A Bible Prophecy During a Pandemic

A Bible Prophecy During a Pandemic
March 19, 2020

The Prophet Joel

     During these days when we can’t gather around the Lord’s altar to share the Life-Giving Bread, I am especially thankful for a faith-building prophecy in the Bible written during an international pandemic that hit unexpectedly and suddenly.  The prophecy is the book of Joel.  You can find it in the Old Testament part of your Bible.

     That plague was far worse than the one we’re experiencing so far.  Untold thousands died, and far more were gravely sick.  The nation’s economy didn’t just slow down; it was a ruin.  Hunger, unemployment, and suffering were rampant.

     The pandemic wasn’t caused by a virus, but by another bug—an unprecedented and unimaginable infestation of locusts:

               Hear this, you elders!
                    Pay attention, all you who dwell in the land!
               Has the like of this happened in your days,
                    or in the days of your fathers?
               Like dawn spreading across the mountains
                    a “people” [the locusts] numerous and mighty!
               Their like has not been from of old,
                    nor will it be after them.  (Joel 1:2; 2:2)

     God’s purpose in inspiring the Prophet Joel was to call the people to draw closer than they ever had before, to him who is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in distress:

               Yet even now, says the Lord,
                    return to me with your whole heart,
                    with fasting, and weeping, and mourning.
               Rend your hearts, and not your garments,
                    and return to the LORD, your God.
               For gracious and merciful is he,
                    slow to anger, rich in kindness.  (2:12-13)

     Even nature's most mammoth forces do not compare with the power of our still-more-powerful Lord and Savior.  He’s the creator of galaxies and quasars, atoms and molecules, the living and the non-living.

     He created each of us.  We are so important to him that he was willing to die in our place, to rescue us from sin and death.  That’s what the Mass is all about.

     We can’t meet for Mass right now.  But there is something we can do:

     We’re all practicing “social distancing”.  SO IT’S ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT TO BE IN CONTACT WITH YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS.  PERHAPS PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THAT PERSON WHO’S LONELY, SICK, OR SHUT-IN.  MAYBE HANG A BAG OF GROCERIES ON THE DOORKNOB OF THAT NOW-UNEMPLOYED FRIEND OR NEIGHBOR.  YOU MIGHT SHARE THE FEAR-REMOVING GOOD NEWS OF WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR US.  WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO, WHETHER WITH FAMILY OR BEYOND, BE LOVING, BE GENTLE, BE GOOD, REFLECT CHRIST.  KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THOSE AROUND YOU.  ALL THE MORE SO NOW. 

     Or as Jesus said it,

               Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 
               mind…. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  (Matthew 22:37)

     Love the Lord your God with all our being.  As Joel calls us, return to him.  The pandemic reveals how much we need him.  With all our spirit, worship him more. 

     We might include praying Psalm 121 for protection of ourselves and those we love:

               I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
                    From where will my help come?
               My help comes from the LORD,
                    the maker of heaven and earth.
               God will not allow your foot to slip;
                    your guardian does not sleep.
               Truly, the guardian of Israel
                    never slumbers or sleeps.
               The LORD is your guardian;
                    the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
               By day the sun cannot harm you,
                    nor the moon by night.
               The LORD will guard you from all evil,
                    he will always guard your life.
               The LORD will guard your coming and going
                    both now and forever.




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