by Stephen Halbrook
Some of us see the Coronavirus as a national emergency, while others do not. We all have different degrees of information on the matter. Here, Christians must be patient with one another, and respect one another’s conscience as to how to deal with it. Precautions must be made to protect the vulnerable – we all agree – but how far we take them has become a matter of debate, especially considering the consequences that come with certain precautions.
Some will have to take more strict measures than others. Here we are not critiquing anyone’s voluntary, personal response to the Coronavirus; but the societal imposition of an extreme response on all people.
Now, national reaction to the Coronavirus by America is vastly disproportionate to the threat that it poses. We don’t do this for the cold or the flu, and moreover, we don’t ban cars because they, too, can be dangerous and even cause many deaths — all year round.
Neither are we being told positive steps we can take (especially regarding nutrition) for our health. And of course, the CDC is requiring deliberate exaggeration of Coronavirus deaths (we hope to touch more on this soon). Finally, we are building up to mass vaccination, which causes constant deaths and injuries — and not just “rarely.” This is no secret to our Health Authorities, and it makes you ask, if they are really concerned about our lives, why are they working on a vaccine for the Coronavirus that will kill and harm many? Sounds self-defeating.
As such, this really appears to be an agenda to destroy our liberties, and maybe even our lives.
America’s reaction is nothing short of tyrannical overreach; shutting down businesses and Christian churches, which is spiraling us down a path of moral degeneracy, economic depression, totalitarianism, and complete societal meltdown.
Moreover, the behaviors we are now expected to always follow are conditioning us into timidity, fearfulness, slavery, and a prison-mentality. We are actually being dehumanized, with our movements and behavior being carefully micromanaged — as if we are herd animals.
In short, the lockdown is lethal — spiritually, physically, behaviorally, economically, and legally.
Yes, there are people suffering from something, and it should not be taken lightly — we should pray for them and help them. Our focus here is national proportionality — will the national response destroy more lives than help? And even more importantly, are we going about this in a biblical way? We need to love all of our neighbors — not just those who have the Coronavirus, but those who may suffer from the reaction to it.
While the government and media base their reaction on fear-based hype, it would be important to examine this situation in light of Scripture, which has principles for all of life:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)
Here we critique the reaction to the Coronavirus hysteria/overreach regarding the following topics:
- The Bible’s quarantine laws
- The Great Commission
- The requirement to worship
- The command to work
- The requirement to provide for family and neighbor
- Counting the cost
- A spirit of fear
Opposes the Bible’s Quarantine Laws
The Bible covers laws for Israel for dealing with leprosy in Leviticus 13 and 14. They are instructive. For one to be quarantined, one must first be tested; and then, only quarantined if one has leprosy, or if suspected.
But, suspected cases are not for months on end. On suspected cases, Bible commentator Samuel Henry Kellogg writes,
In cases of doubt, the suspected case is to be isolated for a period of seven or, if need be, fourteen days, at the expiration of which the priest’s verdict is to be given, as the symptoms may then indicate.
S. H. Kellogg, The Book of Leviticus (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891), 332
And so as we see, in Israel one was to be quarantined only for having, or being suspected of having, leprosy. Not even the leper’s family was required to be quarantined without at least suspicion upon being tested — let alone the whole nation, like we are doing for the Coronavirus. This is overkill, to put it mildly.
Imagine if Israel suffered from a leprosy outbreak, and closed down the nation for months on end. The economy would collapse, there could be mass riots and starvation, and Israel would be easy prey for invaders.
Hindering the Great Commission
The lockdown – restricting movement and interactions – hinders the Great Commission to bring the Gospel to all nations and to disciple them:
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
Christ has all power, and therefore all authority, in heaven and on earth. Therefore, those who prohibit the Great Commission have no authority to do so. For instance, when apostles were commanded by the council to not preach the Gospel, the apostles refused:
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:27-29)
The ending is instructive – “We ought to obey God rather than men.” When faced with whether we must obey God or man, we must always obey God. This means that there are times where we must even disobey the civil government. The Romans 13 requirements for submitting to civil rulers are often taken way out of context, and was used to justify compliance to the Nazis.
When you think about it, either way, the Great Commission should be applied. If the Coronavirus is overhyped hysteria, then there is no logical reason to forbid it. If it is not overhyped and it is a serious danger, then that is all the more reason for the Great Commission to be applied, as there would be countless people who need to hear the Gospel before dying. Christians are not atheists — they should be concerned by body and soul.
Violates the Requirement to Worship
The imposed lockdown violates the requirement for Christians to corporately worship God. The same arguments regarding the Great Commission apply here. Moreover, it is a given that Christians are required to corporately worship God, especially on the Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). And so Scripture reads:
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24, 25)
Christians individually and the church corporately will weaken spiritually as they forsake the assembling, as this is a means, as shown above, of provoking “unto love and to good works.”
