Unexpected Events (Part 2) Series

Before we get into the message, I want to mention an opportunity we have in this season. Tomorrow, September 6th at sunset begins the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). That also launces the annual Ten Days of Awe on the Jewish calendar which culminates on September 16th with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This ten-day period is set aside on the calendar as a time of reflection and repentance for God’s people. It is an excellent time for us to join with millions of others is examining our own lives, humbling ourselves with prayer and fasting, and turning from anything in our lives that might be offensive to the Lord.

During the last two years the world has be hit hard with the coronavirus plague. Millions have died. When a plague like this comes, God has given instruction in his word as to how we should respond. We should continually come back to God’s instruction on the matter and make sure we are doing that. What is that instruction? The answer to the plague is repentance on the part of God’s people. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 God says, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will 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” (NIV).i That is the scriptural way to deal with COVID-19. But our nation has not done that. Some have, but by and large the response has not been this turning from evil to God.

Instead, our national leaders have manufactured their own solution—a vaccine which they offer as the savior we need to solve the problem. So far it has not solved the problem, and I don’t believe it will solve the problem. I am not a scientist, and I can not tell you which expert is right about the science. It is clear that their opinions differ significantly. Neither argument is persuasive enough to persuade the other side. That in itself ought to give us pause. I am cautious about injecting something in my body that even the experts cannot agree on its effect.

My primary concern with the vaccine revolves around the idolatrous way it is presented as the answer. Instead of turning to God as our Savior, our nation has lifted up its own idol as the answer. I believe that will prove to be a grave mistake. Could God use a vaccine to bring a solution to our problem. Of course, He could. But that is not the way it is being presented. God is being left out of the conversation. Instead, man is arrogantly saying he has developed the answer. But when God sends a judgment, it is not that easy to resolve on our own.

When God was calling Israel to repentance, they too sought their own solutions rather than turning to God. The prophet Amos confronted Israel about their unwillingness to repent. He told them how inadequate their solutions would be. Amos 5:19: “It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!” Our solution of printing money in the trillions of dollars is already producing serious inflation. We have run from a lion, but we’re running into a bear. If God is calling for repentance, we will not solve the problem without repentance.

But the next ten days is an excellent opportunity for God’s people to humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways. As I recently taught, we are not legalistically required to observe the Old Testament feast days (Acts 15).ii But we are free to observe a day as unto the Lord, and what better time to do than a day God has specified in Scripture. Even though Paul opposed the legalistic keeping of the Mosaic law (Col. 2:16), he voluntarily celebrated feasts such as the Passover in Acts 18:21.iii In Romans 14:5-6 Paul wrote, “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” Based on that liberty, I encourage you to use the Ten Days of Awe as a time of personal reflection and repentance.

Last week we ministered from Exodus 3 on the unexpected event that occurred in Moses’s life at the burning bush. God had that moment planned for Moses, but it came as a surprise to him. It marked the beginning of a whole new season in Moses’s life. We do not know what the future holds (James 4:15). Therefore, we must trust the Lord to order our steps in his love and wisdom (Ps. 37:23). The burning bush incident was an unexpected event in Moses’s life.