us forcefully. The coronavirus is a sharp reminder to us of our human mortality. “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). Nine Scripture Passages for a Time of Coronavirus
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