Indeed, worship, while not important to anti-Christian politicians, is very important to God:
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. (Psalm 87:2)
As such, if the state ever has any moral authority to prohibit worship, it had better be for extraordinary reasons.
Our current climate of fear is a golden opportunity for Christians to reach the lost. But if the church doors are closed, then to a large degree that opportunity is lost.
Moreover, if food services are still allowable, then so should church services. Both are essential to man. For Scripture reads:
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4b)
Yes, people can still read the word of God at home, but there is obviously a special place for the preaching and teaching of the word in public assemblies.
Some argue that live streaming worship can be done, and therefore the state is not overreaching. But this reduces to absurdity. For if there is no difference between live streaming and worshiping in the presence of the saints, then it would make no difference if the government closed churches forever, and Christians forever engaged in digital services. No reasonable Christian would go along with this.
And of course, while currently small groups of Christians may be able to assemble for gatherings, unless a church is very small, this is far from the ideal of an entire church body assembling together.
For Israel, gathering for public worship during a time of pestilence was not deemed irresponsible – but a responsible means to cry out to the Lord for deliverance. Contrary to our civil rulers today who think it is necessary to close down churches during a pandemic, King Jehoshaphat said this:
If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. (2 Chronicles 20:9)
On the other hand, the prohibition of worshiping God might bring severe judgment, perhaps even plague. Many of us know what happened between Moses and Pharaoh. For instance, Exodus 5:1 reads,
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
Pharaoh continually hardened his heart, refusing to let God’s people go and to worship. This actually resulted in plagues. And so one wonders, could judgment be looming for rulers today who are keeping God’s people from worshiping? It seems to me that it is counterproductive to prevent worship in the name of combating a plague.
One might think that much of the hysteria is agenda-driven to largely silence Christianity. There is an antithesis between God’s people and the world that we should keep in mind. Those who are not with Christ are against Him (Matthew 12:30); there is no neutrality. Scripture says:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. (John 15:18-21)
Violates the Command to Work
The imposed lockdown violates the command to work. As Genesis 1 says,
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28)
The Sabbath command (which I believe now applies to Sunday) also requires man to work:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God … (Exodus 20:8-10a)
Shutting everything down in the nation keeps many from working, as well as subduing and taking dominion over the earth. This keeps man from doing what he was designed to do. Sure, during the lockdown almost everyone can do housework and yardwork (and some can work from home via the Internet), but subduing and taking dominion over the earth is much broader than simply this.
Moreover, housework and such does not provide an income, which much of man’s work needs to be for.
Also consider the Bible’s laws of restitution. For instance, the following in Exodus reads:
And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. (Exodus 21:18, 19)
Note a principle here: those who keep others from earning an income (at least, in unnecessary cases) are required to reimburse them (“he shall pay for the loss of his time”). Will the lawmakers reimburse out of their own pocket those who they are keeping from working?
Violates Requirement to Provide for Family and Neighbor
The imposed lockdown violates man’s requirement to provide for family and neighbor. Man needs work to provide him with an income to provide for his family. This is so serious, Scripture says this about those unwilling to work:
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Timothy 5:8)
What do we say about lawmakers who are keeping people unnecessarily from working, and thereby providing for their families?
Moreover, work is needed to provide for one’s neighbor:
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. (Ephesians 4:28)
What will happen to a land where a large number of its inhabitants are kept from working – and thereby providing for their families and neighbors? Obviously, there will be death, starvation, and other horrors. The government cannot save us with a stimulus of fiat currency, which ends up destroying the economy (such as in socialism and communism).
Proverbs 14:23 reads,
In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
Penury can be, according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, “extreme poverty.” So if you want extreme poverty, shut down the nation – and then you’ll have a real crisis.
Reaction does not Count the Cost
Scripture discusses the importance of counting the cost to one’s actions:
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. (Luke 14:28-32)
By locking down businesses and Christian churches, and micromanaging human behavior, the governing authorities fail to count the cost (assuming there are not insidious intentions). Some examples:
- By restricting church activity, Christians are being harmed spiritually by not being able to gather for worship and mutual edification. While this can be done in very small groups, these are harder to organize, and churches are now splintered in terms of normal corporate gatherings — far from ideal.
- The suppression of the Great Commission and worship services hinders the unsaved from hearing the Gospel – to the detriment of their souls. This is at a time when many fearful people can be reached.
- Suppressing Christianity suppresses national morality
- The hysteria and draconian measures are stressing people, weakening their immune system and making them more susceptible to illness.
- There are health consequences of spraying artificial chemicals in facilities (especially to the workers) as a means to “sanitize” the environment.
- The overreach is self-defeating in terms of combating illnesses and disease. Becoming a poor country due to closing businesses means a lower standard of hygiene and sanitation, which breeds disease.
- People are losing their jobs and unable to support themselves, their neighbors, and their families. Food shortages and mass starvation can occur.
- The overreach is provoking a high suicide rate.
- Whether intentional or not, totalitarians have a lot to gain from this “crisis.” People now view one another with suspicion, as dangerous disease vectors that must be kept at a distance. The community is now perceived as a greater threat than a tyrannical state.
Draconian sanctions can now be pushed through at leisure to “protect” us from one another. No more assembling to discuss the threat of government overreach, or to protest tyranny in large numbers. The potentially deterrent effects of, say, the recent Richmond protest against 2A tyranny seem no longer relevant.
We are reduced to an atomistic society with practically no more local structures to bind us together — like stragglers in a defeated army that are easy prey. - As things escalate, we can expect to see acts of desperation, such as rioting, violence, and murder. Gang activity can increase. Also expect the bloodthirsty to capitalize on the situation.
- The government is increasingly taking our liberties, which we may never get back. We are becoming an outright totalitarian socialistic country. With such power comes the power of outright genocide.
- Are euthanasia and death panels for the elderly on the way? I fear if we accelerate in this downward spiral, our culture of death will likewise accelerate.
When the economy crashes, and there is no longer enough food and resources for everyone, can someone tell me how a government such as ours — which already justifies abortion and (to a degree) euthanasia, and supports depopulation — will respond, other than in this way? Considering the twisted worldview of our social planners, would our elders not be deemed as “a burden to society” who would “drain” our resources by collecting on social security, not being part of the workforce, and need often expensive medical treatments?
Sadly, while the current hysteria claims to help the elderly, I fear the script might flip in a horrible way if it continues. Crash the economy, and you first and foremost put the elderly in harm’s way. - This whole event appears to be a setup for mass vaccination. Many will flock to be vaccinated out of perceived desperation, but vaccination might also be mandated for all, even those who oppose it. Vaccination results in disabling and killing a large number of people. This could be outright genocide.
- Disease hysteria has historically led to violence and genocide. Will those who oppose the lockdown and/or vaccination soon be targets?
- We are being conditioned into permanent habits of timidity, fearfulness, slavery, and a prison mentality.
- We are being dehumanized. Habits are being ingrained in us to behave less like a human, and more like herd animals. Our movements and behavior are being carefully micromanaged. We are being trained to shun normal human interactions, and become faceless beings.
We are masked and therefore faceless — less than human — making it easier for us to be rounded up into concentration camps or executed.
The whole approach is effectively self-defeating. You don’t burn a nation to the ground in the name of saving it.
Coronavirus and a Spirit of Fear
The authorities and media are selling the Coronavirus reaction using fear and panic. Fear clouds one’s judgment, and keeps one from thinking rationally. No wonder so many are not stopping to question the government and media on this – even though they normally distrust them. Fear can also weaken one’s immune system and make one more susceptible to illnesses.
Man was not designed to cower and hide inside all the time because there are risks to leaving the house. Rather, he was designed to be active, subduing and taking dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:28). While we are to take reasonable precautions (and indeed, some with weakened immune systems may have to self-quarantine, and we must be careful around them), we must be careful not to be paralyzed by fear.
The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. (Proverbs 22:13)
The following text — describing a nation under judgment — states “ye shall flee when none pursueth you”; this brings to mind an entire nation hiding in homes indefinitely over a cold or flu-like illness.
“And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.” Leviticus 26:17
Also note Proverbs:
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)
In light of this Scripture, we must ask ourselves if our extremely cautious reaction to the Coronavirus is being taken to the level of wickedness. I want to be clear, I’m not speaking about reasonable precautions to protect those susceptible to getting sick — we should be cautious. I’m talking about a paranoid hysteria.
As Christians, let us look to Christ, make reasonable precautions, and be governed by God and not fear:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
We must choose whether we will fear germs or fear God. God is soverign, not germs. Let’s keep this Scripture in mind:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Recommended Resources:
The Christian Response to the London Plague in the 1600s (Pastor Paul Michael Raymond)
COVID-19 & Quarantine Laws (Pastor Matthew Trewhella)
COVID-19 Analysis from a Christian Worldview by Cardiologist Daniel O’Roark
Image credit:
Donald “C-Note” Hooker, File:Incarceration Nation.jpg (July 17, 2017). Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0. Change to original: words/numbers around map deleted.
If you find this site helpful, please consider supporting our work.
